VIENNA / RankWire.AI / – Austria’s autumn harvest is delivering steep losses across major crops after a record drought and extreme summer heat. The Austrian Chamber of Agriculture said current estimates show especially deep declines in potatoes, maize, soybeans, sugar beet and sunflowers. Potato yields are estimated at 50% to 70% below the five-year average. Chamber president Josef Moosbrugger said the autumn crop losses had exceeded earlier expectations.
Austria entered the harvest after an exceptionally dry year across much of the country. GeoSphere Austria said the 12 months through July were the driest since national records began in 1850. From January through August 12, 72% of Austrian territory logged an unusually high number of dry days. Eastern regions recorded some of the largest rainfall shortages, while repeated heatwaves raised water stress across farmland.
Maize output is now estimated at about 1.5 million tonnes or less, down from more than 2.5 million tonnes in 2025. Regional maize yield losses range from about 35% to 50%, according to current chamber estimates. Soybean production is estimated near 125,000 tonnes, compared with almost 246,000 tonnes last year. Heat during flowering reduced pod development and limited grain formation in many soybean fields.
Drought cuts deeply into major autumn crops
Sugar beet production is estimated at about 940,500 tonnes, compared with 1.98 million tonnes in 2025. The Austrian Chamber of Agriculture puts yield losses between 30% in better locations and 70% in the driest eastern areas. Sunflower losses are estimated at 35% to 50% from last year. Earlier estimates also placed oil pumpkin output about 20% below the five-year average, extending the drought impact across several important autumn crops.
Field conditions varied sharply by soil type and region. Light, sandy and gravel soils lost plant-available water earlier than heavier ground, leaving some crops unable to complete normal development. Some maize plants failed to form ears, while extreme heat disrupted pollination in other fields. Farmers also converted some maize fields intended for grain or cob harvest into silage for cattle after drought reduced their harvest potential.
Weather records underline severity of 2026 drought
Agrarmarkt Austria has also documented lower yields in crops harvested earlier in the season. Its September survey put conventional soft wheat yields at 59.6 decitons per hectare, down from 69.1 last year. Lower Austria, the main production area, recorded an 18% decline in soft wheat yields. Conventional spring barley averaged 38.1 decitons per hectare, compared with 53.0 in 2025, while rye yields also fell.
The crop losses followed Austria’s hottest August in 260 years of temperature records. GeoSphere Austria recorded a national temperature record of 41.2 degrees Celsius during the month. Large parts of Lower Austria, Vienna, Burgenland and northwestern Styria recorded August rainfall deficits of 50% to 70%. The autumn harvest is still under way, and the chamber’s latest crop figures remain estimates rather than final national harvest totals.