Destruction by hail

Styrian hops now threatened with total failure

Hop plants actually like it less damp

(Bild: Jürgen Radspieler)

Styrian agriculture has been hit hard by the rain chaos, with damage amounting to more than four million euros. Hop farmers in particular have to fear for their livelihoods.

No, he has never experienced destruction on this scale before, Richard Stelzl tells the "Krone" newspaper. On Saturday, the South Styrian had to watch as the terrible storms destroyed his entire hop harvest within minutes.

"At first we hoped to be spared, but then the wind changed and the hail came," says the chairman of the Styrian hop growers.

Hop farmer Richard Stelzl

(Bild: Jürgen Radspieler)

Almost all the shoot tips of his plants were knocked off by the projectiles, which were up to three centimetres in size - and so were all the other hop farmers in Leutschach. So is the Styrian beer region now facing a total loss of this essential ingredient for the brewing process?

A total of 80 hectares affected
"Here in the region, virtually all of our growing areas are affected. Out of a total of 110 hectares, around 80 have been affected. We can only hope that the plants will sprout again so that we can save at least a fraction of the harvest," hopes Stelzl.

Breweries have enough stock
But at least beer lovers don't need to worry too much. "Because our breweries have a year and a half's supply. The shortages won't affect consumers at all," explains Gabriele Straka from Brauunion. The southern Styrian hops are used for Gösser and the vintage Pilsner from Reininghaus - surpluses also end up in Puntigamer and Schwechater, "but that won't be the case this year," says Stelzl.

The Leutschachers have not been overly spoiled by the harvest in recent years anyway. "It was simply too wet for that. In a good year, we're talking about a total harvest of 200 tons, but this year everything has to fall into place for it to be maybe 100 tons," says the South Styrian realistically. Hop farmers are expecting a loss of 800,000 euros this year.

In agriculture as a whole, the hail insurance company estimates the damage caused by the storms of the last few days at 4.4 million euros. The floods had catastrophic consequences, especially in eastern and southern Styria.