High temperatures and drought can create headaches for farmers. Heavy precipitation can also occur, at least if it comes in the wrong form – such as hail. A heavy hailstorm in several places in Eastern Norway before the summer hit fruit farmers hard. Now it turns out that 10 percent of the annual apple production in Norway was destroyed. – I have neighbors who have been at it for 30-40 years, and have never experienced anything like it. It happened extremely quickly, and I couldn’t do anything about it, other than being a poor spectator, says Christian Bøhmer. The Svelvik farmer grows apples and plums, and this year’s forecast was 200 tonnes. – Within 15-20 minutes I had lost the entire crop, worth several million kroner. Damaged apples can at best be used for juice and pickling. Photo: Anders Haualand / news Uncertain future The storm a month ago lasted only a few minutes, but it was still enough. Figures from the Fruit and Vegetable Information Office (OFG) show that around 8,000 tonnes of apples are produced annually in Norway. Now over 10 percent is destroyed. Norwegian farmers are not unfamiliar with extreme weather. Christian Bøhmer lost his entire crop. – We are constantly taking measures with climate change in mind, but hail is one of the things we have limited options to protect ourselves against, says Bøhmer. He still does not have a full overview of the extent of the damage. If he’s lucky, maybe something can be squeezed into juice. – But the damage is so extensive that the apples may rot completely. We will get an answer to this when we harvest in 5–6 weeks. Because the operation of the farm must go on as normal. – We have to look after the trees anyway, so the workload is the same. And only when next year’s flowering and bud formation will we see if the trees are also weakened, or if it is only the fruit that has been destroyed. Up to 2,000 destroyed trees Fruit farmer Jon Berle has around 30,000 trees on his farm in Svelvik, two thirds of which are apple trees. When large parts of Eastern Norway were exposed to the hail attack, he escaped. He still does not get full use of what he refers to as the garden. During the winter, 1,500–2,000 apple trees were frost-damaged. – They are completely dead. And when the trees are that big when they die, it’s very stupid to replant, because by the time those trees start producing, the rest of the trees start to be too old. – So when we have finished harvesting what we can get out of this field, we have to clear it completely and plant everything again, he says. Fruit farmer Jon Berle from Svelvik escaped the storm with hail. Photo: Anders Haualand / news Caring for the trees He expects this year’s crop to be around 150 tonnes of apples, 40–50 tonnes of plums and a few tonnes of pears. In addition, he is also experimenting with apricots. When news visits him, the sun shines over the lush farm. Good rainfall combined with enough bright days have provided good growing conditions. The next few weeks will be spent maintaining the trees. Thinning, to give the apples the best possible growing conditions. In a few weeks, the first harvest will start. – It is just as exciting and fun every year. It’s the reward after a long season. There are many months of work behind each apple. Published 18.07.2024, at 15.39 Updated 18.07.2024, at 15.56
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10 percent of Norwegian apples are destroyed – news Buskerud – Local news, TV and radio
