Europe's hot summer stunts Austrian crops, prompts rush to slaughterhouse

SPITAL AM PYHRN, Austria, Aug 11 - This year's scorching European summer is hurting agriculture even in water-rich Austria, where the heat has stunted crops' growth and cows are being brought down from parched Alpine pastures and sent to slaughter early, farmers say.

"We had no precipitation for weeks and we've never had such high temperatures in such a sustained way," said Johann Fessl, a dairy farmer in northern Austria whose cattle spend summers on Alpine pastures 1,300 metres (4,300 feet) above sea level.

The heat and lack of rain has meant a shortage of water and grass for the cattle, and will force farmers like him to bring cows back down to their barns earlier, where they will eat feed such as hay from last year intended for winter, he said.

Since that increases farmers' costs, especially if they have to buy extra feed, some are sending cattle to slaughter early.

"There are some pastures where there are no more cattle already," said Fessl, who heads an association of pasture-based cattle farmers in the state of Upper Austria, explaining that the situation varies on each hill and mountain.

"This year, some (farmers) are talking about emergency slaughters," he said. "The waiting list (for slaughter) is already long."

GRAIN HARVEST EXPECTED TO SHRINK BY 19% THIS YEAR

Crops, too, are affected. AgrarMarkt Austria, a national body that oversees food production, said this month it expects the grain harvest to be 19% smaller this year.

Corn, which requires even more water, is also suffering. Farmer Roland Radner cut down most of his corn early as the yield was so poor. The stems that are still standing are a desiccated yellow rather than the usual green.

In the greenhouses in Leonding, on the outskirts of the northern city of Linz, where couple Barbara Stemberger and Fritz Hummer grow 30 kinds of tomato, much of their harvest has either had its development stopped by the heat or is disfigured, with a dry, grey-brown patch on each fruit.

"Due to the extreme heat of the past few weeks, many of our tomatoes have been affected by blossom-end rot. The tomatoes are still edible if you cut away the rotten parts, but we can no longer sell them as they are," Hummer said.

For them, at least, there is a silver lining.

"The carrots are thriving exceptionally this year because of the heat," Stemberger said. REUTERS