It lasts a year. And yesterday’s episode only makes the situation worse. The year has been complicated since October 15, 2023, the rain doesn’t stop
laments Jean-Christophe Richard, president of the Loire-Atlantique peasant confederation. With the consequence of undermining the morale of farmers.
He remembers the fall of 2023 when sowing conditions were already complicated.
Spring 2024 came with sowing of sunflowers and corn which took place in difficult conditions. In my opinion, the sunflower will stay in the fields…. It wasn’t ripe, and going to harvest it now isn’t going to be easy…
As for sowing cereals in July 2024, they have hardly been simpler.
As of October 15, usually we start sowing the cereals. I can tell you that this will not be the case on this date.
Until mid-December, it won’t be too late, provided that the soils dry out. Last year we sowed in the mud, and it was a disaster…
“Absolutely crazy”
Ces violent and very brutal climatic hazards
also disrupt the daily lives of Nantes market gardeners, forced to juggle between their different crops, those sheltered by greenhouses or large sheds and others in the open field. We are heading towards crop losses, we are very worried, indicates Régis Chevallier, president of Nantes market gardeners, based in La Planche. In my area, rivers like the Ognon are overflowing, it’s absolutely crazy
.
He himself risks losing two tonnes of radishes by Friday due to the heavy rain (nearly 60 mm) this Wednesday, which prevents him from accessing his land. We no longer control anything. We still concentrated our work outdoors from Monday morning for spinach and yesterday Tuesday. Planning is an obsession, we have been living in autumn for a year with very little light. There is incredible rainfall: in twelve months, we have already had 1,300 mm while normally it is 800 mm
. Régis Chevallier also recalls the usefulness of greenhouses and shelters to protect very fragile crops such as salads, radishes or lamb’s lettuce
.
Muscadet fares better. According to François Robin of the Nantes Wine Federation, there will be no consequences for the wines because the harvest is over
.
