French Heat Wave Kills Hundreds of Thousands of Poultry

A record-breaking heat wave in Western Europe has caused massive losses in France's agricultural sector. According to estimates by Yann Nedelec, head of the poultry industry group ANVOL, several hundred thousand birds have already died on indoor and outdoor farms.

The situation is particularly critical in the regions of Brittany and Pays de la Loire, which together account for nearly 60% of France's poultry production. The extreme temperatures have completely overwhelmed sanitation services and rendering plants, and the volume of dead animals is so large that the collection system has collapsed. Authorities are therefore considering authorizing the exceptional burial of animals directly on farms, while recommending that farmers cover the carcasses with sawdust to absorb fluids.

The extreme weather has also hit cattle farmers hard. High temperatures are causing acute stress in the animals, reducing their feed intake and rapidly increasing their water consumption. Farmers in western France report that cows kept in barns under fans running at full speed are suffocating, and milk production has dropped.

The heat wave has affected the entire country, limiting electricity supplies and forcing farmers to harvest grain exclusively at night. France is the third-largest poultry producer in the European Union.

(Reuters, Max)