Soya bean yields across Europe fell 15% in 2026 as this summer's drought pushed crop production to very low levels, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) has confirmed.

The Brussels-based research body reported that fresh forage maize output dropped by 14%, grain maize yields fell 8% on average, potato output declined 7% and sugar beet was down 11%.

In some of the hardest-hit areas, the damage was so severe that crops were "abandoned" because harvesting was no longer economically viable.

The JRC described how prolonged heat accelerated crop development, resulting in smaller and fewer grains, tubers and cobs. At the same time, declining grassland and fodder availability put additional pressure on livestock farming, with some farmers reducing their herds.

What changed during the growing season?

What started as a generally favourable growing season for 2026 changed rapidly during an exceptionally hot and dry summer.

The period brought an unusually high number of hot days, with temperatures rising above 35°C, and tropical nights when temperatures did not fall below 20°C.

Severe rainfall deficits deepened the problem, depleting soil moisture across the continent.

The heat accelerated crop development and ageing. Plants passed more quickly through critical growth stages such as flowering and grain filling. Combined with limited water, this left crops less time and fewer resources to form well-developed grains, tubers and cobs.

What do the crop models show?

JRC crop models quantify the scale of this acceleration.

In the worst-affected areas, maize reached maturity up to three weeks earlier than usual. In the most severely affected regions, crops aged and dried out prematurely, leading to major harvest losses and, in some cases, complete crop failure.

The timing of the extreme weather made a crucial difference to outcomes between crop types:

• Winter crops had mostly finished growing before the most severe summer heat and drought struck, so their yields stayed close to the five-year average.
• Summer crops were still at critical stages of development and were therefore much more vulnerable to the extreme conditions.

Yield reductions also tell only part of the story. The impact on total production is expected to be even greater, because abandoned fields contribute nothing to output. Production losses for several summer crops are expected to substantially exceed the reductions in yield alone.

How did the drought hit livestock farmers?

Grasslands experienced a sharp turnaround of their own.

After a good start to the season, prolonged heat and low rainfall dried out soils and caused grass growth to decline rapidly across much of western and central Europe, coming to a standstill in some regions.

Prospects for green maize, another important source of animal feed, worsened considerably at the same time.

Livestock farmers faced pressure from several directions:

• Less grass available for animals to graze;
• Less grass to harvest for winter feed;
• Lower production of green maize.

Together, these losses substantially reduced animal feed availability in the worst-affected regions, leading some farmers to cull their herds.

Farmers should watch for the JRC's subsequent harvest bulletins, which will refine these yield estimates and quantify total production losses as the abandoned-field picture becomes clearer across Europe's worst-hit regions.