Europe’s June heatwave wiped more than €2bn from the value of its grain crop, with almost 9mn tonnes removed from forecasts for the EU and UK, according to Coceral. France and Hungary bore the brunt, as temperatures exceeded 43C in France and 40C in Hungary during critical grain‑filling periods. About half the loss came from maize, used mainly for livestock feed, with France’s forecast cut by 4.1mn tonnes (~€891m) and Hungary’s by 2.4mn tonnes (~€444m). Wheat, barley and spring barley also suffered, especially in central and southern France, southern Germany, Austria, Poland and Hungary.

Farmer Benoît Merlo, who grows cereals on a 300‑hectare organic farm in Ain, said his decade‑long resilience efforts are failing as temperatures stay above 38C for weeks, expecting yield losses of 50‑70% for soy and other crops. Analyst Tom Lancaster of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit warned the losses hit farmers’ incomes and undermine European food security, noting that higher prices may offset some survivors but not those who sold forward.

Spain lost 1.4mn tonnes (~€276m) and Germany a similar amount (~€233m). Upward revisions in Bulgaria, Romania, Italy and Finland trimmed the net value loss to about €1.79bn. As EU governments negotiate the future of the Common Agricultural Policy, Théo Paquet of the European Environmental Bureau criticised subsidies for funding practices that worsen climate‑related crises, creating an unsustainable feedback loop.