The agricultural sector in Europe is collapsing! Crops are abandoned due to energy poverty

Emmanuel Lefevre produces thousands of tons of dandelions each year on his farm in northern France, but this year he may stop growing them due to the extra energy costs needed to freeze the bulbs after harvest.

Vegetable growers in northern and western Europe are considering freezing their operations due to the economic hit from Europe’s energy crisis, further threatening food supplies.

Higher gas and electricity prices will have a negative impact on crops grown during the winter in heated greenhouses – such as tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers – and those that require cold storage – such as apples, onions and endives.

Andies in particular require a lot of energy to grow. After the bulbs are harvested in the fall, they are stored at sub-zero temperatures and then replanted in temperature-controlled containers to allow year-round production.

“We really wonder if we are going to harvest everything in the fields this winter,” Lefebvre told Reuters.

European farmers are warning of shortages. The expected production hit and higher prices mean supermarkets are likely to turn to supplies from warmer countries such as Morocco, Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt.

As they say, natural gas is the biggest cost that greenhouse vegetable growers face. At the same time, two French farmers, when renewing electricity contracts for 2023, said that they were asked for amounts ten times more than in 2021.

“Within the next few weeks I’ll make my plans for the season, but I don’t know what to do,” says Benjamin Simono de Vos, who grows cucumbers, tomatoes and strawberries south of Paris.

“If it continues like this, there is no point in continuing another year. It is not sustainable,” he adds.

Farmers are not only in trouble because of rising energy prices. The cost of fertilizers, packaging and transportation of their products is also increased.

“We are experiencing a total production cost increase of about 30%,” explains Johannes Gross, director of sales for the German consortium Reichenau-Gemüse whose greenhouses cover about 600 hectares, half or two-thirds of which is for energy.

“Some colleagues are considering leaving their greenhouses empty to keep costs as low as possible. Nobody knows what will happen next year.”

The Greenhouse Glastuinbouw Nederland network says up to 40% of its 3,000 members are in dire cash.

Even in sunny countries like Spain, fruit and vegetable growers face a 25% increase in fertilizer costs.

It is inevitable that fruit and vegetable production will shift to warmer climates, says Jack Ward, president of the British Farmers’ Association.

“We will move production further and further south, to Spain, Morocco and parts of Africa,” concludes Ward.