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🇧🇪 Belgium /Environment & Climate

Flanders Drought Hits Agriculture Hard, Consumers Feel Little Impact Yet

From VRT NWS · () Dutch

Translated from Dutch, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Persistent drought in Flanders is severely impacting the agricultural sector, with crops like corn and potatoes suffering significant losses.
  • While consumers may not see immediate price hikes in supermarkets, fresh market prices could rise due to the widespread European drought.
  • Farmers face challenges adapting to the drought, including difficulties obtaining permits for water basins and rainwater harvesting systems.

Code orange is in effect in Flanders due to the persistent drought, with groundwater levels at historic lows. More than 75 percent of monitoring points show low to extremely low levels for this time of year. This has led to restrictions on water extraction from non-navigable waterways across large parts of Flanders, aimed at protecting nature and fish populations.

The agricultural sector is feeling the strain. While the first heatwave was manageable, the prolonged high temperatures are causing significant problems. Corn crops are wilting in some areas, and early potato varieties are already showing a 20 percent decrease in yield, according to researchers.

Corn is completely wilting in some places. The potato yields also promise to be poor.

— Mark WulfranckeMark Wulfrancke, spokesperson for the General Farmers' Syndicate (ABS), describes the impact of the drought on crops.

Farmers are attempting to mitigate the effects by building water basins and collecting rainwater. However, obtaining the necessary permits is proving difficult in many locations. The restrictions on water use mean farmers without their own buffer basins or groundwater wells cannot irrigate their fields, exacerbating the impact of the dry conditions.

We are already seeing a decrease of 20 percent in the earliest potato varieties.

— Thijs Vanden NestThijs Vanden Nest, a researcher at the Institute for Agricultural, Fisheries and Food Research (ILVO), confirms the yield reductions.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by VRT NWS in Dutch. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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