EU Drought Devastates Corn Yields, Reduces Harvest to Nearly Two-Decade Low

The European Union is facing a severe drought that has affected agricultural crops across the continent. The prolonged heat waves and lack of rainfall have led to reduced yields in France, Hungary, and Western Romania.

The European Commission's Agricultural Crops Monitoring Unit - JRC MARS - reported a bleak picture for almost all spring and summer crops. The average fields are holding up, but the summer crops are suffering from a lack of soil moisture just at the time of flowering and grain filling.

The drought has had a particularly devastating impact on corn yields, with losses so great that many farmers in Western Europe began to harvest it early for green fodder and silage. The USDA report for August dropped the European corn harvest by 3.6 million tons to 50.2 million, the lowest level in nearly two decades.