This year's harvest is just a memory. Rapeseed sowing is slowly starting, and with it comes the time to sum up this year's harvest. How do farmers from the Lublin region assess it?
As farmers say, there were no records, but it's not bad either. Especially compared to other parts of the country, where the weather was less kind.
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The crops were good, I won't complain – says Henryk Pawelec, a farmer from Kolonia Chmiel in the Lublin province, in an interview with Farmer.pl. – When it comes to rapeseed and wheat, they were really at a high level, despite these droughts. Maybe these droughts didn't affect us that much. These water resources were enough to build a good crop. In the case of later varieties, unfortunately, but these crops were at a level I would say low. Not even average, but low – he adds.
Hubert Adamiec, a farmer from Krzesimów in the Lublin province, also talks about yields at the multi-year average level.
The yields from the multi-year average were similar, not higher and not lower. For now, everything has gone to storage, for now we are focusing on field crops and we will consider selling them from September – he adds in an interview with Farmer.
The most stress-free harvest in years
What surprised farmers this year was definitely the time it took for the crops to be ready for harvest. The significantly accelerated vegetation and early spring meant that the harvest was also significantly accelerated.
The harvest in the Lublin region, at least here, in our area of the Lublin district, near the Świdnica district, went quite smoothly – Jarosław Miściur, a farmer from the Lublin province, reports in an interview with the Farmer editorial office. – I can say that it was one of the fastest harvests, because I, on my farm, finished the harvest on July 24, whereas in previous years I actually started on July 24.
Mariusz Augustyniak, a farmer from Świdnica County, has a similar opinion.
The start was a big surprise, because we had an earlier vegetation period, just like in previous years, but this year a very dry May and at the same time a rather dry and very hot June meant that the harvest started a month earlier – says the farmer in an interview with Farmer. – Considering how the harvest went in the last 3-4 years, I can say that the last ones were the most stress-free.
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The weather during the harvest was favorable for farmers from the Lublin region, but high temperatures during the growing season significantly affected the parameters of the cereals.
I can clearly state that the yields are lower than last year, but they are at a good level – he adds in an interview with Farmer Miściur. – You hear in the Lublin region that it is very divided. Some of the wheat does not have the parameters, but this may also be related to the very high temperatures in the field, very fast ripening and the wheat did not have time to produce as much protein. I had wheat on the farm that was early, which has very good parameters, but there are also varieties that do not fully meet these parameters of quality wheat.
Crop is crop, and the problem is, as always, its price. As the farmer emphasizes, prices are very low, completely inadequate to costs and sales at this point are completely unprofitable. Will it be a good year? Farmers are full of fears.
There is a big unknown here, because it depends not only on what we have produced and for how much, but also for how much we will sell it – says Mariusz Sławek, a farmer from Majdan Kozice Górne, in the Lublin province. – We still have the legume harvest ahead of us and I expect very low yields and poor quality, so in the case of legumes this is definitely the added value, i.e. the position, but when it comes to profitability, it probably won't be in this case – he convinces.
Despite good harvests, farmers fear that they will soon once again have to face an influx of agricultural products from abroad.
When it comes to vegetables, there was a period of severe drought, fungal diseases came later, and in my case, broccoli withered. However, when it comes to cereals and agricultural plants, the yields are at a very good level – says Marek Szuster, a farmer from Strzeszkowice in the Lublin province. – There is a high yield, good quality, but unfortunately everything depended on various places in the Lublin region. I am worried that once again, whether we want it or not, the same will flow to us (as in previous years – editor's note) when it comes to vegetables, berries and other products – worries the farmer. – Unfortunately, we have a problem with sanitary supervision to check and compare what kind of products coming from outside the EU are lying on our shelves. Often, it is something that should not have come to Poland at all. The price works wonders, apparently – he sums up.
As we hear from farmers in the Lublin region, it is still too early to say whether this will be a good year. Despite satisfactory harvests, the specter of low prices still hangs over them, as well as the influx of agricultural products from across the eastern border, which has completely deregulated our market in recent years.
