VIENNA / RankWire.AI / – Austria’s autumn harvest faces significant setbacks across key crops due to an unprecedented drought and intense summer heat. The Austrian Chamber of Agriculture reports that current projections reveal especially steep declines in potatoes, maize, soybeans, sugar beet, and sunflowers. Potato yields are projected to fall between 50% and 70% below the five-year average. Chamber president Josef Moosbrugger noted that the crop losses during autumn have surpassed earlier forecasts.
The harvest season follows a notably dry year across much of Austria. According to GeoSphere Austria, the 12 months ending in July marked the driest period since records began in 1850. From January through August 12, 72% of Austrian territory experienced an unusually high number of dry days. Particularly in eastern regions, rainfall deficits were severe, compounded by repeated heatwaves that increased water stress on farmland.
Maize production is now estimated at roughly 1.5 million tonnes or less, a decline from over 2.5 million tonnes in 2025. Estimates from the chamber indicate regional yield losses between about 35% and 50%. Soybean output is projected near 125,000 tonnes, compared to nearly 246,000 tonnes last year. Elevated temperatures during flowering hindered pod development and grain formation in many soybean fields.
Drought Severely Affects Major Crops for Autumn
Sugar beet yields are estimated at about 940,500 tonnes, down from 1.98 million tonnes in 2025. The Austrian Chamber of Agriculture reports yield losses ranging from 30% in better-performing areas to 70% in the driest eastern zones. Sunflower production has decreased by an estimated 35% to 50% from last year. Earlier estimates also indicated oil pumpkin output was roughly 20% below the five-year average, reflecting the widespread drought’s impact on critical autumn crops.
Conditions in the fields varied significantly based on soil type and region. Light, sandy, and gravelly soils lost plant-available water earlier than heavier soils, causing some crops to fail in their development. Some maize plants did not form ears, while extreme heat interfered with pollination in others. Farmers even converted some maize fields intended for grain or cobs into silage for cattle after drought reduced their harvest potential.
Historical Weather Data Highlights Severity of 2026 Drought
Agrarmarkt Austria also reports reduced yields in crops harvested earlier in the season. Its September survey indicates soft wheat yields averaged 59.6 decitons per hectare, down from 69.1 last year. Lower Austria, the main producing region, experienced an 18% decline in soft wheat yields. Spring barley averaged 38.1 decitons per hectare, compared to 53.0 in 2025, and rye yields also decreased.
These crop losses followed Austria’s hottest August in 260 years of temperature records, with GeoSphere Austria recording a national temperature peak of 41.2 degrees Celsius. Large parts of Lower Austria, Vienna, Burgenland, and northwestern Styria experienced rainfall deficits of 50% to 70% in August. The autumn harvest remains ongoing, and the chamber’s latest crop figures are estimates rather than finalized national totals.