French vegetable production is down by “a very significant extent” compared with previous years, French growers have said, with shortfalls put at 25% for courgettes, 35% for lettuces, 40% for peas, 60% for broccoli and 50% to 100% for artichokes.
“The vegetable sector is facing a historic crisis,” said Prince de Bretagne, which groups together more than 1,300 vegetable producers in Brittany, calling for “urgent action” to address a “dramatic” fall in yields and in the quality of many crops.
Accelerated, human-caused global heating and a supersized El Niño have scorched fields across Europe this summer, with plant development prevented by temperatures routinely exceeding 30C and often 35C, almost no rainfall, and hot winds.
“Usually one region fares better, which helps compensate,” Eric Legras, of the 4,400-member French canned and frozen vegetable producers’ association, told Le Monde. “This year, all our main production areas have been hit, and at the same time.”
Cereal production has been equally hard hit, with the agriculture ministry estimating the maize harvest in France – Europe’s largest grains producer – will be down by 35% on 2025 levels at about 9m tonnes, a quantity last seen in 1980.
Part of the fall is due to farmers’ switching to other crops, such as sunflowers, the ministry said, but it also reflects the impact of this summer’s vicious heatwaves, which have battered the crucial crop during critical stages of its growth cycle.
That is likely to cause big problems for livestock farmers. With dairy cows typically starting to suffer from heat stress above 25C, many producers have already reported milk yields down by 10%-15%. Most are now also concerned about winter feed.
Agreste, the agriculture ministry’s statistics service, said last week that production of hay for winter cattle forage was running about 30% lower than the 1989-2018 average, a shortfall that “is worsening and is now affecting a growing numbers of regions”.
Egg production, too, has been hit by a catastrophic mortality rate in poultry houses, particularly during the June heatwave. According to France’s national egg promotion board, output has is about 1m eggs a day lower than the norm.
In Italy, about 60% of farmland across the country is now affected by drought ranging from mild to severe, according to data published earlier this month by Coldiretti, the country’s largest farmers’ organisation.
Crop yields, especially for corn, rice and soya beans as well as vegetables and fruit, have been badly hit, and milk production has fallen by 20%. The overall cost to the sector, including damage caused by wildfires and heavy storms, is put at more than €3bn.
Source: www.theguardian.com
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