66,977 views
Heat, drought and low yields - for many farmers in NRW, the summer of 2018 was a state of emergency. The summer of 2018 hit agriculture particularly hard. Heat and drought caused the driest and hottest summer period that NRW had experienced since weather records began. Quarks meets farmer Paul-Christian Küskens on his farm - he is also struggling with the drought. He keeps 67 dairy cows and makes a living from farming. Cows need good feed so that they can produce enough milk. Paul-Christian Küskens feeds his cows mainly with silage maize, which he grows on his drought-stricken fields. In 2018, his harvest is threatened by disaster due to the extreme drought. Due to the heat and drought, the maize has grown poorly and there are hardly any grains. The reason: it hasn't rained for weeks. In large parts of NRW, heat and drought are causing the maize fields to dry up. The drought in 2018 has brought many farms to the brink of existence. Animals were slaughtered early and feed was bought at high prices. Those who can still afford it are irrigating their fields. Farmer Mario Brocker grows carrots and has to irrigate his fields to counteract the drought. Rapeseed farmer Christoph Heimann, on the other hand, is rather happy with the drought. Dry pods mean that the rapeseed can soon be harvested. Author: Elmar Sommer, Amanda Mock From our broadcast on December 4, 2018. --- Thanks for watching! Did you like the video? Then subscribe now to the only official Quarks channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Quarks?sub_co... Quarks on Facebook: / quarks.de Also visit: https://www.quarks.de #Quarks on Instagram: / quarks.de / beautyquarks Here you can find the clip in the WDR media library: https://www1.wdr.de/mediathek/video/s...