Plants and animals had to wait for rain in Hesse for many weeks this summer. The rainfall since September has not only been good for nature, but also works in the hands of the farmers.
Wetzlar/Friedrichsdorf (dpa/lhe) – After the massive drought in summer, autumn brought spring-like greenery back to Hesse with a little rain. This is not only good for nature and many animals after the drought months, but also improves the harvest balance of the farmers a little. For the coming days, the German weather service expects rather changeable weather with occasional heavy rain, for example on Friday night. With temperatures of up to 20 degrees for October, it remains far too warm, says Jan Kärger from the German Weather Service in Offenbach.
The rain since September has not only allowed the grass to sprout, but also helped some plants to bloom again, says Berthold Langenhorst from the environmental association Nabu Hessen. Meadow knapweed and trefoil have returned in bright pink and yellow, and yarrow is also making a comeback in some places. These are important food sources for insects. “So there is more food for bats and birds,” says Langenhorst. The mushrooms also benefit greatly from the rain and show up in large numbers in forests and meadows – for example parasol mushrooms and other species.
You don’t have to worry about plants and animals in the event of a cold snap, says Langenhorst. The weather has only a limited influence on the preparations for the winter. “The most important clocks in autumn are the length of the day and the temperature.” Already the first frosty nights would have caused the maple to turn splendidly yellow and red. Other deciduous trees also shine in the typical autumn colors.
In the animal world, insects and amphibians have started looking for frost-free winter hiding places and are now increasingly coming into houses – like ladybugs, stink bugs and spiders. In the case of the birds, the long- and medium-distance migrants have been on the flight to the southern wintering areas for several weeks. “Only short-distance migrants such as robins, chaffinches and starlings can stay here longer because of the mild weather and there is still a good supply of food,” explains Langenhorst. “So the autumnal greening and reblooming is beneficial for them.” The young hedgehogs also benefit from the greening of nature because they can search for food longer before they go into hibernation in November. “You have to eat up a lot of fat in a short time.” Sudden periods of warm weather in winter are more problematic for animals and plants because they have then adapted to cold temperatures.
However, the rain has so far brought little relief for the water availability of the trees, explains Langenhorst. In order to replenish the supplies in the deeper soil layers, from which the trees also get their water, longer rainy periods are needed in autumn and winter. “If the stocks are not replenished in winter, there is a risk of further drought stress in the coming year.” Even after the summer drought, it is also important to use water sparingly. “Saving water is now a year-round topic in Hesse,” says Langenhorst.
In the meantime, the effects of the dry summer are still being felt in the fields during the harvest. A spokeswoman for the Hessian farmers’ association explains that the previous yields from the recently started sugar beet harvest were below average. Depending on the growing region, some of the sugar beet bodies are smaller or some are rotten. In many cases, the leaves have died off or become very wilted due to the heat, making the beets more susceptible to diseases. However, thanks to the rain since the beginning of autumn, the farmers are still hoping for an increase in yield by the end of the campaign.
The summer drought also reduced the quality of potatoes in some regions. The potato harvest, which has already been completed for the most part, produced rather small tubers, and there was also considerable wireworm infestation in some cases. The worms eat burrows in potatoes. Depending on the infestation, they can no longer be marketed as table, processing or seed potatoes and are also considered to be hardly storable.
However, thanks to the rain, the farmers have caught up with grassland and field fodder: After the stocks had suffered from the drought in the summer, many farms were afraid of a shortage of fodder, but the rain had eased the situation, according to the spokeswoman. In this way, many farms were able to harvest the grassland and arable forage areas again for silo use.
For example, vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, leeks, herbs, pumpkins, winter vegetables such as beetroot, kohlrabi, lamb’s lettuce and spinach are still in the fields and will be harvested in the near future.
