Summer has arrived and farmers in Majorca are busy harvesting cereal, but the forecast is poor because the quality of the grain is low, rain has reduced the crops and weeds have weakened both onion and oat plants.
Despite the bad forecasts, the harvest can’t wait because cereals are essential for farmers and ranchers on the Island.
Arnau Ferrer has been harvesting his family’s farms for 5 years, cultivating around 300 hectares of barley, wheat, oats and legumes, depending on the rotation of crops in each field.
"Rain in the past week has reduced the strength of cereals, the grain has very small ears and the size will directly affect the price,” says Ferrer.
Ferrer says the Covid-19 pandemic caused a drop in the price of lamb during the Easter holidays and he is hoping that Government aid of 6 euros per lamb sold will help reduce his losses and if the cereal harvests are as poor as they're forecast to be, the Cereal Sector will also need aid to survive.
Asaja Manager, Joan Simonet says he's confident that the Department of Agriculture will increase the number of items to obtain certified seed this year.
"This type of aid, which delivers seeds to farmers, has a really low cost for the Administration and is very important for the Sector," he said.
Arnau Ferrer is hoping profitability will improve and says “the animals don’t understand bad harvests, they need to eat daily.”