The harvesting process is delayed in the NEPG. Uncertainty about the production of the end product

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In the wake of a record rainfall many potatoes from the EU-4 still haven’t been picked. The period for lifting was long to allow the potatoes to be preserved in good health. The contracts for the coming season will have to take risk and cost increases into consideration. The availability of seeds is a concern which is a major concern for the coming spring 2024.

After a cool season, the yield of potato crops was generally high. A yield of 45,8 t/ha was harvested in the EU-4. This represents an improvement of 6,3 percent when compared to last year’s. In addition to the increased hectarage, the production total in EU-4 is thought to be 23,6 millions tonnes (22,9 million tonnes in 2021, which is a similar year). At present, about 22.2 million tonnes appear to be being collected. There are around 14% of the crop left still in the fields. NEPG doesn’t speculate about what percentage of the crop will remain harvest, but a significant portion of the crop has been gone forever.

Abundant rain

The weather was abysmal in October and forced harvest activities to an end after just three weeks. Between mid-November and the end of November the amount of up to 250 millimeters of rainfall was reported across the region which led to floods. Northern France and the western region of Belgium and the coastal regions of Holland were the most affected. Most of the land remaining to be harvested lie located in Holland (15 percent) as well as Belgium (11 percent). Costs to be incurred (harvest and drying, washing and storing) are significant.

2023 is a reminder that the production of potato is becoming more complicated costly, risky and difficult. The climate in the latter part of spring and summer (i.e. hot and dry) was usually a sign of “climate changes”. The torrential rains in the both the fall and summer months demonstrated the climate patterns are changing.

Big concerns

Farmers are anxious over their untouched acreage. In fact, certain potatoes are unable to grow out of the ground. The potatoes that are left in anaerobic environments could rot. The ones that are harvested could have quality issues and won’t be kept. There are some contracts that will not be fully fulfilled.

Prices rising

The poor conditions for harvesting are clearly affecting the open market. After a short time of surplus supply, we’re currently in the midst of less supply. Within a few months, the potatoes cost in the market that are free of charge increased between 8.3 EUR up to 20 EUR for 100 kilograms. The demand for nutritious, dry potatoes is rising both to be used in industry as well as export. The next few weeks will reveal how many potato varieties can be taken off. It is possible that there will be a short quantity of wet varieties. There isn’t any reason why prices cannot decrease in the near time. Contracts that are delivered early could cause shortages in the future (spring 2024).

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Daniel Ryckmans

Tel: +32 081/61 06 56

Email: dr@fiwap.be

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Source: The Plantations International Agroforestry Group of Companies