What can we expect this autumn in agriculture?

2022. September 30.

With the onset of September, the cooler weather has arrived and the harvest, grape, apple, pear and plum season is here, but let’s not forget the seeds and fodder.
This year, for example, fewer apples are likely to be on store shelves, but sunflower and wheat prices are also set to rise sharply.

Let’s see what’s in store for agriculture in the next few months!

Apples could become a scarce commodity in Hungary

This year looks set to be the weakest apple crop in 10 years.
Forecasts suggest that the continent will produce around 12 million tonnes this season.
Indeed, most European countries revised downwards their estimates in August, as apples were affected by the severe drought.
The fall was only partly due to a lack of rainfall, as storage costs are high alongside production costs.
As a result, many people have given up harvesting the crop, as there is little labour available.
As on the continent, the situation in Hungary is no better, with a volume of around 300-350 thousand tonnes expected, the lowest in 10 years.
Compared to last year’s 520 thousand tonnes, you can see how much the ratio has fallen.
In European terms, however, there has been no fall, which is a positive sign.

What can we expect from walnuts?

Although the drought has helped to prevent the early emergence of pathogens on walnuts, the excessive heat and recent rainfall have triggered the emergence of infections.
The more rain that falls, the more fruit cracks, setting back the walnut crop for this year.
Spraying at this time of year is still worth a try, as it can help the nuts to rot less.
There are several sprays available to clean the surface in the weeks before harvest.
One is Bellis and the other is Switch 62.5 WG.
The latter is also an excellent solution against moniliaceae, but can also be used in containers to control infectious grey mould.
Attention should also be paid to any clumping eyes, as rodents and droppings indicate the presence of apple moth.
Its caterpillar survives the winter inside the walnut to attack the apple again in the spring.
It is therefore not worth leaving even a bad-looking crop on the apple, as this will encourage the pathogens to multiply.

Egg prices rise spectacularly

Egg prices seem to rise almost week by week, mainly due to cost increases and a reduction in livestock numbers.
The more expensive they are sold in shops, the less it is worth keeping them, as demand will not be as high.
In addition, it is no coincidence that eggs are expensive, as the price of all feed is one and a half to two times higher than it was at this time last year.
A small household can no longer afford this, but often even larger farms cannot keep up. For livestock farmers, the cost of feed is clearly the most significant expense, which is a drain on their money.
The war and the drought have not helped either, with much lower yields of maize and sunflowers.
In addition, energy has become more expensive, as most plants use electricity and gas, which they can no longer produce themselves at these costs.
The increase is huge and there is no end in sight.
Eggs, for example, are getting more expensive by the week, slowly reaching the HUF 100 price per egg, which is incredible when you consider that at the beginning of the year they were around HUF 40.
At the same time, no food made from eggs will cost the same as before.
We should also expect an increase in the price of pasta, cakes and even various ready meals.

What are rapeseed growers facing?

Rapeseed growers face huge challenges this autumn.
With climate change came drought, followed by heavy rainfall.
This has resulted in the eyes of the cereal crops becoming much smaller and the combine harvester has probably spread the straw over the area.
This may have resulted in a higher than usual amount of stubble being ploughed into the soil, which also prevented the cereals from flooding.
They will therefore germinate together with the rape, which will start to damage them.
Germination is continuous, so farmers will need to control the disease in rape 2-3 times during the autumn.
So it is a good idea to spray autumn oilseed rape to give the forage a chance to develop.
This autumn will not be easy for farmers, but it will not be easy for buyers either.
Rising energy prices and the summer drought have not only increased the amount spent on protection, but also the prices of fruit, vegetables, eggs and feed.
And it’s not over yet!