Corn and beets destroyed
Heavy thunderstorms and hail leave massive damage in Aargau agriculture
The heavy thunderstorms on Sunday caused severe damage to agriculture in Freiamt and the surrounding regions. Corn, pumpkin and sugar beet fields were particularly affected, some of which were completely destroyed. The only thing the affected farmers can do is hope for better weather in the coming weeks.
The Tele M1 “Aktuell” article on the topic.
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The heavy thunderstorms on Sunday caused many cellars to flood in Freiamt. In the Reuss Valley and other regions in Aargau, it even hailed, causing considerable damage to corn, pumpkin and sugar beet fields, as the report in the video above shows.
In addition to the violent storm, the hail has caused major damage to local agriculture in the Reuss Valley. At Christoph Hagenbuch’s farm in Oberlunkhofen, the damage is likely to be in the five-figure range. “It has hit us particularly in the vegetable sector,” says the president of the Aargau Farmers’ Association, pointing to the field: “Back there, the pumpkins that are about to be harvested. That’s a shame, of course, a year’s work is gone in an instant,” says Hagenbuch.
20 damage reports from Aargau
Tele M1 has learned that the Swiss hail insurance company has so far received around 20 reports of damage from Aargau. The majority come from the Baden, Bremgarten and Muri areas. But hail has also passed through farmer Andreas Rubin’s Zwillikon in Säuliamt, just across the cantonal border: “If you look inside, you can see that everything is bent. We’ll have to harvest it soon,” he says, looking into his cornfield.
He estimates that around 40 percent of the yield will be lost. “It’s annoying. All the effort you put into weeding, other care and fertilizing. And then you see that everything has been chopped out.”
Sugar beet recovery process reduces growth
A few fields away, the storm also devastated Hannes Wildhaber’s sugar beet field. There, the hail destroyed the leaves of the beets. There will be a crop failure because it takes about a month for new leaves to grow. “The plant now takes the energy to form the new leaves from the beet’s reserves. This means that instead of storing sugar as we currently do, we will consume sugar. As a result, the beet will not grow,” explains Wildhaber.
These are not easy days for the farmers affected. Now all they can do is hope that the weather plays along in the weeks before the harvest and that they can at least use the rest of the fields. Thunderstorms could hit parts of Aargau again as early as Tuesday evening. (argoviatoday.ch/lba)
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