Drought and heat are increasingly putting pressure on Austria's grain production . Depending on the region, this year's harvest is expected to be down by 30 to 50 percent compared to last year. For bakeries and confectioneries, this development is not just an agricultural issue. Fluctuating harvest yields, altered protein levels, and differing processing properties will also have long-term effects on flour availability, raw material prices, and recipes.

With the construction of the new agricultural research station in Großnondorf, the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) aims to strengthen research into drought-tolerant and heat-resistant plant varieties. At the groundbreaking ceremony, Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig described climate-resilient varieties as a crucial prerequisite for ensuring stable yields and the supply of domestic food in the future.

The event was also attended by the two AGES managing directors Johannes Pleiner Duxneuner and Anton Reinl, as well as Elisabeth Jöchlinger, head of the AGES Institute for Sustainable Plant Production.

Großnondorf represents Austria's arid region

The Großnondorf experimental station is located in the Pannonian dry region and represents approximately 250,000 hectares of Austrian arable land. The deep soils are able to retain precipitation for a relatively long time. Nevertheless, no artificial irrigation takes place at the site.
This very absence of water makes Großnondorf particularly valuable for variety testing. New breeding lines must demonstrate under real dry conditions whether they can deliver sufficient yield and quality even with water scarcity.

“No artificial irrigation is carried out at the Großnondorf site, therefore it is essential with regard to climate-resilient varieties, drought-related stress and future-oriented breeding work,” explained AGES Managing Director Anton Reinl.
The conditions in the Pannonian region are considered a precursor to climatic conditions that could become more frequent in other Austrian agricultural regions in the future. Großnondorf is therefore becoming a key location for assessing which varieties can withstand heat, irregular rainfall, and prolonged periods of drought.

Eight experimental stations are testing varieties under practical conditions

AGES operates eight agricultural experimental stations on behalf of the federal government. These stations represent the essential climate and soil conditions of Austrian arable farming regions. These include the four reference environments: Pannonian, Illyrian, Southern Alpine, Northern Alpine, and Northern Alpine Baltic.
At these locations, experts are conducting trials on plant varieties, fertilization, plant nutrition, irrigation, soil cultivation, and plant protection. Crops being tested include cereals, corn, soybeans, sunflowers, potatoes, and sugar beets.

Testing at multiple locations is necessary because a variety can develop differently depending on soil, rainfall, temperature, and disease pressure. A high-performing wheat variety in the dry east of Austria will not automatically achieve the same results in a region with higher rainfall.
Only varieties that offer a demonstrable added value under Austrian growing conditions are approved. The evaluation does not focus solely on yield. Quality, resistance, suitability for cultivation, and agronomic characteristics are also factored into the variety evaluation.

Why variety testing is relevant for bakeries

For the baking industry, the harvested grain quantity is not the only determining factor. Protein content, gluten quality, falling number, water absorption, and the stability of the flour during processing are equally important. Climatic extremes can significantly alter these properties.

While prolonged periods of drought can lead to higher protein content in certain grains, they can also negatively impact grain size, overall yield, and batch uniformity. Conversely, heavy rainfall before harvest can reduce the falling number and limit baking quality.
Climate-resilient varieties must therefore do more than just survive drought. They should also produce stable yields and reliable quality under fluctuating stress conditions. For mills, bakeries, and confectioneries, greater stability in agriculture means more planning security in raw material procurement.
Developing suitable varieties cannot completely prevent price fluctuations. However, it reduces the risk of individual weather events affecting large parts of a regional harvest.

KLIMAFIT develops varieties for heat and drought

The research in Großnondorf is closely linked to the Austrian cooperation projects KLIMAFIT I to III . Since 2017, Austrian plant breeding and seed companies have been working together on varieties with improved ecological stability.
The focus is on breeding lines that deliver stable performance under heat, drought, frost, wet conditions, severe weather, and changing disease and pest pressure. Participating companies include Saatgut Austria, Saatzucht Donau, Saatbau Linz, Saatzucht Gleisdorf, RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria, the Lower Austrian Saatbau Cooperative, Corteva Agriscience Austria, Probstdorfer Saatzucht, and Saatzucht Edelhof.

The breeding lines are being tested in plot trials at numerous locations in Austria and other European countries. Some of these locations already exhibit conditions that are expected to be present in Austria in the future.
In previous years of the project, genotypes with pronounced drought stress tolerance were selected for all investigated crop varieties. More than 100 breeding lines were registered annually for official evaluation. New technologies, such as drone imagery, are now expanding the database used to assess growth, stress responses, and performance differences.

The ongoing KLIMAFIT III project covers the period from 2024 to the end of 2026. In addition to cereals, maize, oilseeds, protein crops, and potatoes are also being studied. The goal is a broad gene pool that plant breeders can draw upon when developing future varieties.

Stable qualities become a competitive factor.

Austrian grain stands for short transport routes, traceable origin, and close relationships between agriculture, mills, and bakeries. This structure comes under pressure when regional harvests repeatedly fluctuate significantly.
Research into climate-resilient varieties is therefore also an investment in the Austrian value chain. If wheat, rye, spelt, and other crops can be produced in sufficient quantity and quality despite heat and water scarcity, domestic raw materials will remain available for the food industry.
For bakers and confectioners, collaboration with mills will become increasingly important. The more harvest conditions and variety ranges change, the more crucial information about the properties of individual flour batches becomes. Adjustments to dough handling, water addition, and resting times may be necessary to compensate for quality fluctuations.
Climate-adapted varieties cannot replace this manual adaptation work. However, they do create a more stable starting point.

Research takes years to reach the bakery.

Several years pass between selecting a promising breeding line and obtaining an approved variety. The plants must be crossbred, propagated, and tested under various environmental conditions. Only after successful official evaluation can they be offered to agricultural businesses.
The new building in Großnondorf is therefore not a short-term solution to a single poor harvest. It strengthens a research infrastructure that will be relevant for decades to come.
For Austria's bakers and confectioners, this is about a key raw material. Stable grain yields, reliable flour quality, and a productive domestic agricultural sector are prerequisites for ensuring that bread, pastries, and cakes can continue to be produced with regional ingredients in the future.
The new AGES experimental station does not guarantee this. However, it improves the conditions for finding varieties that can survive in Austria's future climate.