The long dry summer has led to a sharp drop in income for Dutch farmers, and pig and dairy farmers are also grappling with low prices, the national statistics office CBS said on Tuesday.

Farm incomes are on average down 11% on a year ago, the CBS said. The figures are initial forecasts produced by the statistics agency and Wageningen agricultural university.

The hot, sunny weather has had an  impact across all types of farming. Onion, potato and sweet corn yields are down and greenhouse growers report lower yields and poorer quality, the CBS said.

Although the shortages have prompted a slight rise in prices for arable farmers, this is not enough to offset the lost income.

Livestock farmers were hit by higher feed costs and lower prices for their animals. Pork prices were down 12% and dairy farmers had to cut their herds to meet new manure regulations.

Organic

However, other statistics published by the CBS on Tuesday show that organic dairy farmers are doing well. in 2016, their farm incomes were an average of 13% higher than that of traditional dairy farmers.

In 2017, there was a 27% rise in the number of organic dairy farmers as farmers switched to the more lucrative sector. And in the first nine months of this year, organic dairy farm income rose 1%, compared with a 6% drop in the dairy sector as a whole, the CBS said.