Recent weather extremes and their impact on crop yields of the Netherlands

We assessed impacts of recent weather extremes on yields of major food and feed crops in the Netherlands. Impacts on the arable crops potato, sugar beet, onion and winter wheat were analysed in 12 regions. Impacts on the forage crop yields grass and maize were analysed for 6 regions. This study shows impacts of weather extremes on crop yields, mediated by soil and agricultural management (irrigation, fungicides, etc). We show that two large scale weather extremes had a major impact on crop yields. The 1998 extremely wet harvesting period had a major negative impact on all tuber crops (potato, sugar beet, onion). The 2018 extremely dry summer period had a major negative impact on grass and onion. One region was found to be particularly sensitive to drought, which seems to be related to this province having poor access to irrigation. Much larger negative impact of drought in this one region shows that impact of extremes can be strongly mitigated by agricultural management (irrigation). Therefore, should access to irrigation decline in the future, impact of drought would be larger than reported here. Our analysis contributes to a deeper quantitative understanding of which weather extremes actually affect crop production and subsequently benefits the quest for adaptation options.

Automated summary

This study assessed the impacts of recent weather extremes on major food and feed crops in the Netherlands, specifically focusing on potato, sugar beet, onion, winter wheat, grass, and maize. The results showed that extreme weather events had significant negative effects on crop yields, with the 1998 wet harvesting period having a major impact on tuber crops, and the 2018 dry summer period affecting grass and onion yields. The analysis also revealed the importance of agricultural management, particularly irrigation, in mitigating the impacts of weather extremes. Overall, this study provides valuable insights on the specific weather events that affect crop production and highlights the need for adaptation strategies.