© MA
On Friday, the latest edition of the harvest talks took place at the BAKO farmers cooperative in Hosingen.
This year's harvest is said to be above average in terms of quantity and quality, thanks to the weather's changeability suiting the crops. However, one major concern is price, says Minister of Agriculture Martine Hansen.
"The prices are miserably bad. Production costs are a little lower than in recent years, so the deficit is a bit lower, but in spite of that, when I look at normal grain production, it has not been enough to cover costs. We have to keep that in mind as an argument we can make when people complain that farmers get state subsidies. If we didn't have these, all the farmers producing these crops would be in the red."
Hansen said it was important that the EU budget could continue allocating funds for farmers, as prices are not expected to improve any time soon based on the global market.
Steve Turmes, director of Luxembourg's Seed Growing Cooperative, said last autumn's weather pattern had helped somewhat with the harvest this year.
"It was only at the end of October when we were able to sow properly, some farmers sowed for a second time. It was a mild winter, and in recent years we've had long growing periods, even lasting until December. Last autumn was very wet, fortunately, because we might not have made it through this year as well without the water reserve from last year. The spring was dry, so there was good root formation, and the roots grew in line with the water as it gradually went down."
