The conference will seek answers on how to successfully manage risks in agriculture
On January 30, at the conference "Successful Management of Weather and Climate Change in Agriculture" in Riga, Latvian and foreign experts will share knowledge, experience and forecasts about the risks that have increasingly affected crop yields and harvest quality in recent years. Every Latvian farmer is invited to attend the conference free of charge, subject to prior registration. here.
“Adverse wintering conditions, frost, hail, downpours and storms, drought, prolonged rains – we have been experiencing such weather conditions in Latvia more and more often in recent years. They create significant risks of loss of crop yield and quality, which Latvian farmers experienced particularly painfully in 2023. However, only about a third of all sown areas in Latvia are still insured,” Agricultural service cooperatives explain the situation in agricultural risk management Vita Baumane, Head of LATRAPS Volume Insurance.
Europe's leading farmers' mutual insurance cooperative will participate in the conference on January 30 to discuss the current dynamics and future developments of agricultural risk management. Thomas Gerke, member of the board of Vereinigte Hagel (Thomas Gehrke). “In the long term, it is possible to adapt to climate change, but the weather will surprise us more and more often. Can we prepare for it? Our response for decades in Germany and other European countries has been to mitigate the effects of extreme weather events by insuring crops and, in the long term, to collect and analyse data,” emphasizes T. Gerke.
The conference will feature Daniel Sticher, an expert at Vereinigte Hagel in expanding the network of meteorological stations, who will talk about the importance of weather data in reducing agricultural risks. Two meteorologists, Toms Bricis, weather editor at LTV, and Jörg Kachelmann, a Swiss expert in weather analysis and forecasting and media personality, will present the agricultural risk map – the dynamics, trends and forecasts that Latvian farmers should expect.
The conference “Successful Management of Weather and Climate Change in Agriculture” will be held on January 30 from 11:00 to 16:00 at the conference center “ATTA centrs”, Krasta Street 60, Riga. Participation in the conference is free, subject to prior registration.
Number of seats – limited.
Simultaneous interpretation into Latvian and English will be provided at the conference.
Conference program "Successful weather and climate change management in agriculture":
11.00 Opening remarks
11.15 The role of risk management and crop insurance from the perspective of agricultural policy and the farmer. History, present and future.
Thomas Gerke – Member of the Board of Directors of Vereinigte Hagel (DE)
11.45 Agricultural risk map: dynamics, trends, forecasts, what Latvian farmers should expect.
Jorg Kahelman– meteorologist (CH)
Tom Bike – LTV weather news editor
13.00 Lunch
14.00 Panel discussion: To insure or to risk?
Virginia Baynor – farmer, manager of Alfa Agro (LT)
Liene Janson – Director of the Rural Development Service Department of the Ministry of Agriculture
Jorg Kahelman – meteorologist (CH)
Vita Bauman – LATRAPS Volume Insurance Manager
15.00 Crop insurance and prevention – the importance of weather data in risk mitigation.
Daniel Sticher– United Hail (DE)
15.55 Summary and conclusion
Additional information:
The conference is organized by the largest Latvian agricultural services cooperative LATRAPS in cooperation with the leading European farmers' mutual insurance cooperative Vereinigte Hagel. LATRAPS has united more than 1,180 Latvian farmers. LATRAPS has concluded a cooperation agreement with Vereinigte Hagel and since 2013, as an agency VH Latvija, has been advising farmers and concluding insurance contracts on behalf of Vereinigte Hagel. Therefore, farmers in Latvia have access to the multi-risk insurance Secufarm®, known throughout Europe, which covers the risks of hail, storms, heavy rain, catastrophic drought and adverse wintering. In 2023, VH Latvija compensated 19.3 million euros for crop losses to farmers who had taken out insurance. Compared to 2022, the cost of compensation has increased by 63%.