display
Nicoletta Cogoaru is pretty much alone at the moment when it comes to sorting asparagus.
Alone, the Romanian sorts freshly harvested asparagus spears into colored plastic boxes in a large hall on Andreas Löding's farm.
She is separated from her Polish colleagues by a fleece curtain.
“That is a requirement of the State Occupational Safety and Health Authority.
When the work quarantine is over, the curtain will be removed, ”says Löding.
Cogoaru has no problems with the curtain, and she also takes the other corona restrictions calmly. “After work, I have to go to my room right away and can only meet my roommate, but that's fine. Nobody should get sick, ”she says. She already knows her roommate from home, they lived in the same village. “At least we have something to tell each other here,” says the young woman.
Löding employs a total of 25 harvest workers from Poland and Romania on his farm in Buchholz in the municipality of Pogeez.
“We had to deal with a lot of formalities before the seasonal workers were allowed to enter,” says Löding and shows you the large file folder full of forms.
For example, during the first 14 days after their entry, workers are only allowed to live and work together in fixed groups of no more than five people, only be promoted within their group, and have no contact with other people, Löding lists.
display
This sometimes leads to strange situations.
"None of the Romanian harvest workers has a driver's license and since they are not allowed to have contact with the Polish seasonal workers, they have to walk to the asparagus field," says Löding.
But Cogoaru says: "It doesn't matter, it only takes five minutes."
The Polish harvest workers play table football in their container accommodation in Buchholz.
They also work and live together to reduce the risk of corona infection
Source: dpa / Markus Scholz
At the Schäfer asparagus farm in Wiemersdorf in the Segeberg district, around 60 harvest workers enjoy full board in accordance with the requirements of the state health and safety authority.
"We cook the food centrally for everyone and the seasonal workers eat in their accommodations," says farmer Christian Schäfer, who has been running the farm since 2016.
“The accommodations are all equipped with kitchenettes so that you can prepare your own breakfast and dinner,” he says.
There is also a shop in the yard with groceries, sweets, drugstore items as well as mobile phone charging cables and SIM cards.
On the other hand, at the Beeck asparagus farm in Hamberge in the Stormarn district, the 19 harvest workers take care of themselves. "At the beginning we offered communal catering, but that wasn't so well received," says farmer Matthias Beeck.
"Since none of the harvest workers is still in work quarantine, two of them can go shopping in town," says Beeck.
display
According to the Schleswig-Holstein Farmers' Association, the number of foreign harvest workers in the state is roughly the same as last year.
"As far as we know, the number of harvest workers is barely sufficient," says the association's press spokeswoman, Kirsten Hess.
"But we don't know what percentage of the entry applications were rejected by the state occupational health and safety authority at the Unfallkasse Nord," says Hess.
The strict hygiene requirements come at a price.
Löding puts his additional costs for additional living quarters for his seasonal workers at several hundred thousand euros.
He even set up a quarantine container - just in case, as he says.
Schäfer speaks of around 230,000 euros in additional costs that he has already incurred this season.
Asparagus farmer Andreas Löding with a file folder in which he has collected all the regulations for the employment and accommodation of his harvest workers under Corona conditions
Source: dpa / Markus Scholz
The seasonal workers remain calm.
When asked what he spends his evening with because he is not allowed to leave the remote courtyard, Pawel Haczynski from Poland replies: "Shower, eat, sleep - like every year."