French Wine, Polish Apples, Balkans Wheat & Corn - All Facing Severe Loss From Freak Rain & Heatwave

[hatrack]

EDIT

This week they appealed to the EU to be allowed to grow food on land that has been taken out of production for environmental reasons. "It's been a disaster for livestock farmers who will not have winter feed for their animals and there has been a catastrophic loss of peas and some other vegetables. You can't even get combine harvesters into fields", said Paul Temple, NFU vice-president. "Some farmers have lost everything. Some crops are ruined. This weather is bound to have an effect on food inflation, although it's too early yet to say how severe that will be."

More than 60 days of almost non-stop rain followed by high humidity has devastated grape growers in France and Germany, according to the wine website decanter.com. A plague of mildew and rot has almost completely destroyed the Bordeaux harvest, and hailstorms and torrential rains have battered vineyards in Alsace and Burgundy. Problems have also been reported in Champagne, Beaujolais, the Loire and the Rhône valley.

In Bulgaria, which experienced its hottest temperatures in 200 years, yields of maize were 40% below average, while in Romania wheat yields were down a fifth. In Poland apple harvests were reportedly down by half, and in Hungary a large part of the blueberry stock had perished according to local reports.

"There are severe shortages of fruit and veg building in northern France, UK, Belgium and Germany," said Simon Michel-Berger of Copa-Cogeca, the leading European farmers' organisation. "Not only are crops being lost, but there is a risk that the quality will be low. Prices for all food and vegetable crops are going to increase significantly. In England there have been substantial losses."

EDIT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2136602,00.html

[msongs]

1. weather in california vineyards is just about perfect this year nt