Drought and extreme heat cause severe drop in summer crops in the European Union

Published at: 25/08/2026 10:00 AM

The harvest forecast for summer crops in Europe has drastically contracted by up to 14% below the average of the last five years due to drought and extreme heat waves. According to data from the European Commission's Joint Research Center (JRC), prolonged water deficit and high temperatures have altered the development of the productive cycle in much of the continent, setting off alarms about regional agricultural supply.

The most critical conditions are concentrated in a large swath that encompasses France, southern Germany, northern and central Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and western Romania, Telesur said.

In all of these territories, yield losses are considered probable at the local scale, after thermal anomalies and continued lack of rainfall severely reduced soil moisture during key growth stages.

For its part, Spain has managed to avoid the worst impacts for now and maintains overall yields close to its usual average, although the persistence of heat in the northern regions keeps producers on alert. At the community level, corn is positioned as the agricultural sector most affected by contingency, which generates a growing concern among farmers about the supply of forage and the pressure on animal feed costs.

The balance sheet projected by the European organization highlights the vulnerability of seasonal crops in the face of increasingly severe and recurrent meteorological phenomena on the continent. The deterioration in harvest volumes not only compromises the operating margin of local farmers, but also poses immediate challenges to the regular flow of primary products within the European market.

Mazo News Team