France, Oct. 4 -- Mathieu Courgeau, who runs a mid-sized dairy farm in Vendee, western France, says his thermometer recorded 45C this summer.

"On my farm, the drought caused about €40,000 in losses," he told RFI.

"I chose to insure my corn so I will get about €10,000 in compensation for that, but I had to buy feed and I lost a lot of milk."

He called 2026 a "particularly difficult year" for farmers, with crisis coming on top of crisis.

Three heatwaves, coupled with widespread water restrictions, turned fields yellow and scorched crops. The conditions wiped out harvests, killed livestock and drained farmers' cash reserves.

As preparations for the next growing season get underway, French agriculture has been left depleted b...