美国国家公共电台 NPR German Farmers Struck By Drought Fear Further Damage From Climate Change

German Farmers Struck By Drought Fear Further Damage From Climate Change

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

In Germany, there have been record-high temperatures and no rainfall since early April, and that has led to a drought. Thousands of farms are now facing bankruptcy¹ because of crop failure. This week, the government pledged $390 million in aid. For many, that's not enough. As Esme Nicholson reports, German farmers are starting to question whether they can cope with climate change.

ESME NICHOLSON, BYLINE²: Farmer Tim Knobloch and his son are tilling the fields on their farm in Lower Saxony. The soil they're cultivating is some of Germany's richest. But this year it's turned to dust, and as a result, arable³ yields are down. Knobloch Sr. says he waited to sell his wheat until prices went up, and that's helped him avoid disaster.

TIM KNOBLOCH: (Through interpreter) While we harvested far less wheat than usual, the price exploded, and I was able to sell what I had at a 25 percent markup⁴. So I've only made a 10 percent loss this year. I've done well compared with other farmers around here.

NICHOLSON: As he drives past his fields, Knobloch is not as confident about the corn. He points to plants that are only waist-high. He says they should be 10 feet by now. According to the German Farmers Association, 10,000 farms are facing financial ruin. Dairy farmers are slaughtering⁵ cows because there's not enough feed. And in some areas, arable farmers have lost up to 70 percent of their crops.

BERNARD KRUSKEN: We have to look beyond summer of 2018. There has to be a second level of support. That means we need political measures to increase the resilience of farms.

NICHOLSON: Bernard Krusken is general secretary of Germany's largest farming lobby. He wants tax breaks for farmers and a detailed⁶ strategy about how to deal with climate change.

KRUSKEN: What we're seeing now is that farmers are paying the bill for other people's emissions⁷. We are making the point that agriculture can provide the solution to manage climate change.

NICHOLSON: Back at the farm house, Knobloch says he constantly adapts how he farms because of climate change.

KNOBLOCH: (Through interpreter) We try to play our part here. I introduced crop rotation⁸ because it's much better for the soil. The corn we produce is turned into biogas. We spray as little nitrogen as possible. Even our tractors are the latest fuel-efficient models. Frankly⁹, I'm not sure what else I can do.

NICHOLSON: Germany's agriculture minister, Julia Kloeckner, has promised farmers up to 340 million euros in financial aid. It's a far cry from the billion euros demanded by the farmers' lobby, but the minister says she has to justify¹⁰ it to taxpayers¹¹ who could end up paying extra for food anyway.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JULIA KLOECKNER: (Through interpreter) There's no need for panic. Supermarket shelves are still full. But some supermarkets are already cashing in and raising prices. Farmers are not profiting from these increased margins¹². I am appealing to all parties to play fair.

NICHOLSON: At a busy farmers' market in Berlin, vegetable stallholder Tim Schirmer says he's trying to cushion his regular customers from the effects of the drought.

TIM SCHIRMER: (Through interpreter) Take a look at these potatoes. They should be much bigger. But potatoes need water, so this is as big as they're going to get this year, which is bad news for a nation of potato eaters.

NICHOLSON: It's not only French fries that are set to go up in price. Breweries¹³ are worried about a shortage of barley¹⁴ and have warned that the shortfall will be reflected in the price of that other German staple¹⁵ - beer. For NPR News, I'm Esme Nicholson in Berlin.

(SOUNDBITE OF SOULS OF MISCHIEF SONG, "93 'TIL INFINITY")

1 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 arable   

adj.可耕的，适合种植的

参考例句：

• The terrain changed quickly from arable land to desert.那个地带很快就从耕地变成了沙漠。
• Do you know how much arable land has been desolated?你知道什么每年有多少土地荒漠化吗？

4 markup   

n.加价，涨价，利润

参考例句：

• This mean that international delivery will line markup from today.这意味着国际快递将从今天起全线涨价。
• Our products are expensive,and distributors and retailers always want a large markup.我们的产品很贵，经销商和零售商总是要求高额利差。

5 slaughtering   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The Revolutionary Tribunal went to work, and a steady slaughtering began. 革命法庭投入工作，持续不断的大屠杀开始了。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• \"Isn't it terrific slaughtering pigs? “宰猪的！ 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

6 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

7 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

8 rotation   

n.旋转；循环，轮流

参考例句：

• Crop rotation helps prevent soil erosion.农作物轮作有助于防止水土流失。
• The workers in this workshop do day and night shifts in weekly rotation.这个车间的工人上白班和上夜班每周轮换一次。

9 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

10 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

11 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

12 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

13 breweries   

酿造厂，啤酒厂( brewery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In some cases, this is desirable, but most breweries prefer lighter-type beers. 在一些情况下，这是很理想的，但是大多数啤酒厂更倾向于生产酒度较低的啤酒。
• Currently, there are 58 breweries producing Snow Beeracross the country. 目前，全国共有58个雪花啤酒厂。

14 barley   

n.大麦，大麦粒

参考例句：

• They looked out across the fields of waving barley.他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆。
• He cropped several acres with barley.他种了几英亩大麦。

15 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。