The meteorological phenomena that the climate crisis has intensified, from hail and drought to torrential rains, gales and fires, have increased the number of incidents in the countryside this year in Spain to levels never seen before, with a record compensation forecast which will exceed 1,2 billion euro.
It is the data managed by the Combined Agrarian Insurance (Agroseguro) system that, with the events of the month of December still to be counted, is already 48.7% more than the total for 2022, when all records were exceeded with 807 million in compensation.
The agricultural area damaged until November 30 exceeded 3.4 million hectares of the total of almost 17 million hectares of crops in the Spanish countryside. The climate crisis has worsened inclement weather, something especially visible in high temperatures, as shown by the fact that 2023 will be one of the two hottest years since at least 1961.
The other great evidence is the lack of precipitation, with a hydrological year that has left approximately 12% less rain than normal. This drought is responsible for the largest group of requests and will mean more than 470 million euro in compensation, especially in arable crops (416 million) but also in wine grapes (29.9), olive groves (12) and vegetables (9.1 million), according to Agroseguro data.
The agricultural and livestock sector has been aware of climate change for some time, which is having a direct effect on its production. “Looking for alternative crops is not quick, but we have already started the adaptation process,” underlines Joan Caball, president of the agricultural union Unió de Pagesos (UP), which a few weeks ago presented figures on the impact of the drought in the Catalan countryside.
“We have to get used to the idea that in the next six or seven years, the Mediterranean basin will have 20% less water than now. And that with that water we must continue producing food for a larger number of the population” observed, in the same appearance, Robert Savé, emeritus researcher at IRTA and professor of Ecology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB).
In Spain as a whole, farmland that did not directly suffer losses was also affected by the dry and extremely hot weather this year, with up to four heat waves during the year and maximum temperatures above 40 degrees in much of the country, as demonstrated by the drop in the harvest (-15%). It is also visible in the low harvest expected from the olive grove, with olive oil production that will be limited to 765,300 tons, 15% more than in the previous campaign, but 34% below the average of the last four, which directly affects the increase in the consumer price of this product.
The climatic instability of 2023 has also been evident in the outbreak of virulent events such as DANA last September, which brought torrential rains accompanied by hail and high-intensity winds. Last winter was marked by several frosts and the fact that it was such a dry year has not prevented disasters from being declared in different crops due to hail, floods and persistent rains. “Climate change results in an alteration of conditions, where there may be circumstances of having drought as well as floods, increases in temperatures and powerful frosts,” the insurance technician of the agricultural organisation UPA, Javier Alejandre, explains.
The hail has been the second event that has caused the most damage to the countryside in 2023, with an estimated compensation of almost 270 million for losses in fruit trees, citrus trees, herbaceous plants, wine grapes, vegetables, persimmon, olive groves and table grapes. “Hail has always existed, but what is new is that it is becoming more intense and more destructive, due to the intensity of the stone, its size and its duration,” says Alejandre.
Frosts will mean more than 100 million in compensation for damage to fruit trees, citrus fruits, wine grapes, nuts and vegetables; while the rains will force the insurance to pay at least 83 million for losses in garlic, vegetables, cherries, table grapes, fruits and industrial crops. For its part, the wind has caused damage to citrus, persimmon and olive groves, exceeding 30 million in compensation.
The rest of the compensation to complete the total estimated so far of about 1,2 billion correspond to livestock risks that affect livestock activity, as well as those derived from damage by fauna and fires.
“I understand this in a context of climate change. The increase in instability for me clearly has that origin. The conditions in which farmers and ranchers carry out our activity are changing,” says Alejandre. The UPA spokesperson indicates that this situation shows that agricultural insurance is “increasingly essential”, but he advocates that modifications be introduced to avoid its “collapse” and that it continues to be acceptable to farmers and ranchers.
One of its proposals is to differentiate between a “normal accident” and another “extraordinary” one that can be attributed to the consequences of climate change and whose compensation, as it is a phenomenon caused by society, in general, is in charge of the Compensation Consortium. and not agricultural insurance. This vision is also shared by the agricultural organisation COAG, which has recently called for “extraordinary compensation derived from climate change to be removed from agricultural insurance, so that it does not affect its price” and that these risks be assumed by the Insurance Compensation Consortium.
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