According to Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) figures for this year, both Rooster and Kerr’s Pink potatoes yielded lower than the five-year average – the lowest since 2020, when they were significantly affected by drought conditions.
The figures do not take into account field losses or areas that could not be harvested due to waterlogging.
This will inevitably result in a further reduction in the availability of marketable quantities of both Rooster and Kerr’s Pink for the remainder of the season.
Retail Remains Buoyant
Retail demand and consumption remain buoyant and should escalate significantly as Christmas approaches.
Some progress was made in terms of lifting, however, the saleable yield of potatoes in store will be very difficult to estimate.
Weather Worries
In Europe, heavier-than-expected rainfall has brought lifting to a halt in many regions again – it is estimated that approximately 12-15% of the crop in the Netherlands and +10% of the Belgian crop are still in the ground.
Temperatures are forecast to drop to -3 to -4 degrees over the next week, putting a big question mark over the quality of the remaining crop.
World Potato Markets reports that there are about 1.4 million tonnes of potatoes still in the ground, which represents 6% of the potential crop.
