Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper): Belgian farmers face a 30-40% drop in crop yields due to record rainfall causing delays, plant diseases and poor quality. Governments provide aid but long-term solutions like weather insurance are needed to support the struggling agricultural sector.
Since last one year it has been raining all through in Belgium which is bad for farmers. Almost every month for the past ten months has experienced high rainfall leading to heavier clouds present in 119 years history. The June farmers feared that such situations would end up with shortages of food or there would be a rise in prices because crops could not be planted on time due to continuous rains.According to the latest figures from Statbel concerning spring crops 42.6% less land was cultivated than during 2022. In Flanders this percentage was 55% while Wallonia stood at 36.2%.
How is excessive rainfall affecting crop yields and farmers economy?
Because spring was such a rainy season the farmers of Flanders only began sowing crops later than usual. This latency has already impacted the cultivation of crops like maize and beets according to the Flemish farming group Boerenbond. The time required for the proper development of the crops . He mentioned that the wet weather prevented the infestation of plants by diseases this year. The association expects a reduction in yields for various crop types this year although the damage may be very crop- and region-specific.
François Hughe of Boerenbond’s research department said that the grain harvest is full on. According to him it could yield anywhere from 30 to 40 percent less compared with average years depending on the region. There is still very little information on other crops. In Flanders early potatoes are doing well. It is still too early to say anything regarding late potatoes and sugar beets. Wheat farmers in Wallonia are touting lower yields and are worried about meeting their contracts with wholesalers. Preliminary figures from Benoît Thomassen of the Walloon Federation of Agriculture’s analysis unit show that wheat yields in Wallonia will slump by some 30%. In some regions this could climb as high as 50%.
According to resources there are two major problems less wheat cultivated on each field and poor grain quality due to the fact that they are small and empty because not enough sun light is available. FWA will wait until the end of August to hold a meeting with wheat buyers about this issue. If some wheat growers do not manage to reach an agreement over how much they should sell for then their fines can be imposed on them. Thomassen noted that authorities in Wallonia and Flanders have available funds which can be given to aid farmers during hard times. Working without these budgets every year won’t contribute long-term solvency prospects either.
