Association "Farmers' Council" about the vegetable harvest in Latvia

The weather has surprised Latvian vegetable growers with quite drastic changes this season. The summer started with cool weather, while the last few weeks have brought dry and quite hot days. However, despite the difficulties, farmers have worked hard this year to ensure that the fruits of the fields reach our hands.

Edīte Strazdiņa, head of the cooperative "Mūsmāju dārzeņi", member of the board of the "Farmers' Assembly"
This year has not been a good one for pumpkins and field cucumbers, because due to the cool spring and cold nights, they have not had time to grow properly and there are concerns that they will not have time to do so. The summer has been too “short” for the crop to fully ripen. The drastic changes in weather conditions have been very rapid and drastic.

In Vidzeme and the central part of Latvia, where there is enough rainfall, there is a good harvest of carrots, potatoes, cabbage and also beets. Although beets may have problems with their visual appearance, because changes in weather conditions have managed to affect their root system. There may be problems with tomatoes in unheated greenhouses, they may crack and lose quality. There is a drought in Kurzeme and Latgale, which can cause great losses if vegetables are not watered. Carrots, cabbage, especially cauliflower, may be of poor quality due to the drought.

However, Latvia's total yield of basic crops is expected to be better than in previous years. Cabbage will be both very valuable and will bring an expensive harvest. Taking into account the heat wave that has affected all of Europe, vegetables grown in the Latvian climate will also be in demand in the rest of Europe. There are already forecasts that European processing companies may lack raw materials, so we will sell vegetables both fresh and processed.

It is currently the harvest season for Latvian vegetables and fruits, and there are enough of them to be purchased all over Latvia. When shopping, I encourage you to choose local, rural produce.

The board of the Latvian Gardener association has undergone changes. In order for the association to operate as efficiently as possible and pay more attention to small farms, cooperatives will no longer be involved in the work of the board, but their members will continue to be actively involved in the association's activities.

Arnis Radomiškis z/s ”Dižķuņķi” Rucava municipality, South Kurzeme
On the Dižķuņķi farm, we grow a very traditional assortment: table beets, carrots, potatoes. At the moment, the harvest does not look very good, and it has not rained since the beginning of the month. Carrots are watered at night, sometimes until six in the morning. In this part of Latvia, the soil moisture is below the minimum necessary for normal plant development. Potatoes have already managed to ripen, while carrots lack moisture. Spring was the complete opposite – cold and wet, we could not plant vegetables on time. Now the sun is hot and rain is not expected. Of course, we water the vegetables regularly, but the carrots will develop unevenly, and it will be easier for weeds to germinate between the furrows. Only those fields that are closer to the forest can hope for moisture. However, we are not complaining about this year's harvest – there have been similar years. We expect that table beets, onions and carrots will be well ripe by the time of harvest.

Juris Cirulis, farm "Mežacīruļi", Jelgava region, Zemgale
This season has been more successful for vegetables grown in beds. The vegetable growing season has been specific – the weather was cool and dry in the middle of the vegetable vegetation, so, for example, cucumbers and tomatoes are not so visually attractive, but their nutritional value is very good. Products grown in Latvia may look smaller, but their value is not lower than their foreign counterparts. The vegetable harvest is slightly worse than in previous years. Cucumbers and tomatoes are currently in quite high demand, so we are also preparing for a second – greenhouse-grown autumn harvest.

Martins Boguss, z/s"Hops"", Ilukste district, Latgale
We predict that this year's harvest will be good, but it was delayed by one month - this is due to the cold spring. The second half of the summer, in turn, was dry and hot. I had hoped for a much better harvest, but it turned out the way it did. Currently, the harvest is not very different from last year.

Broccoli and iceberg lettuce have done well in our fields, cauliflower not so well, as well as other vegetables planted in the second half of the summer. Broccoli has grown the best. The upcoming autumn season also looks quite good at the moment. Cabbage was wilting at the beginning of the summer, while potatoes have large tubers, but there are few of them.

Zigfrīds Krieviņš z/s "Sviķi", Cesvaine municipality, Vidzeme
So far, the harvest year has been good. We mainly grow onions, carrots, cabbage, beets and also potatoes on the farm, so temperature changes affect each of them differently. The upcoming carrot, onion and beet harvest looks good, tomatoes are successfully preparing in the greenhouse. This season is grateful to grain farming, to which we have allocated part of our fields. The drought of the last few weeks is not good for late cabbage, but it has also grown very well so far. Cucumber cultivation had a difficult start to the summer, but now their development is slower.

We mainly sell the harvested crop through a cooperative – this way we get stability and a fixed price for a specific period. With a diverse assortment, we try to be flexible and adapt to demand. If there are any surpluses from the harvest, we process them – cucumbers are salted and cabbage is sauerkraut. Agriculture itself is a bit of a game of luck, because there are so many factors that affect the harvest.