Eastern Norway: – Starting to become a crisis

While beach-loving Norwegians flock to beaches and bathing spots, farmers in eastern Norway are doing their best to save this year’s crops from drought.

Andreas Næss, 29, is a fifth-generation farmer at Greåker in Sarpsborg. Like other farmers, the grain harvest was good last year after being hit hard by the epidemic and steep price hikes.

If it doesn’t rain soon, this year’s yield will be completely different from last year’s.

– Drought is a very big concern. 1.5 mm of rain has fallen since sowing on May 9. This is nothing, says Næss, and continues:

– This is starting to become a crisis.

– Incredibly scary

The farm Næss operates is, he describes himself, a medium-sized farm with 1,100 acres of grain production.

According to the weather report, temperatures up to 30 degrees Celsius and zero rainfall mean bad business for the farmer.

– The 29-year-old says that the grain is stressed and ripened, which means the yield is reduced.

He says this is an added difficulty for a young farmer who has not accumulated any capital.

But only less money scares him.

– This is incredibly scary, given Norway’s preparedness. If the grain is low, the readiness will be poor. We are not as self-sufficient as we should be.

Prohibits the use of open flames

Drought in southern Norway affects more than farmers. In recent weeks, firefighters have had to fight to put out fires in several places on the landscape in Østfold.

The forest fire risk is so high that fire chiefs in the eastern region decided to introduce a ban on open fires in large parts of eastern Norway on Thursday.

The eastern part consists of Romeric, Folo and Ostfold, and has a population of just under 800,000.

– Fires and bonfires will be banned, but grilling is still allowed in areas where fires cannot be made, says Fire Chief Rickman Bentz. NRK.

The ban will apply for three weeks and may be extended if necessary.

In a post on Facebook, Øst 110 Central writes that fires are small coffee fires, fire pots, storm kitchens and other cooking devices with fuel. Grill means disposable grills, charcoal grills and gas grills.

Cook: – Be careful

In Sandefjord and Larvik, there is already a ban against the use of open fires in inland areas, including authorized fires.

On Thursday afternoon, Aktor followed suit and introduced a total ban on open fires from Friday and three weeks.

That means there’s no bonfire on Midsummer’s Eve this year.

Edge cutting is prohibited southeast of Oslo due to the risk of forest fires.

– Glen Signeben, project manager at Mesta, told the NTP that we are following the advice of the fire service to reduce activity that could cause a fire.

Cutting legal visibility zones is more frequent – ​​as is cutting edge on national roads, with heavy traffic and long distances to forests. Nevertheless, cutting takes place only at night and with additional fire extinguishers.

– There is still some moisture at night, which reduces the risk. That’s why we only prune at night, says Signebone.

The golf club in crisis

Farmers are not the only ones wishing for a good rain.

Sandefjord Golf Club is struggling with drought. Two weeks before the Election Commission, only weeds grow on the pitch.

NRK First mentioned the problems with the golf club.

– The less grass, the more water it needs, says managing director Vanaja Montgomery.

He says the upcoming championship will be played on a course that is “not very beautiful” and will have tough playing conditions.

– You still get the drill. If you normally hit 150 meters, now you hit 200 meters.

The club is still struggling with injuries in the 2017/2018 season, where a harsh winter and hot summer took its toll on the golf course.

Now the same thing happened again.

– This has consequences for the rest of the season, because the dying grass cannot recover and we have to reseed. “There will be big costs with us this season and next,” says Montgomery.

Fortunately, it wasn’t dark.

– Greens are good, we appreciate them every day. General manager says this is our gold.