Even a 100 percent crop failure!

The prolonged heat wave of the summer of 2026 decimated all agricultural crops, from grains to fruit. Crop losses range from 50 to 100 percent. “Without shade and without irrigation, we will no longer be able to produce Slovenian food in this agrometeorological reality,” said the Minister of Agriculture regarding the situation across Slovenia. And what have we done in recent years to ensure food sovereignty? Slovenia is considered a green, water-rich country—yet we irrigate less than 4,000 hectares of farmland. In Slovenia, water permits are issued for 19 million cubic meters of water annually. In 2025, 5 million cubic meters were used—just one-quarter of the total. An episode of the SBC podcast featured our professor from the Department of Agronomy at the University of Ljubljana’s Faculty of Biotechnology, Dr. Ana Slatnar.

Topics of discussion included: Why an irrigation system without knowledge of when and how much to irrigate causes even greater damage Why does it take so long to even set up an irrigation system Why do 20–30% of vegetables remain in the field What does it mean that feed from Spain and France won’t be coming, and what does this mean for farmers and, consequently, consumers? What are the practices abroad when it comes to adapting to the new weather reality? Our guest this time, Prof. Dr. Ana Slatnar, speaks passionately about best practices, but admits that there aren’t enough of them. And that we still don’t understand that a farmer is, in fact, an entrepreneur. Just as no factory operates at a loss, neither can farmers.