Ulrich Rotzinger and Ramona Schelbert
Heavy rain and hail struck through the weather protection. Fruit grower Dominik Hurni (40) from Mörigen BE shows the holes in the rain roof, a construction made of nets and foils. He can stick his finger through some. The roof should protect at least part of the cherries harvest.
But it only did that to a limited extent. “Even the weather protection was not able to withstand the hail and storm,” says Hurni. “Parts of the structure collapsed under the load, nets and foils tore. It literally ruined our cherry harvest. ”
Storms on the scale of the last few weeks, Hurni cannot remember anything like that: “We have hail from time to time, but it has never been so bad.”
Rain promotes rot
He draws a bitter conclusion: those cherries from rows of trees without protection are useless. “These Chriesi are devious, they rot on the branch and can no longer be sold,” says Hurni.
The rain favors the rotting of the cherries. “Two or three more days, then the cherry season will be over for us,” says Hurni. After all: he will still be able to offer a small part of his cherries at markets and in the farm shop. Business with retailers is no longer possible.
Things went better with the strawberries that he grows on a farm in Worben BE. A residual amount is also useless: “It hailed it too.” He was able to sell most of the harvest, although the heavy rain in June had a very negative impact on it.
Young farmers lose weather protection
Hurni, who is also the president of the regional fruit growers, tells how it has hit other farms as well. It is bad for those who have just started farming. Some have completely lost the protective structures, others like himself got away with it more lightly.
According to the harvest forecast by the Swiss Fruit Association, the weather is making a huge dent in the berry season for farmers. Outdoor crops that were not sheltered from the weather failed or were delayed.
Despite everything, the fruit farmer Hurni remains positive: “We got away with a black eye. You have to take the weather as it comes. The crop failure is annoying, however. ”