Pessimism is making its way in the grape sector. As the vintage season progresses in the different wine regions of our environment, the problems do not stop growing. The first was the price, with the farmers on a war for some prices that consider “ruinous”now, to this is added pessimism regarding the volume of the harvest.
34 million hectoliters. The 2025 harvest It is on its way to becoming In one of the worst views in recent years as the union of small farmers and livestock (UPA) recently stressed. Your concern is based on Estimates of the agro-food cooperative sector organization of Spain that indicate that this year’s wine production will be about 34 million hectoliters.
As a contrast, The UPA points outan average season the wine production would be around 40-43 million hectoliters.
From optimism to pessimism. The new estimate implies a remarkable cut with respect to the initial calculations, which trusted them to produce this year about 37.5 million hectoliters of wine and must. This fall is a reflection of an important change in the perception of what this harvest would be: of a optimism marked by the end of drought We have moved to a context in which pessimism predominates.
Meteorology not so favorable. Meteorology has played an important role. The arrival of the rains seemed to bring new hopes to an agricultural sector punished by drought. However, hail storms, numerous this year, have taken its toll.
He has also left his imprint in the harvest an extremely warm and drier summer than usual: the high temperatures of last month (in which we saw an intense heat wave) and the lack of rainfall have made a dent in the harvest, according to the UPA.
More perhaps than meteorology, the sector also worries the climate: the UPA He also stood out The vulnerability of the sector to climate change, whose negative impact estimated at about 439,788 hectoliters, 1.4% of the harvest.
The impact of the Mildiu. Another factor mentioned by the sector is that of Mildiu. This plants’ disease is a disease caused by fungi that infect plants and causes problems that end up being reflected in the productivity of the field. This Andalusia year, La Rioja, and Castilla y León have been the most affected communities according to the organization.
A cGlobal RISIS. The volume of the harvest is just one of the problems that concern farmers. In its statement, the UPA also speaks of the uncertainty posed by the new US tariff policy, as well as the controversial reform of the common agricultural policy, the PAC.
Although perhaps this year the great source of controversies has been economical. There have been several occasions in which farmers have protested because they consider that the prices offered by the wineries are not fair and that they focus on the crisis to their sector. To this we must add a structural problem in the sector, and that is that changes in consumption patterns have significantly punished the consumption of wine and many other alcoholic beverages.
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Image | Mali Maeder
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