Heat and drought are putting a strain on Saxony's agriculture

This year's harvest is hitting the Saxon farmers in the office. Because heat and drought reduce yield and quality.

“For many grain crops and rapeseed, temperatures of more than 35 degrees over a period of more than a week led to an abrupt end to the grain filling phase,” said the state farmers’ association. This ended the increase in yield and in some regions the grain reached what is known as emergency maturity. Even the rain in July hardly brought any increase in yield.

Massive deterioration in grain quality

According to farmers' president Torsten Krawczyk, grain quality has deteriorated greatly during the heat wave. “Depending on the location and weather situation, crude protein contents, hectoliter weights and case numbers vary greatly. Quality wheat could hardly be produced under this year’s conditions.”

The ratio between revenue and costs is becoming increasingly different

According to the farmers' association, this is reflected in the prices that Saxony's farmers were able to achieve for their products. To make matters worse, the costs of fertilizer, diesel, seeds, crop protection, logistics and wages have only increased in recent years. “The relationship between revenue and costs is becoming increasingly different. The best returns are no longer enough. We lack the financial resources for urgently needed investments in our companies,” emphasized Krawczyk. We are a long way from building up reserves for future challenges.

Contradiction between political demands and reality

«Our agriculture is not failing because of change; What weighs on us is the contradiction between political demands and economic reality. This hypocrisy of the framework conditions endangers the future of agriculture,” the association president made clear. Politicians are expected to act decisively and quickly at all levels of the entire value chain - for fair economic conditions instead of further one-sided burdens.

The regional farmers' association presented its balance sheet at the Polenztal agricultural cooperative in Stolpen (Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains). Farmers worked around 702,000 hectares of arable land this marketing year. Of this, around 384,400 hectares are used for grain cultivation, including corn. After cereals, winter rapeseed is the most important crop with almost 103,000 hectares.