Kale harvest 2023: Weather chaos forces farmers to premature harvest!

The kale harvest in northwestern Lower Saxony is largely completed. According to Henrik Witte, Managing Director of Elo-Frost GmbH, the harvest campaign ended prematurely due to adverse weather conditions in autumn and frost in November. The amount of harvested kale was sufficient, but the quality left a lot to be desired. Many companies have suffered losses and crop failures due to flooding.

in Lower Saxony were grown on 344 hectares of kale in 2023, which led to a harvest of more than 5,780 tons. This corresponds to a decline of 9% compared to 2022. Christoph Wehenpohl from Vechta-Calveslage confirmed the problems caused by the weather. He himself built kale on 55 hectares, but the high demand led to an earlier harvest in late summer. The harvest was completed earlier than usual in January, although kale was still in good condition on some sand floors.

weather conditions and their effects

The continued rains and extreme weather conditions in the 2023/2024 season have significantly impaired the green cabbage harvest in Lower Saxony. Erich Klug from the Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture reported that the range of kale was greatly reduced. This is due to signs of damage to the plants, such as yellow and brown areas.

farmers such as Arnd Eyting from Wiefelstede report income that is up to 30% below the average. Gottfried Gerken from Vechta could not go to the fields with his agricultural machinery for several weeks, which led to further crop failures. The dealer Elo-Frost reported that 20-30% of the goods were missing and the market situation is considered tense. While the kale season began in October 2023 and can continue until the end of February, it remains to be seen how the weather will affect the further course of the harvest.