Luxembourg's Ministry of Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development has confirmed that 2020 has been the warmest year on record since 1838, with this past year also seeing its agriculture shaped by drought.
At the end of the year, the state weather service of ASTA (Administration des services techniques de l’agriculture) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development publishes its regional weather analysis for 2020 and its consequences for agriculture and viticulture.
The analysis shows that 2020, with an average temperature of 10.9°C, was the warmest year in Luxembourg since weather records began in 1838. After the very high temperatures, there was late frost on the clear nights in March and shortly after Easter, which in places and depending on the variety, led to damage in fruit growing. The monthly temperature records in September and November 2020 should also be highlighted: on 15 September 2020, 35.2°C was measured in Steinsel and 21.8°C on 2 November in Remerschen.
The year was too dry in most places except the Moselle region, although rain records were recorded in parts of the country in February. Between 22 March and 27 April there was no rain in most of the country for over a month. July was among the 10 driest July months since 1851 at all weather stations. In Fouhren and Hosingen it was even the driest July since 1951.
The weather data comes from the measurement network of 32 automatic weather stations from all regions of Luxembourg. This year's values of the four representative stations in Asselborn (north), Clemency (south-west), Remich (Moselle valley) and Grevenmacher (Moselle valley) were compared with the average values for the reference period 1981-2010.
Agriculture suffered from drought and high temperatures
Due to the wet weather in winter 2019/2020, winter crops suffered from the heavy, clayey soils, especially in the Gutland. Overall, yields were unsatisfactory.
The heatwave and the summer drought affected all summer crops. The grain harvest recorded a drop in yield of - 20-30% on average, with very strong local fluctuations. While the yield of potatoes was satisfactory to good, corn suffered a lot from the drought throughout the region.
In grass, the most important crop for fodder production, the yield losses were considerable. In many places, cattle had to be fed with supplies that were planned for the winter. Only the change in weather in autumn made a final cut possible at the end of October / beginning of November.
For rapeseed, sowing began under difficult conditions. Many stocks were turned over and re-sown with grain. The winter grain, however, went well into the winter.
As far as grapes are concerned, the varied sun and rain mix ensured excellent development conditions. Only the young vines suffered from drought. The high number of hours of sunshine is not only noticeable in the colour, but also in the taste of the young wines with their full-bodiedness and balance. Due to the drought, however, significantly less grapes were harvested in terms of quantity with a total of 92,000 hl.
In fruit growing, depending on the flowering dates and location, individual varieties were damaged by late frost. However, 2020 was a very productive year overall for orchards.
In the entire horticultural sector, additional irrigation had to be used a lot because of the persistent dry spells.
