'No grass': Europe's livestock sector stricken by drought

Cows and their calves eat some hay from a manger standing on a dry pasture in Rheinberg, western Germany, in July. With no fresh grass, farmers have had to dip into winter feed stocks. [AFP]

"Our cows have been living off hay cut in June, there isn't any grass," says Jean-Guillaume Hannequin, a farmer in eastern France, who like his counterparts across much of northern Europe is wondering how he will feed his animals this winter.

Mediterranean countries long ago adapted their farming practices to little rain, but this year it is the north of Europe confronting a widespread drought that could see farmers having to send much of their herds to slaughter due to a lack of feed.