Due to drought and heat, there is not enough water and feed for cows on Alpine pastures. Many farmers are being forced to bring their livestock down into the valley record early and buy hay already in summer, putting them in a difficult position, Euronews reports.

Across the entire Alpine region, farmers are suffering from prolonged drought. In Switzerland, not only have many streams dried up: there is also no longer enough vegetation on high mountain pastures.

In previous dry summer seasons, such as 2015 and 2018, water was delivered to the Alps in Switzerland by helicopter, but not this early in the season: it does not pay off, and helicopters are too expensive.

In Austria, too, the Chamber of Agriculture is sounding the alarm: winter and spring there have already brought significantly less precipitation than usual. Where infrastructure allows, water is indeed being pumped up from the valley to Alpine pastures with great effort in order to water the livestock.

As early as the beginning of July, according to a survey, 92.7% of agricultural businesses in Austria expected crop losses due to the ongoing drought. Only 7.3% of businesses expected to avoid losses. On average, Austrian farms forecast a 20.4% drop in yields.