The almost day-long rain and strong wing that recently visited Latvia have slashed crops in many parts of Latvia. Crops in Kuzeme and Zemgale have suffered the most. Whether the grain will be usable as food will depend on the weather – if they start sprouting close to the ground, their only use will be animal feed, according to specialists of Latvian Rural Advisory and Training Centre (LLKC).
«Winter and summer barley have been pushed to the ground – no grain can really withstand strong wind and heavy rain. Even young potatoes have been impacted heavily by excessive moisture,» says LLKC crop consultant Vite Cielava.
Farms in Zemgale have suffered the most, the biggest damages are observed for Skagen winter wheat there.
«We weren’t surprised when Skagen winter wheat, which is often the first to fall, turned out the one to have suffered the most. Other crops have suffered as well – summer barley and summer wheat. It should be mentioned that losses of crops in the fields are estimated at at least 15% as long as weather becomes dry and sunny,» reports LLKC Crop Production Division manager Oskars Balodis.
Currently the soil in many parts in Latvia is too moist, especially central parts and low lands in Latvia. Cereal, pea and potato fields indicate part of the harvest is already lost to excessive moisture.
This further escalates the already risky situation on the global grain market, where every now and then experts voice concerns about a rapid price surge on the food market.
In recent years different natural disasters have become a big problem for agriculture. Considering that farmers are provided with an opportunity to insure their crops for negative climate conditions and funding is available from the EU and state budget, Latvian Ministry of Agriculture has no budget set aside for compensations this year. Because of this, the responsibility of protecting crops falls on the shoulders of insurance companies.
Insurers believe this year’s summer crops have suffered more than last year, when the biggest threat was intense heat.
According to BTA Baltic Insurance Company representative Kārlis Liepiņš, 70% of all insurance claims from farmers were received in a single week, when a cyclone was moving through Latvia’s territory.
«We have received more than 100 insurance claims. From our correspondence with clients we can see this is just the beginning. Farmers survey their fields and report more damages. We expect the extent of said damages to grow even more,» said Liepiņš.
Source - https://bnn-news.com
