Farmers Rush to Harvest Crops Before Typhoon Chanthu Arrives 強颱璨樹來勢洶洶  農漁民忙防颱搶收

Worrying farmers harvest produces beforehand, fearing the typhoon will have the price and output immensely impacted.

Presenter: As the typhoon is approaching, Yunlin County farmers and fishermen rushed to harvest crops before the wind and rain arrive.

The optimal period to harvest Thai pomelos hasn’t yet arrived, but the threat of Typhoon Chanthu spurred Douliu pomelo farmers into action. They rushed to harvest the fruit before the strong winds arrived so that one year of hard work wouldn't be wasted.

Yunlin Pomelo Farmer:" The typhoon is coming, and we're going around once more to see what we can harvest. We don’t want to waste any of our hard work during the past year. We’re harvesting everything we can. The rest will depend on the weather.”

Yunlin saw several straight days of heavy rain at the beginning of August, inflicting heavy losses on vegetable farmers. This also caused the vegetable price to increase to the highest level so far this year. One month later, as farmers were preparing to harvest their new crops, a typhoon approached. Vegetable farmers also headed into the fields.

Yunlin Vegetable Farmer:”It's not yet 5:30 a.m., and we’re already in the fields. If prices can remain stable, then us farmers will be happy.”

Meanwhile, Yunlin's aquaculture farmers headed into the sea to transport baskets of oysters back to land. They worried that the typhoon’s wind and waves would carry away the oyster trestles in the open sea.

Yunlin Oyster Farmer:”Oysters get thin when typhoons come. If they’re thin, then the price will go up. (Did you collect more because of the Mid-Autumn Festival?) Yes, I collected more, but if the typhoon comes, the oysters will become thin. The current price is NT$180 per catty.”

Oyster farmers say the output this year is less compared to previous years due to heavy rain. The current source price is about NT$160 to NT$180 per catty, which is a good level. However, farmers still rushed to gather oysters to meet Mid-Autumn Festival demand and avert losses.

雖然目前還不是西施柚採收最佳時機，但因為璨樹強颱將要來襲，斗六柚農擔心颱風所帶來強風，恐怕將一年心血都泡湯，趁著風雨還未來襲前，多派人力搶收。

雲林柚農：「颱風要來了，我們把可以採收的再巡視一次，不要去浪費這辛辛苦苦所種一年東西，可以採收我們就盡量採收，還沒到的就要看天了。」

還有葉菜類蔬菜產區，8月初才因連日豪雨讓葉菜受災嚴重，也創下今年菜價新高，等待一個月後復耕現在可以收成，又碰上颱風逼近，許多農民一早就來收菜。

雲林菜農：「還沒到五點半就要到田裡了，如果價格能夠平穩我們這些農民就開心了，不用說能要多高價。」

怕受到影響的，還有雲林沿海漁民，趁著這兩天先將外海上，一簍一簍牡蠣運送回來，因為外海蚵棚只要風浪大，很容易被捲走無法收成。

雲林蚵農：「颱風來蚵就會瘦了，如果瘦了價格就又會上漲。(中秋要到了有收多一些嗎？)有啊，有多收，但是颱風若來蚵會變瘦，價格目前是每斤180元。」

當地蚵農表示，今年蚵量受到前一波大雨影響，整體收成量不比往年同期，讓目前產地蚵價格維持在每台斤160-180元好價格，但因應中秋需求與避免損失，蚵農趕緊出海搶收，希望收多少算多少。