Timing is everything for farmers

Hello! Today’s article is a personal reflection about which I would like to know your opinion.I thank Bodegas La Aurora for giving me the space to express my point of view on this issue that is affecting all farmers completely.

A few days ago it was published in the news section of this same website that the high temperatures of this summer are gradually devastating a harvest that was expected to be quite good and that due to atypical weather conditions, is completely eliminating the hopes that everyone We farmers had our sights set on this campaign.

Climate change

Climate change is the first reason that comes to mind to be able to give some sanity to these temperature changes that are doing so much damage to our crops.

If you click here, you can see a news item that was published on this website almost a year ago about the poor olive harvest of the previous campaign.

More than 60% of the harvest was destroyed in the month of May 2014, this resulted in a very short campaign and very low income for farmers.

If we look back at this year, the issue is even worse, because in the previous campaign, at least the vineyards had a considerable production that for most farmers compensated for the lack of olive harvest.

Right now, there are areas in which more than 30% of the harvest has already been lost, both of grapes and olives and with very unflattering expectations because the weather does not let up.

After all this I wonder, Are we the real culprits of all this? Are we making good use of our planet?

From my point of view, I think that there is a constant evolution of everything, both people and nature, I suppose this will pass and next year will be different. Better? Worse? Until we get there, I won’t. We will know, what I am sure of, is that we have to continue fighting and try to adapt to the situation.

Which crop is better? The olive tree or the vineyard?

After the previous reflection on the evolution of climate change, I consider adapting to it and trying to weigh the most appropriate crop, the one that best adapts to this area.

The predominant crops in this Montilla-Moriles area are olive groves and vineyards. Which crop interests me most as a farmer? The olive tree or the vineyard?

A year ago I had a very clear answer to this question after seeing how olive groves full of flowers, which would produce many olives, dried up and fell to the ground throughout the month of May.

This year an extraordinary olive campaign was expected, which has been decreasing over the months, leaving just over 60% in most places.

The current state of the vineyard is not much better either, it is true that last year we ended with a relatively good grape campaign, something that I do not think we can say about this one because more than 30% of the harvest has already been lost and as I have As said before, the forecasts regarding the weather are not the best.

If we coldly analyze the data, I think I can say that the vineyard wins over the olive tree but even if that is the case, time is everything for farmers.

It is true that there are agricultural insurance policies that reduce losses caused by inclement weather, but every farmer is proud to collect the fruit of his daily work.

Farmers depend on many factors, but I think the most important is time.What do you think about everything that was said? Are these changes over time here to stay or are they simply temporary? What crop is most productive in this area? The olive tree or the vineyard? I await your comments and I say goodbye sending you a big hug.

By Rafael Espejo.