Grain farmer Ólafur Eggertsson at Thorvaldseyri, located at the base of Mt. Eyjafjöll in south Iceland, said the area is looking at a record grain harvest this year, that the harvest will at least be 1,000 tons. Also, the wheat has never looked as good as it does this year.
Grain farming at Thorvaldseyri. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
Eggertsson, who is also chairman of the Association of Grain Farmers in Iceland, told Morgunbladid that harvesting has been successful and that fields below Mt. Eyjafjöll have not suffered any damage because of the weather this year.
At Thorvaldseyri barley, wheat and rapeseed is grown. The rapeseed was harvested in late August and early September. “We are threshing rapeseed ten days later than in Germany and the harvest is a similar amount for each hectare as in Germany. After we started reaming oil, we get just as much out of it as from German rapeseed.”
The wheat, which has also been harvested, amounted to approximately 15 tons from four hectares. The barley harvest is three to four tons per hectare. Eggertsson is eager to furrow new fields and increase the capacity of grain farming in Iceland.
“The only option is to strengthen the domestic production and save foreign currency. We hope that all of this grain can be used for fodder for dairy and pork farmers and that the fodder centers will start doing business with us,” Eggertsson concluded.
