Germany - Hail cannons prevent hail damage but still no rain

15.08.2018 304 views
The prolonged heat and dryness caused gardens, meadows and fields to wither this year. The German Weather Service reports an all-time high precipitation deficit in Germany. Meteorologists see the cause in a blocking, high-pressure area, which has created a stable weather situation with warm and dry air from the south east since April. Apart from this exceptional situation, severe risks for Ostland Dürrweitz AG are formed by thunderstorms and hail in particular. Hailstones can destroy considerable portions of the fruit harvest within a few minutes.
Hail cannon To reduce this risk, to avoid possible economic damage and safeguard the jobs of the more than 380 employees from the region over the long term, more than 10 years ago Obstland Dürrweitzschen AG decided to purchase six hail protection guns. "After the last severe hail storms we were no longer able to market up to 60% of the harvest from the affected plantations," says Tina Hellmann, press liaison for Obstland Dürrweitzschen AG. The invention of the hail protection cannon dates back to the 19th century. Today it is mainly used by winemakers and fruit growers in southern Germany, Austria, France, South Tyrol, Spain, Holland and Belgium. Hail occurs when evaporated water rises with the warm air. The water vapour cools and forms into droplets and clouds are formed. The water attaches to particles that are already present in the air. Together they rise to very high altitudes, where ice crystals are formed. Through gravity, they sink back down, all the while collecting more water droplets. The interplay between air currents and gravity leads to a circulation of ice crystals, in which they keep on growing. Vertical pressure waves The hail protection cannon interrupts this cycle by vertical pressure waves at 15 second-intervals. These pressure waves are generated by the explosion of an acetylene-oxygen mixture. As a result, water droplets cannot form into ice or hailstones so that they fall to the ground as rain or wet snow. For this principle to work, the hail protection cannons must be activated in time. Therefore, the fruit farmers are warned from approaching bad weather by a weather service. On the basis of radar images and through many years of experience, those responsible can tell whether it is a threatening thunderstorm front or a pure rain cell and in which direction the cells will probably go. Only when there is a serious danger to the fruit on the trees, the hail protection cannons are put into operation. 
"We are an agricultural company. Every euro we spend must be earned outside in the plantation. That's why we think very carefully about which measures make sense," the spokeswoman explains. Once the danger is over, the mission is terminated. Evidence of the effect of the hail protection cannons can be seen in the radar images. The effect of the hail protection cannons does not only extend to the orchards of Obstland Dürrweitzschen AG. Other farmers in the region, as well as the greenhouses, roofs and cars of neighbouring residents benefit from this protection measure.
Support of rainwater formation The accusation that the use of hail protection cannons prevents the clouds from raining down, is invalidated by Dr. Armin Raabe from the Institute of Meteorology of the University of Leipzig. He says -from his scientific perspective: "From this point of view, the generated sound field would be more likely to support rainwater production, regardless of whether or not there was an effect on hail suppression." The spokeswoman emphasizes that rain is of immense importance for the agricultural company: "We manage more than 1,300 hectares of fruit acreage between Grimma, Döbeln and Oschatz. We only irrigate strawberries and a part of the pears. That's less than 10 percent of the acreage. All other crops, such as apples, currants or plums, rely on naturally occurring precipitation and root-accessible water supplies in the soil." 
Modern corporate network Together with the parent company there are eleven more subsidiaries that form Obstland Dürrweitzschen AG. The group of companies operates with around 380 employees in the fields of agriculture, trade and services. The group is known particularly for the production, processing and distribution of domestic fruits under the brand name "Sachsenobst". This business division comprises six agricultural-oriented subsidiaries, Kelterei Sachsenobst GmbH and Sachsenobst Vermarktungsgesellschaft mbH. 
Since 2003, fruit farm Dürrweitzschen AG cultivated land through ecologically certified cultivation. In addition to this, the group is active in construction, electrical engineering, energy and building technology as well as in housing management. Deeply rooted in the "Saxon fruit country", regional responsibility at Obstland Dürrweitzschen AG is seen as a matter of the heart. In-house environmental management ensures the continuous improvement of environmental protection.
Source - http://www.freshplaza.com
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Crop insurance requires several billion dollars in government support while a similar model of support for LPI would be closer to $150 million to $200 million, said Fulton.Although he says the federal government is coming around to the idea of LPI cost-sharing, it has previously cited trade risk and prohibitive cost as reasons to not participate.Fulton doesn’t think those arguments hold water in an environment already brimming with trade risk from U.S. tariffs, especially with many beef producers still priced out of the LPI market.“It’s really frustrating that we can’t effectively cover the risk because the government says that it’s too risky in this environment.”Ultimately, beef and crop production are related but separate ag sectors with their own specific needs, says Fulton, and a perceived “one size fits all” philosophy driving government-funded BRMs isn’t cutting it.”I think that we need to move to a model that is more industry-specific. It’s really difficult, if not impossible, to design a safety net program or a risk management program that works well for all sectors of agriculture.”Brian English, a beef producer from Rivers, Man. who runs a cow-calf, feeder and backgrounding operation at nearby Bradwardine, took out an LPI for the first time this year. He also highlights the government’s treatment of crop growers compared to beef producers.“Why shouldn’t we get the same benefits as these guys that are putting in thousands of acres of cropland?” he said. “We should be on equal footing as them. The federal and provincial governments should do the same funding schedule for livestock price insurance as they do for crop insurance now.”English took out an LPI policy this year in response to the threat of U.S. tariffs.“Trump had put on the tariffs for two-and-a-half days (and) we heard the horror stories of the cattle crossing the line getting $1,000 tariffs on each animal. And then (the U.S.) stopped that for a brief period of time and there was a chance that it was going to come back on right away.”LPI has historically been a hard sell to beef producers due to policy cost. Fulton estimates a high rate of $50-$60 per calf for a calf policy (the program has three cattle policies available: calf, feeder and fed) on a 10-year margin.However, thanks to high prices in all cattle categories in recent years, margins are much better today. That offers extra incentive to take out an LPI policy because beef producers will have more to lose once the bull market (in investment terms) goes bearish, he says.“$50 to $60 in today’s market is not as significant. It’s not as big a barrier, but it’s still a large barrier when talking about an individual animal (and) having to pay $50 or $60 just to be able to cover it.“If you get 60 per cent of the cost of your insurance policy covered, it really changes the motivation and the desire to actually cover off that risk because you’re not using up a bunch of your profit margin just to insure it.”Beef cattle graze in a pasture in Saskatchewan. Photo: Michael RobinOther LPI changes neededFulton would also like to see a widening of LPI’s application window. Although applications for feeder and fed policies are accepted year-round, calf policies are only available from February to June each year. However, risk exposure continues long past June.“So for most of the year the tool is not accessible.” English has a technology-based suggestion for improving the program. He says the application website needs to be more user-friendly for cell phone users and especially those who live in areas with limited internet bandwidth.“It’s just a little daunting the first time that you’re (applying) … It’s kind of clunky. It’s not iPhone friendly and I do everything on my phone.“We put all our records of our cattle on our phone, check on our weather. Everyone uses their phones more than a laptop and so I think if they made it so that it was a little easier to use on your phone, it’d be that much easier also.”Balanced outcomesThere could be some positive tradeoffs with other government BRMs if a cost-share arrangement for LPI is developed, says Fulton. For example, AgriStability payments wouldn’t trigger as easily if beef producers already had coverage through LPI.(AgriStability is a federal-provincial-territorial program meant to protect farmers from extreme market price declines that threaten the viability of their farms.)“Let’s say a 20 per cent tariff is implemented by President Trump and our prices here in Canada drop by 15 to 20 per cent. That would likely trigger a payment in AgriStability normally,” explains Fulton.“But if we had coverage with livestock price insurance, for those that had a policy it would result in a payment through livestock price insurance and therefore would not result in a drop in your farm income and consequently you wouldn’t need to trigger an AgriStability claim.”It’s a scenario Canadian crop producers already enjoy, he says.“Because people have crop insurance, they can experience a 40 per cent hit in their yield (and) they get a payment through their crop insurance policy. They don’t make an AgriStability claim because they’re already covered off through their insurance.”Government willing to talkThe beef industry is slowly but surely catching the ear of government on cost-shared LPI policies. Fulton says both the federal Conservative and Liberal parties — motivated in part by U.S. tariff threats — were interested in providing better risk management tools to farmers prior to the federal election.“This represents a cattle industry-developed program that works really well and so when we started to get exposed to the tariff issues, it really changed the conversation. It just made it very obvious that there was a deficiency here and they identified that.”Fulton has spoken with new federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Heath MacDonald and hopes to meet with him soon to address the uncertainty and risk the industry is facing. He’s counting on the Prince Edward Island-dwelling MacDonald having an understanding of LPI, given Maritime producers have been eligible since last year.Countervail fearsAn attendee of Manitoba Ag’s Navigating Livestock Price Insurance webinar on May 8 asked if cost-shared premiums would trigger countervail action from the U.S. The answer is “unequivocally no,” says Fulton.“The industry is not at all concerned about a countervail duty related to livestock price insurance cost-shared premiums,” he says.“Our American counterparts have a very similar program that is cost-shared and it is really structured similarly to their crop insurance program, and so they’re addressing what they’ve identified to be a gap in risk management tools offered for farmers and inequity for livestock operations.”Source - Manitoba Cooperator