Those who did not take out insurance knew the risks. The state is not supposed to save winemakers, readers write

The editors of Seznam Zpráv have selected the most interesting opinions for the Readers’ Forum from the discussion on the article about insufficient frost insurance for winegrowers and fruit growers, which farmers claim is too expensive and not worth it.

Read the original article:

Petr Pešek: When it froze, it froze. There is no insurance, so there will be no money. Does anyone subsidize the sock manufacturer when the yarn doesn’t arrive? Factories when the input material runs out? Only the riders always have their palm set. Take loans, cough up insurance policies, and the reality is here. If you don’t know how to get out of it, sell it and go to Kolbenka. (Editorially shortened.)

• Pavel Druhak (responds): Not that I want to stand up for them. But it quite commonly happens that when the big corporations have problems, they get a state injection and things go on happily again. I remember, for example, Madeta, Czech Post, Czech Railways.
• Honza Chalupa (responds): Nonsense. The manufacturer can order the yarn from elsewhere, as well as the input material to the factory. The winegrower and orchardist can also order warm weather, but nature will do what it wants. It’s just that once it’s gone, it won’t come back. OK, if frost tolerant crops are going to be grown here, there will only be canola and corn and a few others. But I personally don’t want a long-standing tradition to be eliminated just because of global warming. They grow some of the best fruit in the world and make some of the best white wine in the world, and I certainly don’t want that to end because of one year when they freeze and the companies shut down. I’d rather donate my taxes to them.

Jiří Palkovič: Doing business involves risk. That’s what insurance is for. Why should I, even if I don’t drink wine, pay for someone else’s business failure? In agriculture, it is necessary to create reserves for worse years, and not shout for subsidies every year! As a gardener, I have damages worth several thousand. And I’m definitely not going to go around begging the neighbors for a donation so that it didn’t happen.

Jirka Plasil: Wine is just one type of alcohol that, for some unknown reason, is not taxed like other types of alcohol. The government is constantly resisting this and prefers to increase the excise tax on cigarettes. She does well there. And are people supposed to cry because not so much wine is made? If someone grew tobacco and also froze, would it also be a cause for concern that fewer cigarettes would be produced? Why do you keep upgrading the wine to something better? Why is there no excise tax of CZK 10 on that box? That alcoholics can’t do it, or what?

Radek Bardon: Dear friends, leave our winemakers alone. It is our centuries-old traditional production of the drink of kings. In Europe, we occupy one of the leading positions in terms of quality. If we allow irresponsible politicians to destroy this tradition, we will not be well.

• Marek Rac: Come on. I would leave the winegrowers alone and stop bothering them with subsidies and similar nonsense. As you say, it is a centuries-old tradition, so perhaps during that time they learned how to make a living without state support.

Helena Hakova: Don’t cry so much again. My wine also froze, I already have new healthy shoots, and if it’s a dry and hot summer, there will be plenty of wine. I would cancel subsidies for everyone, originally it was to equalize prices, which it is not. Those who want to work for themselves must take into account the risk of the profession. Now every farmer and winemaker cries every year. It’s either too dry or too raining. And when it’s just right, there are no people to harvest.

Readers’ Forum

Petr Burda: Insurance principle: In the years of plenty, I will part with the insurance company – to survive in the year of failure. Those who do not want to share with the insurance company should not reach out – in times of excess, they could put something “under the pillow”.

Karel Novák: The insurance won’t fix the facade on my house either, and I have it insured. They should have been insured, they don’t deserve help from the state. Anyone could say that they regret the insurance money.

• Tomáš Krmíček (responds): Maybe I’ll stop paying car insurance, after all everyone knows that cars run on gas, not insurance.

Martin Procházka: So what do the winemakers want now? I hope not financial help from the state, because if they are able to argue that they will not make wine from the insurance payment, therefore they are not insured, then they probably won’t make wine from the state funding either. Or does state funding have the property that wine can be bottled from it?

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