![\"Heat](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786955055_372_391723858_highres.jpg\")
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Heat stress is causing cows to eat less and produce less milk. At the same time, grass growth has been severely curtailed, creating fodder shortages. <\/p>\n
Keystone \/ Gian Ehrenzeller <\/p>\n
The heatwaves and drought are taking a growing toll on Swiss cheese makers. Cows are producing less milk and farmers are running short of fodder, forcing many to incur additional costs.\n<\/p>\n
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August 17, 2026 – 09:09\n<\/p>\n
The situation for dairy farmers is currently \u201cvery tense\u201d, Christa Br\u00fcgger, spokesperson for the Swiss Milk Producers\u2019 Federation (PSL), told the Keystone-ATS news agency. Alongside persistent heat and drought, farmers are grappling with low milk prices, rising costs and, on some farms, animal health problems.<\/p>\n
Heat stress is causing cows to eat less and produce less milk. At the same time, grass growth has been severely reduced, creating fodder shortages. Many farms have already begun using reserves intended for autumn and winter.<\/p>\n
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Glaciers & permafrost\n <\/p>\n
Drought causes Swiss water levels to fall to record lows <\/p>\n
This content was published on <\/p>\n
Aug 13, 2026 <\/p>\n
Rivers and streams in Switzerland have exceptionally low water levels due to the ongoing drought. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Read more: Drought causes Swiss water levels to fall to record lows \u2018Very significant impact\u2019<\/p>\n The Gruy\u00e8re and T\u00eate de Moine interprofessional organisations say the effects are being felt across the sector.<\/p>\n The drought and high temperatures are having \u201ca very significant impact\u201d on animal health and fodder availability, said Olivier Isler, director of the Gruy\u00e8re interprofessional organisation.<\/p>\n This situation is pushing up production costs as farmers buy additional feed and causing a drop in milk production. Some farms have also been forced to use winter fodder stocks to compensate for the lack of fresh grass.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Swiss farmers fear worse drought losses than 2003 <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Aug 14, 2026 <\/p>\n Farmers estimates higher heatwave losses this year than the CHF500 million of 2003. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: Swiss farmers fear worse drought losses than 2003 In the Jura region, some farmers are already feeding cows hay originally earmarked for winter, said Martin Siegenthaler, manager of the T\u00eate de Moine Interprofessional Organisation. \u201cThis situation confirms that increasingly unpredictable weather conditions pose a challenge for mountain cheese-making sectors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n For producers supplying milk for T\u00eate de Moine AOP, securing compliant dry fodder is a particular concern. Product specifications prohibit the use of silage, including wrapped bales.<\/p>\n While welcoming federal support measures, Isler said they would not fully offset losses caused by the drought. \u201cOnly a swift return of rain and normal temperatures will remedy this situation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Fall in production<\/p>\n The Gruy\u00e8re organisation has recorded a decline in production in recent months compared with the same period last year. It expects output of Gruy\u00e8re d\u2019alpage cheese to fall by around 10%, Isler said.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Climate adaptation\n <\/p>\n Swiss farmers call for financial support during drought <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Aug 7, 2026 <\/p>\n Business community and politicians asked to help farmers cope with the drought. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: Swiss farmers call for financial support during drought The impact has been more limited for lowland cheese dairies. Most of them have milk that is not usually processed into Gruy\u00e8re AOP, which helps to partially offset the drop in deliveries. Strong spring production should also help lowland dairies meet their quotas, he added.<\/p>\n The T\u00eate de Moine Interprofessional Organisation has likewise reported lower milk production, particularly in July and August.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cAt this stage, we are seeing pressure on milk production, but we do not yet have a consolidated estimate to quantify a possible decline in T\u00eate de Moine AOP production over the coming months,\u201d Siegenthaler said.<\/p>\n Well-stocked<\/p>\n Despite the drop in milk output, Siegenthaler stressed that cheese stocks remain well supplied. Supplies for the end-of-year period, including Christmas, should not be affected, he said.<\/p>\n + Swiss agriculture adapts to climate change<\/a><\/p>\n Milk deliveries in June were still \u201csignificantly higher\u201d than a year earlier, Br\u00fcgger said. However, conditions deteriorated rapidly thereafter, making it difficult to predict how the situation will evolve. Much will depend on future weather conditions, fodder reserves and changes in livestock numbers, she said.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the drought and fodder shortages are prompting some farmers to reduce herd numbers or cull their least productive animals earlier than planned, according to the PSL.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Agribusiness\n <\/p>\n Swiss eat more than 23kg of cheese on average <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Apr 2, 2026 <\/p>\n In Switzerland total consumption of cheese, both domestic and imported, rose by more than 7,000 tonnes in 2025 compared with the previous year. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read more: Swiss eat more than 23kg of cheese on average How we produce English news<\/a> Articles in this story <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heat stress is causing cows to eat less and produce less milk. At the same time, grass growth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[50,101,454,35,458,100,103,41,17],"class_list":["post-116324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-alps","tag-article","tag-beat-climate-adaptation","tag-food","tag-global-warming","tag-latest-news","tag-production-type-deepl-autotranslation","tag-swiss","tag-switzerland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/117109893930792685","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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Translated from French, reviewed by an\u00a0English Department<\/a> journalist.\u00a0<\/p>\n