Doves,

RE: http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/may2007/friedrichw51-1.htm

...this is a summary from an article at 

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2464434,00.html

“Germany experienced the driest and warmest April in more than 200 years --

This spring in Germany has been an exceptionally good time for sitting outside in cafes, strolling through parks and getting some wear out of those warm weather clothes. The bright skies have put many Germans in an equally bright mood.

But the trifecta of record weather conditions in April -- it was the sunniest, hottest and driest in recent memory --

.....is putting very sour faces on the nation's farmers, since it means their livelihoods could well be in danger.

Rainfall was 95 percent below the monthly average; in some areas of the country, not a single drop of rain fell the entire month. ...

"We desperately need rain, especially the sugar beet and grain crops," said Andrea Adams, spokeswoman for the Farmers' Association of the southwestern German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. "If it doesn't come in the next few days, we can count on being hit with serious financial losses."

....Wheat is already yellowing in the fields,

.....the sugar beet. Because the winter was so mild, the beets were sowed early, at the end of March. Since then, they have barely grown. "They look exactly like when they were planted,"....

...The fruit harvest is expected to be very small because the trees – which already had an extremely short pollination period due to a mild winter and the sudden onset of summer-like temperatures --were hit with a double-whammy of heat and drought.

...The hardest hit area, with the greatest danger of widespread crop loss, is Brandenburg, said Michael Lohse, spokesman for the German Farmers' Association. The heavily agricultural area surrounding Berlin is known for its sandy soil, which doesn't retain water well.

Too dry, too early

"It is tragic," association spokesman Holger Brantsch told Tagesspiegel. "The rye is already curling up and dying. If it doesn't rain by this weekend, the crop will wither. It's getting more dramatic by the hour."

Yet meteorologists have yet to predict precipitation any time soon; the forecast calls for sunny skies for the immediate future.

German farmers have been hit by drought before, but never so early in the crop cycle. Later droughts usually mean at least some of the crop can be saved, experts say.

In terms of consumer prices, however, everything will be determined in the next few days, said Johannes Funke, spokesman for ZMP, a company that prices German farm commodities.

"In the next few days, it will become clear how much of an impact this will have," he said. "But one thing we can definitely say is, we desperately need some rain."

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Maranatha

Send us The Rain, Lord...