Drought accelerates harvest, strains Rhine shipping and tourism in Rhineland-Palatinate

## Agriculture

The harvest in Rhineland-Palatinate is turning out better than feared, farmer and winemaker associations report, but the picture is uneven. High temperatures accelerated ripening, producing an unusually early and compact harvest. Winter barley benefited from winter moisture and delivered above-average results in many areas, and rapeseed also counts among the winners. Winter wheat is mixed: after a promising start, spring drought and heat during grain filling cut yields in some regions.

Maize is the crop under the most visible stress, with stands ranging from well-developed to severely damaged. Non-irrigated potatoes are also suffering, and grassland saw a satisfactory first and second cut in many places while a third cut failed to materialise regionally. The associations stress that rainfall is now decisive to limit further yield and quality losses.

Wine and fruit

Vines are still predominantly healthy, but young plantings and shallow, steep-slope vineyards are increasingly under drought stress. In orchards, sunburn on apples and drought damage to plums and strawberries are causing losses. Growers are watching the sky: without rain, the damage will deepen.

The high temperatures accelerated the ripening process and led to an unusually early and compact harvest.

Shipping and BASF

For BASF, the region's largest employer, the low Rhine is a manageable challenge for now. The company moves 40 percent of the goods at its Ludwigshafen headquarters by ship. A spokeswoman said supply of raw materials and deliveries to customers are secured. At the current water level all vessels can sail, but none can be fully loaded, so BASF is deploying more ships, including low-water vessels.

Three years ago the group unveiled "Stolt", a transport ship with an especially shallow draft that now runs permanently between Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Ludwigshafen. In the past, low water forced temporary production stops at the site. BASF sees urgent need to implement the "Abladeoptimierung Mittelrhein" project, which it calls the single project in the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan with the best cost-benefit ratio. The company is a co-signatory of the federal government's "Low Water Rhine" action plan.

The supply of raw materials for production and delivery to our customers is secured.

## Tourism

The state's tourism industry started 2026 with a clear increase. The Ahr valley recorded the strongest rise, with 14.6 percent more guests, while campsites and motorhome pitches were especially popular, growing 14 percent. Most visitors came from Germany; among foreign guests the largest groups were from the Netherlands, the United States and Belgium.

Hotels and restaurants are hoping for further growth. Gereon Haumann, president of the DEHOGA Rhineland-Palatinate, pointed to booking patterns.

We Germans are calendar people.

For cabin ships, however, the outlook is tightening. The Waterways and Shipping Office Rhine in Bingen recently cautioned that, depending on the weather, a moment will arrive when hotel ships can no longer operate.