Farmers' warn of "total harvest failure" in parts of Germany due to heat and drought

Germany's main farmers' lobby group has warned that persistent heat and drought could wipe out entire harvests in some southern regions this year, and is calling on the government for financial aid and cheaper diesel for farmers. "We expect a below-average harvest for grain, particularly wheat, and for rapeseed," the association’s head Joachim Rukwied told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) media network, reported der Spiegel.

Like much of Europe, Germany experienced record temperatures earlier this year, after facing repeated droughts and heatwaves in recent summers. Farming groups have increasingly demanded state support to cope with more frequent extreme weather, reviving debates over how much financial responsibility the government should take for climate adaptation in the sector.

Rukwied said autumn crops – including potatoes, vegetables, sugar beet, maize and soybeans – also face "considerable yield losses," with the situation particularly severe in southern Germany, where he said harvests "could go all the way to total yield failure." Northern regions, which have seen more rainfall, are faring somewhat better, though yields there are still expected to fall below average, he added. Feed shortages are also forcing some farmers to slaughter livestock earlier than planned, Rukwied said.

He described the financial pressure on farms as "immense," saying some struggle to pay bills for pesticides and fertiliser and are turning to banks for loans. "The economic situation in agriculture is brutally tense – high costs for input materials on one side, and low prices for agricultural products on the other."

Farmers from different European countries also warn that parched soil and scorching heat are threatening Europe’s fall planting season, already posing risks to next year's harvests.

Rukwied called for the EU's fertiliser subsidy to be raised from 60 million to 180 million euros, for 80 percent of EU direct payments to farmers to be paid out early in October, and for diesel taxes to be cut significantly until at least the end of November. He also urged the government to follow through on a coalition agreement pledge to introduce a tax-free reserve fund that would let farmers build up savings to cushion difficult years, adding that the sector urgently needs heat-resistant and more resilient crop varieties.

The insurer Allianz Trade warned in May that extreme heat is no longer a short-term weather phenomenon, “but a structural economic shock” that could cost the German economy around 112 billion euros by 2030, with rising temperatures hitting both worker productivity and energy costs simultaneously.