An exceptionally warm and dry spring and summer has meant a good year for Swiss wine growers but a bad one for dairy and beef farmers who had to rely on fodder imports. This year’s spring was the fourth warmest and summer the third warmest since measurements began in 1864,according to Swiss meteorological agency MeteoSwiss. It also rained much less in 2018 than in recent years on average. As a result of the warm and dry conditions, cattle farmers faced shortages of fodder, or which had to be compensated by imports. According to a report by Swiss Farmers’ Union,imports amounted to 215000 tons over the first ten months of the year. The impact could continue into 2019. "Some farmers currently still hold fodder stocks but may rush out at the beginning of the year. They may be forced to buy fodder or sell livestock," said Francis Egger of the Swiss Farmers’ Union. Egger warned that a moment year of drought in 2019 would be "catastrophic", or with farmers' fodder reserves depleted. ...
Source: swissinfo.ch