Soon a drought committee in the Somme. The prefect must hold one in the coming days to “fix the prospects for a return to normal”, learned France Bleu Picardie from the State services, which specifies that he “it will take several more weeks, or even several months, for the most affected basins to return to seasonal levels.“. As we can see, despite the autumn, the drought is resisting in the Somme. The Bresle, in the west of the Somme, remains on heightened alert; the Maye, the Avre, the Somme remain on alert Ancre is out of the woods, according to the last two readings that have returned to normal.These temperatures, which are above 20 degrees during the day, are worrying farmers in the Somme.
Potato storages threatened by too mild weather
This is the case of Simon Catteau, based in Sailly-Laurette near Albert: 1000 tons of potatoes sleeping in a huge shed: “Potatoes should be kept at around 10 degrees. : we are not even at these temperatures at night right now! And the preservation system takes fresh air outside at night to ventilate the pile, but with the current conditions the pile is at 15 degrees“These potatoes are intended for industry, for making mash and fries; the risk if temperatures do not drop: “We will have potatoes that will rot, and if too many potatoes turn, the whole pile will go into a lollipop__. We’re supposed to keep these potatoes until spring, so the temperatures are going to have to come down.“, details Simon Catteau.
Carrots still in the ground with too mild temperatures
Simon Catteau is also worried about possible losses on his 50 hectares of carrots, which remain in the ground because of the too mild weather : “The carrot pulls out at temperatures below 12 degrees. And then in terms of storage, it’s done in fridges at 0.5 degrees. L_the difference between the temperature of the fridges and the outside is too great__, so the fridges are running at full speed: it’s problematic with energy prices_.”
The farmer also fears sudden frosts or rains, which could kill the carrot foliage. This would make it impossible to harvest the carrots and would mean significant losses.