Crop failure and bankruptcy threaten farmers as drought grips Europe

Farmers across northern and central Europe are facing crop failure and bankruptcy as one of the most intense regional droughts in recent memory strengthens its grip.

A blighted wheat field in Täby, central Sweden -
however, the energy-rich Tour de France goes on.

States of emergency have been declared in Latvia and Lithuania, while the sun continues to bake Swedish fields that have received only 12% of their normal rainfall.

The abnormally hot temperatures – which have topped 30C in the Arctic Circle – are in line with climate change trends, according to the World Meteorological Organization. And as about 50 wildfires rage across Sweden, no respite from the heatwave is yet in sight.

Lennart Nilsson, a 55-year-old cattle farmer from Falkenberg near Malmo and co-chair of the Swedish Farmers Association, said it was the worst drought he had experienced.

Read the story by Arthur Nelsen from The Guardian - “Crop failure and bankruptcy threaten farmers as drought grips Europe.”

(SBS commentators for the present Tour de France have several times mentioned the wonderful cycling weather being experienced so far in the three-week race around France, seemingly oblivious to the fact that what they are “enjoying” is the worst drought many Europeans can remember - Robert McLean)