Our colleagues from RTL recently went on a literal field trip where they talked to the country's farmers about the challenges caused by the floods.
Most of the annual planning in the agricultural sector is done during winter, but it remains impossible to predict which exact weather conditions will unfold over the course of the year. At the moment, farmers are mostly struggling with the soil in some of the affected fields, which has been softened to the point where tractors can now longer move about.
Jean-Claude Müller from Contern noted that in his fields, about 10-15% of crops were damaged: "I know from others that they have been hit far worse, with all of their vegetables unusable after being submerged in water."
Although some processes have become more difficult without the use of machines, such as the harvesting of onions, for instance, other domains actually benefit from the unusual water masses, according to Müller: "Fortunately, the rain means that grass will start growing better again, allowing farmers to rebuild their reserves after the last dry years. Similarly, both cabbage and celery profit from the additional water exposure."
It remains clear that neither droughts nor water masses are particularly beneficial to the agricultural sector, and it remains to be seen how the upcoming harvests turn out in the end.
