On Wednesday, tens of thousands of kilograms of ripe and unripe strawberries were destroyed in Suonenjoki, central Finland, when an unusually fierce hail storm pummelled fields. Strawberries are not included in the government's policies for crop failure compensation. Nor do farming insurance policies cover damage done by natural phenomena.
Anttila says the Ministry will look into possible compensation for affected berry farmers once its experts have had a chance to review information about the hail storm.
She added that the Ministry is considering expanding the crop damage legislation to include strawberry and raspberry crops. She feels this may be a necessary step, if freak weather occurrences become more frequent due to global warming.