Extremely mild weather

Concern and joy among farmers due to early flowering

The extremely mild winter weather gives agriculture an early start. Vegetable growers are happy about this. But fruit growers are worried about frost later on, when very early flowering is already beginning, as is the case in many parts of the country.

For example, the first lettuces were already planted last week in the important Upper Austrian vegetable-growing region of the Eferding Basin, reports ORF-Oberösterreich online.

Vegetable farmers see "competitive advantage"
According to the report, vegetable farmer Martin Gammer speaks of a "competitive advantage" due to the weather, which has been too warm for weeks: "This means that local production is available in the supermarkets much earlier.

And that means we don't have to buy imported produce." Next up for Gammer are 80,000 small kohlrabi, cabbage and cauliflower plants.

Good year or disaster for fruit
Fruit grower Franz Allerstorfer, on the other hand, has mixed feelings about nature's early start. The first buds are currently opening on his fruit trees, three weeks earlier than usual. "The earlier the blossom, the greater the risk of a late frost," says Allerstorfer. "Because at minus four to six degrees, a considerable part of the harvest freezes off."

Stone fruit such as apricots, cherries and plums in particular could suffer from such late frosts. In recent years, this has also been the case time and again in larger growing areas in Lower Austria and Styria. However, without a winter onset with frost, it could be a good fruit year this year, they say.