Business
The drought in summer was not an issue for Upper Austria’s foresters compared to other regions in Austria, on the contrary. Agriculture and forestry are hoping for a dry autumn.
Because now the corn harvest is regarding to begin, and there is also a lot to do in the forest at the moment. So now is the time to take care of the trees and make the forest climate-friendly.
“Good precipitation distribution in the growing season”
The summer of 2022 was very hot and dry. Across Austria, precipitation was below average. Nevertheless, forestry in Upper Austria is satisfied with the season, according to Johannes Wall from the Chamber of Agriculture: “This year we had a good distribution of precipitation in the vegetation period. And it is crucial for the forest that it rains once more and once more in the summer months.”
Hoping for a dry autumn
And the harvest season in agriculture and forestry is not over yet. For many farms, the weather will also play an important role in the coming weeks, according to Crop Production Director Helmut Feitzlmayr: “We are now hoping for a dry, beautiful and sunny autumn. On the one hand for a good sugar content in the sugar beets, and on the other hand for low drying costs for corn, because this might be very expensive with the current gas prices.”
While the drought has led to harvest losses in large parts of Austria, dry weather is now also an important factor in being able to finish the harvest in Upper Austria with a really high yield.