Climate change strains organic apple farming in eastern Finland

Climate change has made commercial organic fruit farming increasingly unpredictable in eastern Finland, Yle reports. Hot, dry summers and severe winters are making apple harvests difficult, while old Russian varieties offer one possible solution.

Panu Hiekkala grows organic fruit in conditions he describes as extreme at his farm in Jännevirta, in the North Savo region. The farm is the northernmost commercial organic fruit farm in Europe.

The orchard has about 5,000 apple trees and 700 pear trees. All are grown on dwarf rootstocks to make harvesting easier, and every apple is picked by hand to protect its quality.

Two winters ago, severe frost and deer destroyed 1,600 trees at the farm. More than 20 deer entered the orchard after heavy snow, a wet thaw and then hard frosts created favourable conditions for them to move through the area, Hiekkala said.

Heat and drought stress the trees

Apple harvests in eastern Finland vary sharply from one year to the next. Hiekkala said climate change has become increasingly visible in farming over the past decade, with July and August unusually hot and dry in most years. These summers have also been followed by severe winters.

During the winter before last, temperatures fell to around 35 to 40 degrees below zero for a week. Hiekkala said such conditions are extreme for fruit trees.

“When you are this far north, fruit farming is at the limits. We do not get a steady harvest,” he said.

Drought and heat affect both the current year’s harvest and the formation of flower buds for the following year in August and September. If trees produce a large crop during a hot summer, they may not have enough energy to form new flower buds.

Extreme conditions have made irrigation systems essential for all specialised farming in eastern Finland.

Russian varieties offer resilience

Hiekkala’s farm has been particularly successful with old apple varieties from the Soviet era that were bred to withstand demanding conditions. They carry what is known as the VF gene, which makes them almost completely resistant to apple scab.

“It does not matter whether water, sleet or old grandmothers fall from the sky. Diseases do not attack these varieties,” Hiekkala said.

The varieties came from a nursery in Hirvensalmi. They were brought there from the Soviet Union by fruit-growing pioneer Anssi Krannila.

One of the varieties grown at the farm is Solnysko, a Russian apple variety resistant to apple scab and mummy diseases.

Finland produces only about 10 to 15 percent of the apples consumed in the country, leaving considerable potential for growth. Organic fruit farms cover about 100 hectares across 100 farms, making the average farm small.

Most of Finland’s domestic apples are produced in Åland and Southwest Finland, but those regions do not produce organic apples, Hiekkala said.

“Organic fruit farming is not among the easiest forms of farming. It cannot be done with conventional Finnish or European varieties,” he said.

Russian scab-resistant varieties are also becoming available to ordinary consumers through plant nurseries. Hiekkala remains cautious about predicting whether warming temperatures will allow apple farming to expand further north.

“Over the years, I have become very cautious. I do not really say anything about the future,” he said with a laugh.