The war in Ukraine has led to fears of a food crisis and galloping prices. Therefore, this year’s crops have been seen as more important than in many years. And now there is good news from agriculture: This year’s crops may be better than in several years. – Best for a long time Grain and former potato farmer Ole Andreas Trongaard at Flisa likes what he sees when he looks out over the field. Now he thinks it is very good to be a farmer. – So far, I think it looks very good. Both cereals and potatoes are doing better than in several years. He tends to get the best crops in 10-15 years. The grain farmer in Åsnes says the right temperature, just the right amount of rainfall and sun has provided good growing conditions. – We will get rainfall for the week, but the grain can also withstand fine weather. The potatoes need rainfall, he says. Trongaard says good crops are also important because it means we don’t have to import so much grain from abroad. BEST: Ole Andreas Trongaard hopes for the best crops in 10-15 years. Photo: Knut Røsrud / news Norwegian farmers are encouraged to grow more wheat. According to Trongaard, several of his neighbors have done just that this year. And he is considering doing it himself next year as well. – I’ve had it before. It’s a game of chance without a drought, but I want to try, he says. – The authorities should encourage building up a larger stock of grain both for food and feed, because we no longer have much of a buffer. Good grain harvest And Trongaard is not alone in being optimistic. – The big picture for the whole country is that it looks very good for the spring grain and more like normal for the autumn grain, says communications adviser Sondre Aasen at the Norwegian Farmers Association. The hinterland is one of the areas where it looks good. – The grain harvest looks very promising, says grain adviser Erik Aaberg in Norwegian agricultural consultancy at Lena in Østre Toten. There can also be a lot of potatoes and vegetables. – There is a lot of watering, but I think what we see of the potato fields all around looks good, says the agricultural adviser. The war in Ukraine has led to increased costs. – That is why it is important that this year’s crops are good, he says. – It is very important. It will have a lot to say now in a year with such increased costs. Even if we have increased the price of grain, the farmers are dependent on good crops. There has been a lot of rain Advisor in Norwegian agricultural advice Bjørn Inge Rostad confirms that it also looks good in Østfold and Akershus. Especially for the spring grain. – It looks very good. It has picked up a lot after the rain that came. But he confirms that for autumn grain it is “below normal”. Adviser Jon Olav Forbord in the agricultural advisory service in Trøndelag says that there is also a good year ahead. But the picture is more mixed. Large amounts of rainfall in the spring put an end to the spring rains in some areas, especially where there is loamy sand. – But the overall picture for Trøndelag is that it will be a good year. If you drive the E6, it looks very good. But now we want sun, he says. Giant year for blackcurrants PROMISING BERRY HARVEST: Blackcurrant grower Gunnar Øxseth in Hernes has never seen so many berries in his field since he started 30 years ago. Photo: Stein S Eide / news It also looks very good for blackcurrants, for some. – I have been growing blackcurrants for 30 years and have never had so many berries, says Gunnar Øxseth in Hernes in Elverum. He usually harvests over 100 tonnes. This year will be a new record. What causes it? – The weather and skillful cultivation, he chuckles and adds that they are lucky in Hernes because they are not exposed to frost. Not everyone is so lucky. At Røyse by Hønefoss, all five large blackcurrant growers are affected by frost damage. The same thing happened at Stine Mølstad on Nes in Ringsaker, which has the country’s largest area with blackcurrants. Nes on Hedmarken: Stine Mølstad at Mølstad farm in Nes in Ringsaker has several hundred acres of blackcurrant bushes and the country’s largest area for blackcurrant cultivation. Photo: Private – We had some challenges in April with bare frost. As a result, we had to prune quite a bit, so the number of kilos is less than usual. But the bushes that get berries look very good, says Stine Mølstad. But there may be less blackcurrant in the shops than before. Blackcurrant farmer Gunnar Øxseth says it is due to crop failures in Poland, from which Norway usually imports blackcurrants. – The juice and jam factories in Norway are completely dependent on Norwegian berries and there is very little Norwegian, perhaps a third or a quarter of a normal year. Blackcurrant shortage: There may be only a third of blackcurrants in a normal year this year. Photo: Elisabeth Borgund Hartmann / Private Still uncertain So far, heat and rainfall have played against the farmers’ team this summer. But there are still a few weeks left until the field’s harvest is to be harvested. And there is still a lot that can go wrong, says the blackcurrant farmer in Hernes. – The worst that can happen is storms and hailstorms, and continuous rain when we start harvesting. Next week quite a lot of rain is forecast in Eastern Norway. It bodes well for those who grow potatoes.
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Farmers in Åsnes in line for best grain year in many years – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
