Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.05.2010, Blaðsíða 34

22
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 05 — 2010
Always best price online.
Various online-offers to all Air Iceland's destinations.
www.airiceland.is
websales@airiceland.is / tel. +354 570 3030 Contact Air Iceland or
travel agent for reservation.
ÍS
L
E
N
S
K
A
S
IA
.I
S
F
L
U
4
75
69
1
0/
20
09
KEFLAVÍK
BORGARNES
STYKKISHÓLMUR
SNÆFELLSJÖKULL
DRANGAJÖKULL
FLATEY
NESKAUPSTAÐUR
BLÖNDUÓS
SIGLUFJÖRÐUR
BOLUNGARVÍK
HRÍSEY
NARSARSSUAQ
Greenland
FAROE ISLANDS
REYKJAVÍK
AKUREYRI
EGILSSTAÐIR
VESTMANNAEYJAR
ÍSAFJÖRÐUR
VOPNAFJÖRÐUR
ÞÓRSHÖFN
HÚSAVÍK
GRÍMSEY
KULUSUK
Greenland
Blue Lagoon
AKRANES Geysir
Gullfoss
Jökullónið
Kárahnjúkar
Krafla
Hallormstaður
NUUK
Greenland
ILULISSAT
Greenland
www.airiceland.is
CONSTABLE POINT
Greenland
As those European airport slumber parties
wind down and guests return to the humdrum
of sleeping in real beds, taking showers and
hopefully changing their socks, the Eyjafjal-
lajökull ash fest is far from over for the farmers
living near the base of the hard-to-pronounce-
sub-glacial-volcano.
The steaming mad volcano has already
f looded farmers with glacial water and then
pummelled them with ash. The April 14 initia-
tion has been rough thus far and unfortunately
for a group of about twenty farmers, it looks like
the hazing has only just begun.
One of those unfortunate farmers, Kristinn
Stefánsson from Raufarfell, says that even if
the volcano stops spewing ash tomorrow, there
is already plenty of it to go around blowing on
them all summer, if not longer.
Following the eruption, Stefánsson started
making preparations to leave his farm, but his
attempt to escape the ash now looks futile. “I
have bills to pay,” Stefánsson said. “The banks
aren’t going to stop demanding payments be-
cause I decided to leave my farm.”
A Hay Scarcity
Hundreds of acres of fields have been smoth-
ered by the ash and come summer this will
cause problems for farmers who won’t be able
to make the hay they need to feed their animals
during the winter. Stefánsson has already sent
30 cattle to be slaughtered and he plans to con-
tinue downsizing as it becomes necessary.
What’s more, Dairy farmer Sigurður Þór
Sigurðsson from Önundarhorn estimates it
will take one to three years before the fields re-
cover. Until then, it will cost him 1,700 rolls of
hay every summer, which he uses to feed his
230 cattle, including 36 dairy cows.
Ólafur Eggertsson, from neighbouring
farm, Þorvaldseyri, also expects he will have to
decrease the number of cattle and dairy cows
on his farm. His 2,500-acre farm is also one of
the largest grain suppliers in south Iceland and
Eggertsson said he is not sure whether he will
be able to harvest this summer.
Trashed
While the cleanup effort is already underway,
Eggertsson anticipates it will continue into the
summer. “Fire fighters spent 24 hours clean-
ing ash from the roofs of my farm, a task that
required 150,000 litres of water,” Eggertsson
told me. “There were also more than 50 people
helping shovel ash from my farm grounds, driv-
ing away 500 tons, not including my fields,” he
added.
There is also an uncomfortable uncertainty
about the eruption. “It’s tough to start clear-
ing the ash from the fields when they could
be blanketed again tomorrow, Sigurðsson of
Önundarhorn said. “Not to mention the money
gone down the drain.”
Operations have been thus far been halted
once after the wind direction shifted and farm-
ers were once again sprinkled with ash.
Time to go?
While Eggertsson, who has been farming for
35 years, says he plans to keep farming, other
farmers weigh the possibility of leaving their
farms considering the uncertainty of the erup-
tion’s course and the difficult of work ahead.
The average farmer in Iceland is 52 years
old and the average workweek is 92 hours on
a farm with 40 dairy cows, according to the
Farmers Association of Iceland. Where they
will find the extra hours is beyond me.
Sigurðsson of Önundarhorn was still di-
gesting everything when I stopped by his farm
about two weeks after the eruption. He pointed
out that the eruption was still quite fresh and it
was difficult to predict how long it would last.
It could continue spewing ash for multiple
years, and in that case the farmers may have to
re-evaluate their situation. But, at the very least,
they will take an economic hit and it will prob-
ably be time to go for a number of their horses
and cattle.
Reykjavík parties on!
Meanwhile, although Reykjavík city and the
rest of Iceland haven’t seen a spec of ash, the
tourist industry is starting to suffer as presum-
ably misinformed and hysteria-fed travellers
are cancelling their trips. So, reporting straight
from Reykjavík, I am telling you that life is
dancing on and gas masks and goggles are by
no means in fashion.
Travel | Volcano
Eyjafjallajökull Raves On
Iceland's farmers take the heat
ANNA ANDERSEN
JuLIA STAPLES
The farmer on the below picture was having a very sad day when
we met with him. He had to put down some of his horses due to the
ashfall, and was bidding them farewell.