European Heatwave Cut Grain Crop Value by €2bn
kolmapäev, 22. juuli 2026
Europe’s cereal harvest was hit by more than €2 billion in losses due to the June heatwave, a new analysis has found, with France and Hungary the worst hit.
According to Coceral, the European grain traders’ association, EU and UK cereal production forecasts were cut by almost 9 million tonnes in the four weeks following the heatwave, Financial Times reports.
The Energy and Climate Information Unit (ECIU) analysis estimated the value of lost production at around €2.1 billion, based on national producer prices for wheat, barley, maize and other cereals. This is around 5 percent of the production value forecast for 2025.
Coceral said the heat hit wheat in central and southern France, southern Germany, Austria, Poland and Hungary at a critical time in the grain’s growth. Spring barley was hit harder than winter barley, which was already largely mature before the temperatures rose.
Western Europe's record-breaking June was preceded by a rise in temperatures that were 3 degrees above the 1991-2020 average. In France, the thermometer rose above 43 degrees and in Hungary above 40 degrees.
About half of the decline in the European cereal forecast came mainly from maize used as animal feed, which was damaged by the heat during pollination in France and Hungary.
As the EU is a net importer of maize in poor harvest years, the shortfall could increase demand for supplies from suppliers such as Ukraine and Brazil. A smaller French harvest could also reduce the amount of wheat available for export to buyers in North and West Africa, while higher feed costs are likely to be passed on to livestock farmers in the coming months.
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