(Repeats Friday’s story with no changes to text) * Crops damaged include olives, almonds and durum wheat * Farmers in southern Europe question their long term future * Graphic on drought: tmsnrt.rs/2tl8nMz By Isla Binnie and Paul Day ROME/MADRID, July 14 (Reuters) – Italian durum wheat and dairy farmer Attilio Tocchi saw warning signs during the winter of the dramatic drought to come at his holding a mile away from the Tuscan coast.
"When it still hadn’t rained at the beginning of spring we realised it was already irreparable," he said, adding that he had installed fans to try and cool his cows that were suffering in the heat.
Drought in southern Europe threatens to reduce cereal production in Italy and parts of Spain to its lowest level in at least 20 years, and hit other regional crops including olives and almonds.
Castile and Leon, the largest cereal growing region in Spain, has been particularly badly affected, with crop losses estimated at around 60 to 70 percent.
While the EU is collectively a major wheat exporter, Spain and Italy both rely on imports from countries including France, Britain and Ukraine.
Scorched Olives Spain and Italy are also among the world’s top producers of olive oil.
"We expected good production this year, but it hasn’t turned out like that," said Francesco Suatoni, who tends about 4,000 olive trees on the fringe of the ancient town of Amelia, in Umbria, central Italy.
"This year we expect to produce 50 percent less than last year.
"The drought is affecting, to a greater or lesser extent, all crops in Spain, even those that rely on greenhouses, because there’s a limit on the amount of water available," said Jose Ugarrio, analyst at the Spanish young farmers’ association.
"We expect a 23 pct drop in almond production this year from last year," Ugarrio said.

Tony Gentile ROME/MADRID (Reuters) – Italian durum wheat and dairy farmer Attilio Tocchi saw warning signs during the winter of the dramatic drought to come at his holding a mile away from the Tuscan coast.
"When it still hadn’t rained at the beginning of spring we realized it was already irreparable," he said, adding that he had installed fans to try and cool his cows that were suffering in the heat.
Drought in southern Europe threatens to reduce cereal production in Italy and parts of Spain to its lowest level in at least 20 years, and hit other regional crops including olives and almonds.
I can’t remember a year like this since 1992 when I was a little child," said Joaquin Antonio Pino, a cereal farmer in Sinlabajos, Avila.
While the EU is collectively a major wheat exporter, Spain and Italy both rely on imports from countries including France, Britain and Ukraine.
Scorched Olives Spain and Italy are also among the world’s top producers of olive oil.
"We expected good production this year, but it hasn’t turned out like that," said Francesco Suatoni, who tends about 4,000 olive trees on the fringe of the ancient town of Amelia, in Umbria, central Italy.
"This year we expect to produce 50 percent less than last year.
"The drought is affecting, to a greater or lesser extent, all crops in Spain, even those that rely on greenhouses, because there’s a limit on the amount of water available," said Jose Ugarrio, analyst at the Spanish young farmers’ association.
"We expect a 23 pct drop in almond production this year from last year," Ugarrio said.

New research points out that climate change will increase fire activity in Mediterranean Europe.
A recent study published in Scientific Reports, led by researchers of the University of Barcelona in collaboration with several other research institutions, shows that the direct effect of climate change in regulating fuel moisture (droughts leading to larger fires) is expected to be dominant, regarding the indirect effect of antecedent climate on fuel load and structure -that is, warmer/drier conditions that determine fuel availability.
For instance, the direct effect of climate change in regulating fuel moisture could be counterbalanced by the indirect effects on fuel structure.
In addition, the drought-fire relationship is stronger in northern regions," says Marco Turco, researcher at the Meteorological Hazard Analysis Group (GAMA) of UB, led by Professor M. del Carme Llasat.
Thus, in the forthcoming decades, and especially in northern Mediterranean regions, the direct effect of climate change is expected to be more dominant, regarding the indirect effect of the previous climate.
In the past few decades, the measured trend of the burned area in Mediterranean Europe has been generally negative, while drought conditions have been increasing.
However, keeping fire management actions at the current level might not be enough to balance a future increase in droughts.
Finally, the ability to model the link between drought and forest fires is crucial to identify key actions in adaptation strategies.
Also, according to the researchers, seasonal climate forecasts enable a more effective and dynamic adaptation to climate variability and change, offering an underexploited opportunity to reduce the fire impact of adverse climate conditions.
On the key role of droughts in the dynamics of summer fires in Mediterranean Europe.