This presentation will focus on climate impacts of hay and grass harvesting in the Mývatn area in the northeastern highlands of Iceland. Mývatn means “Midge Lake” and refers to the flies or midges, of vital importance for the local ecosystem, providing food for fish and waterbirds. Until the early part of the twentieth century, the inhabitants of the area lived almost entirely on the proceeds of the land by farming, fishing for trout, and collecting the eggs of wild birds. With its North Atlantic location, marginal for agriculture, grass was the only viable crop in Iceland, and the economy focused primarily on animal husbandry until comparatively recent times. Thus, the success or failure of the all-important grass crop, coupled with winter rangeland grazing, was the one aspect of the economy on which all else rested. The successful harvesting of hay was thus the farmers’ most important annual task. If there was not enough hay in the winter to feed the livestock they could die, and this could lead to famine and death among the human population. This unfortunate train of events occurred many times in Iceland’s history, and not least in the Mývatn district.