Across Europe this summer, an entire continent's agricultural foundation has been shaken by a convergence of relentless heat and drought that spared no region and no crop. From the vegetable fields of Brittany to the rice paddies of the Po Valley and the cereal plains of Castile, farmers are confronting losses that in some cases reach back to records set nearly half a century ago. What makes this moment distinct is not merely the scale of destruction, but its simultaneity — the ancient buffer of regional variation, where one place's failure was another's salvation, has been erased. Governments
European farmers face 'unprecedented crisis' as heatwaves devastate harvests
Widespread agricultural livelihoods threatened across Europe; livestock farmers face winter feed shortages and economic losses exceeding billions in damages.
All our main production areas have been hit, and at the same time.
Mark
When you say the crisis is "unprecedented," what makes this different from bad years farmers have weathered before?
Mimi
The simultaneity. In past droughts, one region might suffer while another compensated. This summer, every major production zone across France, Italy, and Spain was devastated at the same time. There was no geographic buffer, no neighboring harvest to fall back on.
Mark
The maize harvest at 1980 levels—that's a 46-year low. What does that actually mean for people?
Mimi
It means livestock farmers are already panicking about winter feed. Hay production is 30 percent below normal and worsening. Dairy cows are stressed by heat, producing less milk. Come winter, there may not be enough forage to feed the herds through the cold months.
Mark
Italy is irrigating rice crops only every other week. That sounds like triage.
Mimi
It is. Italy produces rice on 235,000 hectares and supplies much of Europe. Alternate-week irrigation is an emergency measure—you're essentially rationing water to keep some crop alive rather than lose everything. It's an admission that normal production is impossible.
Mark
The egg production drop—1 million fewer eggs a day—that seems almost abstract compared to the farm-level reality.
Mimi
It's not abstract to the people raising those birds. Poultry houses became death traps during the June heatwave. The mortality rate was catastrophic. That's not a number; that's thousands of animals dead from heat.
Mark
France is spending 145 million euros in immediate aid. Is that enough?
Mimi
It's a start, but it's treating symptoms, not the underlying problem. The real question is whether this is a one-year disaster or the new normal. If heatwaves keep coming like this, no aid package solves the structural problem.
Mark
What happens to the people who farm if this repeats next year?
Mimi
That's the question no one wants to answer yet. Some will survive on government support. Others will sell land or leave farming entirely. The sector is already fragile. A second consecutive catastrophic year could force permanent exits.
Il Polso
- Harvests across France, Italy, and Spain have collapsed simultaneously, stripping away the geographic diversity that normally cushions any single bad season.
- France's maize yield has fallen to levels unseen since 1980, while some vegetable crops have been entirely wiped out — not scattered losses, but a systemic failure across every major production zone at once.
- Italy's Po Valley, the engine of the country's rice industry, has been forced into alternate-week irrigation rationing, an emergency measure with no modern precedent.
- Livestock and dairy sectors are absorbing a second wave of damage — milk yields falling, poultry dying in heatwaves, and winter feed supplies running 30 percent below average with no recovery in sight.
- Governments are pledging emergency aid, with France committing €145 million, but farmers and officials alike are asking whether financial relief can address a crisis rooted in accelerating climate disruption.
Across Europe this summer, an entire continent's agricultural foundation has been shaken by a convergence of relentless heat and drought that spared no region and no crop. From the vegetable fields of Brittany to the rice paddies of the Po Valley and the cereal plains of Castile, farmers are confronting losses that in some cases reach back to records set nearly half a century ago. What makes this moment distinct is not merely the scale of destruction, but its simultaneity — the ancient buffer of regional variation, where one place's failure was another's salvation, has been erased. Governments are reaching for emergency funds, but the deeper question being asked in every affected field is whether this summer marks an aberration or the arrival of a new and harsher normal.
This summer, European farmers watched their fields fail in ways that defied the usual logic of agricultural misfortune. Ordinarily, a bad season in one region is offset by stronger yields elsewhere. This year, the heat and drought arrived everywhere at once — France, Italy, and Spain all struck simultaneously, leaving no compensating surplus anywhere on the continent.
In France, the damage runs from a quarter of courgette production lost to entire artichoke crops destroyed. The maize harvest, in a country that leads Europe in grain output, is projected at around 9 million tonnes — a 35 percent drop, and a figure that echoes 1980. Brittany's Prince de Bretagne cooperative, representing over 1,300 producers, declared a historic crisis and called for urgent government action. The heat, often exceeding 35 degrees Celsius with almost no rainfall, struck crops at their most vulnerable growth stages.
The consequences extend well beyond the harvest itself. French dairy farmers are already seeing milk yields fall 10 to 15 percent as cows suffer heat stress, and hay production for winter feed is running 30 percent below the long-term average — a shortfall that is spreading rather than stabilising. Poultry losses during June's heatwave were severe enough that France is producing roughly a million fewer eggs per day than normal.
Italy's situation is, if anything, more pervasive. Around 60 percent of the country's farmland is now affected by drought, with corn, rice, soya, and milk production all in significant decline. Total agricultural losses, including damage from wildfires and storms, exceed three billion euros. In the Po Valley — responsible for 80 percent of Italy's rice — growers have resorted to irrigating only on alternate weeks, rationing water in a way that has no modern precedent.
Spain has seen cereal harvests fall by between 24 and 49 percent depending on the region, with wine production forecast to drop 20 percent and sheep and goat milk yields also in decline. Olive oil growers are watching and waiting, cautiously hopeful but uncertain.
France's prime minister has pledged €145 million in emergency aid, with further structural investment promised. But the money arrives against a backdrop of something larger than a single bad season — a continent-wide reckoning with what successive intense heatwaves, driven by human-caused climate change and amplified by El Niño, can do when they strike everywhere at once. Farmers across Europe are now preparing for a difficult winter and asking a harder question: whether this summer is a warning, or a preview.
Across Europe this summer, farmers watched their fields wither under relentless heat and drought. The crisis unfolding in their soil is unlike anything many have seen in their working lives—a simultaneous collapse of harvests from France to Spain to Italy, driven by successive heatwaves and a continent-wide drought that has left no region spared.
In France, the numbers tell a stark story. Vegetable growers report production down by staggering margins: courgettes off by a quarter, lettuces by 35 percent, peas by 40 percent. Broccoli has fallen 60 percent. Artichokes—some crops down by half, others wiped out entirely. Prince de Bretagne, a cooperative representing more than 1,300 vegetable producers in Brittany, called it a "historic crisis" and demanded urgent government intervention. The problem, as Eric Legras of the French canned and frozen vegetable producers' association explained to Le Monde, is that the damage is not regional or scattered. Usually, when one area suffers a poor season, others compensate. This year, every major production zone was hit simultaneously, all at once.
The grain picture is equally grim. France's maize harvest—the country produces more grain than anywhere else in Europe—is projected to reach about 9 million tonnes, down 35 percent from the previous year. That figure carries historical weight: it matches levels not seen since 1980. The agriculture ministry attributes part of the decline to farmers switching to other crops like sunflowers, but the primary culprit is clear. Temperatures routinely exceeded 30 degrees Celsius, often climbing past 35. Rainfall was almost nonexistent. Hot winds accelerated the damage. The heat struck during critical growth stages, when the crop was most vulnerable.
The consequences ripple outward. Dairy farmers are already reporting milk yields down 10 to 15 percent as cows suffer heat stress above 25 degrees. But the deeper worry is winter. Production of hay for cattle forage is running about 30 percent below the long-term average—a shortfall that officials say is worsening and spreading to more regions each week. Egg production has collapsed too, with poultry mortality rates during June's heatwave so severe that France is producing roughly 1 million fewer eggs per day than normal.
In Italy, the drought is even more pervasive. About 60 percent of the country's farmland is now affected by drought ranging from mild to severe, according to Coldiretti, the nation's largest farmers' organization. Corn, rice, and soya beans have all suffered badly. Milk production has fallen 20 percent. The total economic damage to the agricultural sector—including losses from wildfires and storms—exceeds 3 billion euros. The Po Valley, which stretches across four northern regions and accounts for roughly 80 percent of Italy's rice production, has been hit particularly hard by severe depletion of the country's longest river. Italy grows rice on about 235,000 hectares. This year, growers have resorted to an unprecedented measure: irrigating crops only on alternate weeks, rationing water in a desperate attempt to salvage anything from the season.
Spain's cereal harvests have collapsed regionally, with shortfalls of 35 percent in Castilla y León, 49 percent in the Madrid region, and 24 percent in Andalucía. Sheep and goat's milk production is down 6.5 and 10.8 percent respectively. The wine sector faces a predicted 20 percent production decline for 2026, with grapes smaller and fewer due to lack of moisture. Olive oil production, which rebounded well after a disastrous 2024, may yet be affected, though growers say it is too early to assess the full impact.
Governments have begun responding with emergency measures. The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has pledged 145 million euros in immediate aid, with promises of additional structural support and investment in the 2027 budget. But money alone cannot restore what the heat has taken. The crisis is not a single region's problem or a single season's misfortune. It is a continent-wide reckoning with the reality that successive intense heatwaves, accelerated by human-caused global heating and amplified by a supersized El Niño, can strike everywhere at once. Farmers across Europe are now bracing for what comes next—a winter of feed shortages, a spring of replanting decisions, and the question of whether this unprecedented crisis is a warning of what normal will become.
Citazioni salienti
The vegetable sector is facing a historic crisis.— Prince de Bretagne, representing 1,300+ vegetable producers in Brittany
Usually one region fares better, which helps compensate. This year, all our main production areas have been hit, and at the same time.— Eric Legras, French canned and frozen vegetable producers' association
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Climate & Environment