Climate change and minimum wages, too few harvest workers and fluctuating prices: Fruits and vegetable farmers in the southwest have many worries. They hope for a certain amount of changes, both with the trade and with customers themselves. A better appreciation of regional quality and more stable prices could help.
Apples, asparagus, strawberries: Despite some very large harvests, the 2018 season was disappointing for many growers of vegetables in Baden-Württemberg. In addition to the long-lasting drought, low prices, high costs and too few harvest workers made life difficult for these growers said the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative Association (BWGV) on Tuesday in Karlsruhe. In the case of strawberries, for example, some of the revenues would not have even covered the harvest costs, according to BWGV President Roman Glaser.
After the late frosts of 2017, the amount of fruit marketed by the cooperative producer markets declined by 21 percent compared with the previous year, dropping to 143,000 tonnes. As of April 2018, almost no apples from Baden-Württemberg were on sale anymore. But last fall's harvest, at around 460,000 tonnes, was more than four times higher than the 2017 amounts. Getting products back on the retailers' shelves proved difficult because they were now occupied by goods from other regions.
For vegetables, the marketed volume increased by 2 percent to 86,000 tonnes. The total turnover of the co-operative producer wholesalers and their distribution cooperatives decreased by 8 percent to 407 million euros.
The dramatic fall in prices at the beginning of the season has severely damaged the strawberry farmers in Baden-Württemberg. The marketing price was 2.20 euros per kilogram, almost 1 euro less than last year. Despite a one-third larger quantity (10,800 tonnes), sales fell slightly to 24.2 million euros. Plums saw something similar: 243 percent more (17,600 tons) only led to 56 percent more sales (10.8 million euros).
The asparagus farmers were not satisfied. After a late start into the season, a lot of goods came available very quickly, which led to price pressures. The marketed volume sank by 5 percent to 5400 tons, sales by 10 percent to 21.7 million euros. On the other hand, the situation was more pleasing with regard to tomatoes and peppers.
Glaser named the increasing shortage of harvest workers as a special problem. "It is getting worse." The economic boom in Eastern Europe is leading many former harvest workers to find work in their home country, which means they no longer have to go abroad to find work as seasonal laborers. "The lack of harvest workers and the increasing cost pressure of the minimum wage regulations pose existential challenges for many farmers in the Southwest," said Glaser.
Alexander Bauer from the Vitfrisch Vegetable Sales eG in Neckarsulm and Johannes Bliestle from the Reichenau-Gemüse eG suspect fixed price corridors for their goods could be a way out of the dilemma. This way of doing things would provide security for both sides and is slowly gaining approval in trade. Glaser appealed to consumers to choose local fruits and vegetables when available.
Source: Heilbronner Stimme