Northern France vegetable farms hit by flooding

Floods in the northern French department of Pas-de-Calais have wreaked extensive damage to vegetable crops, including artichokes, cauliflowers, carrots, beetroot and celery. In Audomarois, near Saint-Omer, all the crops were apparently underwater, with damages due to be assessed once the water had receded, according to Jean-Pierre Clipet, secretary general of the departmental federation of farmers’ unions (FDSEA).

Christian Durlin, president of the department’s chamber of agriculture, estimated that 700-800 farmers had been affected. “Saturated soils can no longer absorb,” he said, “and drainage and evacuation systems are overwhelmed.” The president of the FNSEA, Arnaud Rousseau, called the situation “extremely worrying”.