The worst grain harvest in the Havelland: farmers raise the alarm!

The worst grain harvest in the Havelland: farmers raise the alarm!

While the harvest time in the Havelland is approaching the climax, the situation for farmers looks anything but rosy. Dirk Peters, the chairman of the Hovelland district farmers' association, draws a dark conclusion: The current harvest season could be the worst harvest of all time. The severe consequences of drought, combined with extremely high temperatures around 35 degrees, have severely damaged the wheat. Sometimes he even dried up, which significantly affected the yields. The precipitation in the first six months of the year is just 108 liters, which is only 20 percent of the annual means. For comparison: Last year, more than twice as many precipitation fell in the same period, about 555 liters, such as maz-online.de describes.

In the Westhavelland, expectations of the yields are particularly negative, which does not only affect the grain harvest. Jan-Derk Koning, a farmer from Hertefeld, faces a catastrophe: "Usually I get about 60 decitons winter barley per hectare, this year I plan with at least 30 decitons-that's a blow into the water," he says. The winter barley is traditionally harvested as the first type of grain, but this year it will take place two weeks early. The state of culture is bad due to the lack of water; The grains are small and the prices for winter barley have also been on a low for a long time.

hope for rain and better times

While the conditions for the winter barley are catastrophic, there is still a spark of hope on the horizon: in the EU, the prospects for the grain harvest are better overall. Analysts shed light on the perspectives for a significant recovery of the grain harvest in the EU, which, according to Coceral from 125.5 million tons of tons of tons in 2024, could increase to 140.4 million tons in 2025, such as agrarwelt.com reports. In Germany, a wheat yield of 7.48 tons per hectare is expected, which is 6 percent above the previous year.

But even if the predictions for other regions - especially Spain and the black sea area - promise above average good yields, the situation in the Havelland remains tense. The farmers are eagerly hoping for rain, which is urgently needed, especially for corn. Koning, which also holds 600 dairy cows and absorbs 270 bull calves, is concerned that the drought has also affected feed production. So the second cut on the green areas fell to only 60 percent of the normal yield.

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