Farmers at Sa Pobla fight frost, fear hailstones

THE Met Office warned yesterday that the snowline could drop to 300 metres today, and there could be the occasional snow fall at sea level. There will be cloudy intervals with some rain, and the risk of occasional storms and hailstones. The weather man said that night time temperatures would remain stable and daytime temperatures may go up slightly.
Farmers in Sa Pobla say that their potato crop has not been affected by the low temperatures as they have been fighting night-time frosts for the past two weeks by watering. However, they are now afraid of the threat of hailstones as few of the farmers have protective netting.
Mayor Antoni Serra expressed his concern yesterday. He said that there had been scattered showers of hail over the past few days, but the situation was now critical. Much of the early crop is exported to other European countries, with Great Britain being one of the biggest buyers. Part of the crop has already been exported, but there are still potatoes in the field and the export season does not end until June. Farmers' spokesman said that Sa Pobla is one of the few areas of Spain with an anti-frost defence system and the farmers have a lot of experience. But, he said, if the weather continues, the crop could still be endangered. “We are not worried about the snow, but the possibility of hailstones,” he said yesterday. Looking on the bright side, he said that the low temperatures have prevented mildew from developing. This generally affects the crop when there is a combination of high humidity and high temperatures. Last night, the sprinklers were working again to keep the plants moist and prevent frost.