Status: 08/23/2022 4:25 p.m
The persistent drought has caused many farmers’ harvests to collapse. Farmers are complaining about losses, especially with maize and potatoes. Consumers could soon feel this, too.
The soil in Brandenburg is too dry for the corn, says farmer Hans-Joachim Deter: “The soil is completely dry again, even though we had a lot of rain over the weekend.” The corn on his fields in the Neuruppin district of Wulkow in the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district is dying. “They’re not even a meter high here – not to speak of the piston.” In his hand, the agricultural engineer holds a bare stalk of corn – without the cob. Another piston is only about a tenth as big as usual.
Big regional differences
In its current harvest balance, the German Farmers’ Association confirms that the Brandenburg farmer’s problems exist nationwide. “A major factor of uncertainty this year is the expected grain maize harvest,” says Farmers’ Association President Joachim Rukwied. “In many regions, it has suffered massively from the drought of the last few weeks.”
Overall, the harvest in Germany is below average and disappointing, summed up the farmers’ chief lobbyist. “The crop yields are very different,” he adds. From North Rhine-Westphalia to Schleswig-Holstein to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and near the Alps, an “above-average harvest” has been achieved. In other regions, however, the situation is different: “For example in Saxony-Anhalt – actually a granary in Germany.” The wheat harvest in particular has declined significantly there.
Stunted by the drought – in some places, corn cobs are only about a tenth the size they normally are.
Losses in the potato harvest
According to the Brandenburg farmer Deter, he lost almost a third of his grain this season. Before he starts harvesting the potatoes, he digs a few tubers out of the ground with his hand and rake. “They’re definitely half the size they used to be,” he says when he sees the potatoes. “And some of them are so small that they fall through the sieve conveyor.”
The gaps between the sieve conveyors on his harvester measure 30 to 35 millimeters. But he is convinced that enough potatoes will stick. That’s why he lets his helpers start the harvesting machine on the first field. But the belt on which the potatoes from this hectare of land fall into the harvest baskets is only half as full as last year. “There will definitely be something missing at the end of the month,” complains Deter.
Many potatoes are too small and fall through the sieve – another result of the drought.
Sobering record
Even for experienced harvest workers, the first balance sheet is sobering. But: “That’s the way it is when it’s dry,” says Siegunde Herrmann, who has been working in the Wulkow family business for more than 30 years: “Then it’s just more jacket potatoes.”
The Brandenburg farmer sells his potatoes to customers on his farm and to restaurants in Neuruppin, among others. He has not yet increased the price for these buyers. “Most of the potatoes go to the starch factory. The price is still a question mark because fertilizer and diesel have become much more expensive,” says the farmer.
Consumer prices could rise
The president of the farmers’ association also points to higher prices in his harvest balance sheet. “We assume that consumer prices will remain stable, with a possible tendency to rise,” explains Joachim Rukwied: “We farmers simply need higher prices in order to be able to do business at all.”
Because German farmers would have to contend with an explosion in costs: “Fertilizer prices have quadrupled, energy prices have doubled, feed prices have risen significantly.” Many farmers are already using their winter supplies to feed their animals – also because of the drought.
“Food security is secured until the first quarter of 2023”, Joachim Rukwied, President of the German Farmers’ Association
8/23/2022 11:50 am
Expensive lining increases pressure
In Wulkow, Brandenburg, Deter’s feed stocks are currently sufficient for his 5,000 pigs, including piglets, sows and breeding boars. “But the prices for animal feed have risen by up to 80 percent,” says the farmer. “That’s enormous.” That’s why he almost halved his sow population – to 500 animals: “It’s an emergency solution that we didn’t plan to do.” However, he was no longer able to finance the feed from the proceeds from the pork.
“Where do we end up next year?” he keeps asking himself. “Will we still be growing potatoes on the same scale next year? That’s not certain yet.” He also has to recalculate for grain due to strongly fluctuating world market prices. However, the farmer has concluded contracts with fixed prices. That’s why he wants to artificially irrigate fields again in the future, even though it costs money. “If you basically do it without irrigation, then you can’t fulfill the contracts. Then it doesn’t pay off anymore,” he says. However, the authorities still have to authorize him to draw water from a well for his fields. Because the lack of rain also causes the groundwater level to drop.