The Börde and her two characteristic plants - wheat and sugar beet

As already mentioned, the cultivation of agricultural crops has changed in the Warburg Börde (eg vegetables). Over centuries, two „typical plants“ were determinative and formative: the wheat and the sugar beet.

For the cultivation of wheat and grain crops is the climate of our region in general very well. The Warburg Börde has the lowest precipitation in Westphalia. It lies in the rain shadow of the Sauerland and the Egge. As for the temperatures, our region is opposite the lowlands disadvantaged somewhat. Compared to the area across the Egge this results in later harvest and postponement of the spring. When in Paderborn and the lowlands of the Lippe the fruit trees are blooming, here just the buds unfold.

Let us turn to the grain growing and especially wheat. Professor Dr. Ludwig Maasjost wrote in 1937:

The Börde is a large field of corn. Defiant and stiff the fruit is standing there. The wind catches the stalks. And then the undulating and cradling of the waves that roll over the sea of crops ceaselessly. It is the bloom. Tender veils of dust stand out from the ears and blow far away in the fields, into the granges and villages. The ears are fertilized. The blades turn their heads, and heavily the the fruit hangs towards east. The green color fades more and more, the stalks are white and yellow: the harvest has come and God's blessing is on the landscape. The barley falls first under the clatter of the knives. Rye, wheat and oats follow. In endless rows the grain stairs pull over the vast farmland back away. And now the grain landscape for the last time unfolds all its wealth. Short and squat stands the wheat, high and spread the rye. But then the stairs will be taken away; culture steppe is there. In front of our eyes are the fields of hard stubble. The grain, the designer of the landscape, is away; the landscape has lost life and expression. The Börde is lifeless and barren. It seems overwhelming when on hot days the eyes begin to ache under the vitrified flood of light of the sun and the fine loess from the trails and roads blurs in the dry air. We then long for the upheaval of the stubble fields and for the new sowing in autumn, that leaves begin a new rhythm of the grain forming.

Prof. Dr. Ludwig Maasjost

Let us now turn to the second typical plant of the Börde, the sugar beet. They almost always occurs on the best soils in Germany, particularly in the loess landscapes on the edge of average mountain ranges (Soest, Magdeburg, Silesia Börde). The cultivation of this crop started in our home until about 1880. 2.4 percent of the total arable land is the area under cultivation about 1935. In some areas of the former district Warburg, the sugar beet made five percent of the agricultural area.
The importance of this growing branch we can still measure in the autumn, when we see the uploaded tip-up wagons drawn by heavy tractors driving in a long line to the sugar factory Warburg. These are now being replaced more and more by large-scale trucks.

If we take a look into the past of this agricultural sector of the economy, so the loading for the sugar beets in our village crosses our mind. This ramps served for the loading of the sugar beet crop in railway carriages, which were then collected by a shunting locomotive for transport to Warburg. The ramp north of the level crossing on the right side (Bermeck) located, can be seen today. It was from the mid-50s of the last century to 1979 in operation.

To become more aware of the importance of the sugar beet for our land, we should take the following text of Professor Maasjost:

In May the orderly crops rows stand between the high wheat fields, whose lines in the distance gradually accumulate to a single point. Between them hares, partridges, quails lie quiet, that were squeezed by the skyrocketed spires. It is the time between sowing and reaping. Man grabs the hoe, and here in the beet field and between the potatoes he finds ample work. In October, the beet campaign starts. In the sugar factory, the machine groan again, and sulfur yellow smoke is punched by autumn winds to the Börde. There the farmer engages with the beet fork deep into the ground, and with the cleaver he kicks the beet heads off. The cabbage will be used as fodder, mashed in silos or plowed, the beets are thrown together in piles, loaded on wagons, and one wagon after another takes the path to the sugar factory to Warburg.

Prof. Dr. Ludwig Maasjost

The sugar factory was founded 1884. Today it processes beet from the Börde and neighboring landscapes. The growing amount is subject to quotas since 1931 and is prescribed by the factory to individual farmers.

1935 were processed according to the sugar factory: