Published : 29 Aug 2026, 01:24 AM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:36 AM
France will provide several hundred million euros in compensation to farmers after extreme summer heat and drought caused major crop losses, agriculture ministry officials said on Friday.
The aid package, due to be detailed next week, comes after one of the worst hot and dry spells in France and western Europe in history, which damaged crops, pastures and water supplies.
● Some 65 percent of French territory faced drought conditions estimated to occur only once every 25 years, while 60 percent of groundwater reserves were below normal levels, they said.
● France's average temperature reached 24.9 degrees Celsius in July 2026, or 3.8C above the seasonal norm. That exceeded the previous records of 2003, at 24.3C, and 1976, at 23C.
● Crop losses of 50 percent or more compared with the average of recent years have already been recorded in several areas, reaching 70 percent to 80 percent locally.
● Grain maize production is expected to fall 34 percent and forage maize output 30 percent, while some vegetable crops, including leeks, cauliflower, garlic, onions, shallots and beans, face losses of about 50 percent.
● French growers have said the potato crop could shrink by 23 percent and the sugar beet one by over 20 percent due to the severe weather.
● Small red-fruit crops such as cherries, blackcurrants and redcurrants have in some cases been entirely lost, as have certain non-irrigated artichoke crops locally.
● More than half of pastures, used to feed livestock, are severely degraded in most regions. Pasture growth was 36 percent below the 1989-2018 average as of August 20.
● Wildfires affected agricultural or forest land in every French region, with damaged agricultural areas exceeding 500 hectares in most-affected regions.
