France's wine production is expected to fall by 18 percent this year after spring frost damaged vines, the Agriculture Ministry reports. The German Farmers' Association also announced decreased yields across the board.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K.-J. Hildenbrand
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On Friday, France's Agriculture Ministry reported that the frigid weather last spring could make wine significantly more precious this fall. Bitter cold struck twice within a week in April, ravaging fragile shoots and buds that had emerged prematurely following mild temperatures in March.
"The 2017 wine harvest is expected to be 37.2 million hectoliters (980 million gallons), which is 18 percent less than 2016 and 17 percent below the average over the past five years," the ministry announced in a statement released on Friday.
In July, the ministry reported that the cold had wrought havoc in southwestern France's wine regions such as Bordeaux and Charente, as well as in Jura and Alsace in the northeast. The ministry also anticipates losses in the Burgundy region, in Languedoc and in southeastern France.
The German Farmers' Association (DBV) reports that the frosty spring and the summer's hail have also wreaked havoc on agriculture in the Federal Republic. In addition to the smallest apple harvest since 1991, yields of pears, cherries and, yes, wine were decreased, and grain producers were experiencing a "game of nerves," with the harvest down nearly a million tons from 2016, to 44.5 million.
The hardest hit states were Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria. Attempting to put a financial value on the amount of food lost, the DBV arrived at 200 million euros ($236 million) for the April frost and another 250 million euros on the damage caused by the summer's hail and heavy rains. In some areas, there were "complete losses," DBV chief Joachim Rukwied said.
At 555,000 tons, the apple yield was just 46 percent of 2016's; pears were also about half of last year's total. Beer and wine drinkers will have to deal with a "less than average harvest" of wine and grapes, though barley was up 5 percent.
German growers have asked for federal and state assistance to augment funds from insurers to cover their losses. In 2015, they were hit by an oversupply.
Where have all the butterflies gone?
Everyone likes butterflies. They're beautiful and they don't sting or bite us. But these colorful insects have seen a dramatic decline in the past few decades. And the reason why is even more alarming.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/T. Schmitt
Delicate creatures
Across the globe, butterflies are under threat. According to the German Wild Animal Foundation, the number of butterfly and moth species present in Germany has halved over the last 30 years. For diurnal butterflies, that decline is nearer 70 percent. This photo shows Colias hyale, which was selected as Germany's "butterfly of the year" in 2017.
Image: picture alliance /Nothegger, A./WILDLIFE
Sweet juice
Butterflies adore the sweet sap from flowers and blossoms, and enjoy a broad palate. But plant diversity is dwindling, particularly in regions where intensive monoculture agriculture dominates, which leaves little choice for our beloved butterflies.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Weihrauch
Butterflies don't like pesticides
Crop protection products like herbicides and pesticides destroy biodiversity. Wild herbs, plants or flowers can't survive in areas with monoculture farming. In many parts of Germany, the scarce Swallowtail butterfly pictured here was once a common sight, but has now vanished from the landscape.
Image: picture alliance/blickwinkel/S. Ott
Insects are dying off
The big problem is that pesticides aren't only harming butterflies. Studies show that some regions have seen 80 percent decline in insect numbers compared to 30 years before. Bees, bumblebees, dragonflies, wasps, flies, bugs and butterflies - they all struggle to survive in our intensive-agricultural world of pesticides and fertilizers.
Image: picture-alliance/K. Nowottnick
Not enough to eat
A recent study shows that bird numbers are also in a decline. One reason: They can't find enough insects for food. The population of northern lapwings in Germany, for example, is estimated to have shrunk by 80 percent between 1990 and 2013. The number of whinchats has dwindled by 63 percent and black-tailed godwits by 61 Prozent.
Astonishingly, the butterfly decline is particularly obvious in the countryside. In towns and cities butterflies are more numerous. They thrive in parks, on cemeteries, on uncultivated land but even in city centers. Here, they obviously find the plant diversity which they miss in the countryside.
