VOLCANO MADNESS: [Geology2] Iceland volcano farmer thankful for ash cover

Monday, June 20, 2011

[Geology2] Iceland volcano farmer thankful for ash cover

Iceland volcano farmer thankful for ash cover

Posted on18 June 2011.

Hay making began near the Eyjafjallajokull glacier, site of the 2010 volcanic eruption, this Wednesday — a week earlier than last year. The farmer at Thorvaldseyri says the ash has saved a lot of money on fertiliser and that the best grass is growing where the most ash fell.

The farmer, Olafur Eggertsson, was surrounded by freshly cut hay when Visir.is contacted him on Wednesday. He reported that the grass growing season has been slow to start, "It has of course been unusually cold here like elsewhere, but now in recent days it has grown very fast and the little bit of rain we had made a massive difference".

He was afraid that the massive amount of volcanic ash that fell from Eyjafjallajokull last year would have a long-term negative impact on his hay grass. "But it actually seems it has a positive long-term effect and we are seeing very nice grass which is only receiving half the usual dose of fertiliser," Eggertsson said. "There is great saving to be made there and despite the very cold spring it is an okay time, now in mid-June, to be cutting this good grass."

The tale of optimism from Eyjafjallajokull will come as pleasant news to farmers near the Vatnajokull glacier, under which the Grimsvotn volcano erupted earlier this year.

(Photo: Anders Peter Amsnæs — taken during the 2010 eruption before the summer's green grass had begun to show)

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