Swiss drought drives farmers to import hay from Canada
Saturday 29th August 2026 on 19:30 in
Switzerland
Extreme summer drought will leave Swiss agriculture short of an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 tonnes of feed this winter, SRF reports. With hay also in short supply elsewhere in Europe, imports from overseas are becoming an option.
The hay warehouse of transport company Zgraggen Transport AG in Schattdorf, in the canton of Uri, should normally be full at this point in the year. Instead, farmers are already feeding the bales to their livestock, and supplies will not cover every farm.
“My phone rings constantly, including in the evenings and at night,” said Toni Herger, who runs the company’s agricultural trading business. “It is difficult to deal with, especially when you have to prioritise farmers. You can still deliver hay to some, but not to others.”
In normal years, Switzerland covers shortages mainly with imports from France and Germany. But those countries have also experienced a dry summer.
“There is not enough feed in Europe, and that is driving prices up,” said Herger, who is also vice-president of the Swiss Roughage Association, which represents Swiss dealers in hay and other animal feed.
The price of imported hay has nearly doubled since spring, rising from 22 to as much as 40 Swiss francs per 100 kilograms.
Some Swiss farmers are now looking to Canada. The first containers of hay for Swiss customers are being loaded in the Canadian province of Alberta.
Barry Schmitt, founder and managing director of Barr-AG, which produces and exports feed such as hay in Alberta, said exports to Europe were unusual for his company.
“We do not normally follow the weather in Europe that closely. Suddenly, farmers from Europe started calling us, which makes us very happy. We can help them with hay deliveries,” Schmitt told SRF.
The hay is compressed tightly in Canada and reaches Switzerland by train, ship and truck in about 45 days. High hay prices and global trade make the transport financially viable, Schmitt said.
“There are many empty containers in North America that have to return to Asia and Europe. We use these cheap return journeys for our hay. At the moment, there is also plenty of space on ships,” he said.
Herger does not yet import hay from Canada himself. But he said prices in Switzerland were now high enough to make the route attractive. “If it helps us get through the crisis better, what do we have against Canadian hay?” he said.