"This culture will be a financial loss" : breeders and market gardeners are suffering from the early heat

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Vivien Baron’s herd at La Chapelle Saint-Laurent (Deux-Sèvres) has been experiencing the heat for almost four days. In total, 25 of his cows are pregnant, fragile animals at risk of thermal shock. The water in their ponds evaporates. The fence must then be moved back to ensure that they have access to water. “They need to be able to drink easily, without too many constraints. The risk is that they will have an abortion and lose their babies. And behind that, there are significant financial losses”explains the breeder.

With these temperatures, cows dehydrate more quickly, and the grass they graze turns yellow day by day. “It’s less nutritious, it’s not even nutritious at all because it looks like straw. And straw is worthless. So, in the days to come, we will be forced to bring hay so that they can feed normally.”indicates Vivien Baron. Hay that the farmer must harvest as quickly as possible before the grass dries out too much and loses its nutrients. “We are still 15 days ahead of usual, it’s more around June 15”explains the farmer again.

In the neighboring department of Charente-Maritime, the heat adds to the lack of water. Noël Michot, market gardener, planted his red cabbages three weeks ago. He must already tear them off: “The heat on it burned everything. And there, it’s over. Suddenly, there, it’s a plantation that’s lost. We, if we put ourselves in the sun too much without protecting ourselves, we get sunburn. There are plants, it’s just the same. There are plants that need sun to develop. Others, you need sun, but not heat stroke like that, not burn”he laments.

Burned plants and others whose growth is disrupted. Its einkorn is in full bloom. The hot weather comes at the worst time. “There is a risk of being really tiny grains, quite light in fact, with a very low specific weight. Knowing that we already don’t have remunerative prices, if on top of that we make a very small yield, that’s a disaster. All in all, In any case, this culture is going to be a net financial loss, that’s for sure.”

With the continued heat, Noël Michot estimates the loss at nearly 12,000 euros, just for his plot of small spelled.