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LV ZSA: Farmers hope for warm and sunny weather in August
This year, European farmers are facing natural anomalies. While others are experiencing unusually hot weather, we are experiencing cold and rainy weather. What is currently happening in various agricultural sectors in Latvia and what is expected for the new harvest, the management and members of the association "Farmers' Council" comment.
Member of the board of the association “Zemnieku saeima” and owner of the farm “Robežnieki” Ieva Alpa – Eizenberga, Salacgrīva municipality: "This summer's weather conditions are also not favorable for dairy farming. Of course, rain is only good for grasslands, but not for preparing them for animal feed. It is difficult for those farmers who plan to make hay, because regular rain affects its quality. On the other hand, it is a little easier to prepare hay or silage. On our farm, the first forage harvest was delayed by a week and a half, and we will start the second harvest in the near future. Milk purchase prices are acceptable, with the price increasing by 10 euros/t in July. If we talk about costs, then prices for supplementary feed and veterinary medicine are increasing more and more rapidly. The farm's other main activity is grain farming. A year ago, we started threshing winter rapeseed and winter wheat at this time. Currently, the grain is still being prepared. The cool summer may negatively affect corn, because it will not have time to ripen, which will result in increased costs for purchasing additional feed."
Ansis Saliņš, member of the association “Farmers' Council” and owner of the “Iesalnieki-1” farm, Pļaviņš municipality: “This year, we are growing summer rapeseed, barley, buckwheat, winter and spring wheat on an area of approximately 500 ha on the farm. May was unusually dry, as a result of which the cereals sprouted unevenly. Unusually for the end of July, summer rapeseed is only now finishing blooming. At the moment, it looks like the harvest season will start a week later than last year, in about 3 weeks. A large amount of precipitation falls almost every day in a short period of time. Due to the rain, some fields have started to veer, but overall the weather conditions are favorable for cereals, the harvest potential looks good, the only unclear issue is the quality of the cereals. At the moment, the machinery fleet is being reviewed and prepared for harvesting, and we hope for favorable weather for farmers during threshing!"
Edīte Strazdiņa, member of the board of the association “Zemnieku saeima” and chairwoman of the KS “Mūsmāju dārzenie”: “Vegetables, just like people, have not waited for summer and this is reflected very well in the current situation. First of all, this year was a very late spring and summer has also been delayed. If the air temperature drops to +6 degrees at night, then we simply cannot hope for high yields! Potatoes bloomed about three weeks later than usual, and with this rain and cold it does not look like they will ripen sufficiently. Overall, the potato harvest will be a month later, as a result of which the potato harvest will also start much later. The situation is similar for garlic and onions. If last year we started selling dried garlic and onions in the first half of July, then this year only at the beginning of August. The lack of local vegetables is compensated by prices that are almost equal to the prices of spring and early summer. This year, due to the cold, Latvian products will be more expensive, because they simply do not grow, wither, and wither. At the same time, vegetables are being imported en masse, mixed with local ones, and the final result is for the buyer We are in the common market of the European Union and all products must be sold, but we cannot mix products from different countries and claim them as local.
We still really hope for reduced VAT on fruits and vegetables. This year there is a shortage of local products and it is a very favorable soil for practicing unfair trade in imported vegetables, as a result of which all street corners are flourishing and thriving! The issue of reduced VAT on fruits and vegetables is regularly postponed, because there is no political will to implement it! We also really hope for equal rules of the game for everyone, because currently those who work by the rules and try to both calculate and pay taxes are increasingly being cut off from oxygen, while the rest, for whom paying taxes is unimportant, continue to swim like kidneys in fat!”
