Storm alarm: million damage to agriculture in Upper Austria!

Storm alarm: million damage to agriculture in Upper Austria!

Especially when you think you have already seen everything, nature brings new challenges with it. On June 23, 2025, a violent storm front moved across Austria and left profound damage, especially in agriculture. According to the Gabot, the total damage due to hail, storm and heavy rain is around 5.9 million euros nationwide. Upper Austria is particularly affected, where farmers have to cope with damage of 4.8 million euros.

The storms occurred primarily in the districts of Braunau am Inn, Ried im Innkreis and Eferding, and the assessment of the damage by the Austrian hail insurance is already underway. Affected farmers can contact the Hagel.at platform to register their damage. The effects were also noticeable in other federal states: In Burgenland, damage of around 700,000 euros was reported, while a total of 200,000 euros in Lower Austria and 200,000 euros were also recorded.

the view of the agricultural economy

The strong storms are only the latest episode in a long series of extreme weather events that burden domestic agriculture. A balance of hail insurance even states that the damage throughout 2024 was a total of 260 million euros. At the end of April, 150 million of this, 150 million on drought and 50 million on various weather extremes such as hail and floods, as well as [Kleine Zeitung] (https://www.kleinezeitung.at/wirtschaft/19213220/dramatic-belanz-belanz-erfrier--bett- and) reported.

According to the experts, the weather extremes increase in frequency and intensity, which is due to climate change. An above -average warm winter and the warmest spring in 258 years have not only influenced the harvest, but also endangered biodiversity and all nutritional security. The number of hot days in Vienna increased from 13 in the 1980s to terrifying 52 in 2024 - a worrying trend.

conclusion: a race against the time

The youngest capricious weather are a clear wake -up call for agriculture and society. The combination of frost damage, floods and the extreme summer temperatures increases the concerns about national nutritional security. A rethink in agricultural policy is essential to support farmers and at the same time protect the natural resources. Innovative approaches and increased focus on ecological practices could help alleviate the shocking effects of climate change. As the current situation shows, we do not have much time to overcome the challenges that climate change brings - but an adaptation of our strategies is necessary, even if the exact economic and ecological context, such as ORF, can often not be specified.