"Abnormal heat"

Drought caused millions in crop losses

Months of heat and drought in the summer caused many Upper Austrian farmers great concern. Crop failures and the sometimes poor quality of the harvest are dampening the mood at harvest festival time of all times.

The traditional harvest festival is just around the corner - but many local farmers see no reason to celebrate. Crop failures and damage due to the extremely hot summer months are to blame for the rather gloomy mood.

In Upper Austria, the drought caused a loss of five to six million euros in vegetable yields this year, according to Stefan Hamedinger, vegetable cultivation officer at the Chamber of Agriculture: "In total, we had to contend with abnormal heat for three months." This resulted in crop failures and poor and inconsistent vegetable quality.

As every year, the young farmers celebrate Thanksgiving - pictured in Kirchdorf an der Krems.(Bild: Jack Haijes)

Hardly any flood damage
The situation is similar in crop production: "There is major damage to maize, soy and sugar beet, especially in the east," says Helmut Feitzlmayr, crop production expert at the Upper Austrian Chamber of Agriculture. As far as flood damage is concerned, Upper Austrian agriculture got off quite lightly. Although farmers in this region have had to contend with isolated cases of flooding, there has been no major crop damage, with barely five percent of the damage being caused by too much water. "The yields are lower, but the quality is good here," says organic pioneer Christian Stadler from Hofkirchen im Traunkreis, who harvested 9,000 tons of vegetables.

Potatoes like it wet
The rainfall had a positive effect on the potatoes: while the drought had resulted in small tubers, the rain kept the moisture-seeking wireworms from infesting. Potato yields varied from region to region - the heat was particularly problematic for unirrigated fields, according to potato farmer Manfred Schauer from Eferding.