Potato Prices & Commentary

Ex-Farm Potato Prices reported to IFA

Digging is now fully finished for 2018 as growers turn their attention to supplying the market for the upcoming Christmas period. The cold and dark evenings have ensured a steady demand for potatoes, with growers expecting a boost in trade as buyers are filling their supplies for the Christmas market. Price is holding stable with the tonne box of rooster currently trading for €510 and growers have reported being happy with trade. Virtually all potatoes are now harvested in the country, so growers can now fully see the effects of the reduced yields after the difficult year with excess empty boxes in the yard in comparison to other years. Meanwhile in the UK, trade remains steady with growers expecting a lift in trade for quality produce in the lead up to Christmas. Across Europe, the Dutch potato yield is down 23% and Germany’s potato yield is down by 13.4% on 2017 yields respectively.

Ex-Farm Potato Prices reported to IFA

The large majority of potato growers are finished their field work for 2018, with approximately 95% of the potato harvest completed to date. Growers who still have some potatoes in the ground are working hard to get any remaining crops out, before conditions deteriorate further as we enter the first week of December. Prices continue to hold relatively stable with the tonne box of Rooster continuing to trade for €510. It is estimated that total Irish tonnage is back around 30% this year, which is a combination of lower yields and the area grown down by 12% on last year’s plantings. Meanwhile, in the south of the country, growers are not over the moon after the harvest of the Kerr Pink variety as they were hit hard by the drought. High levels of wastage due to quality, secondary growths and under developed potatoes has been reported. In the UK there is a large variation in prices obtained by growers due to the quality of the produce in what is becoming a widely priced market. The April 2019 European future price is now at €298/tonne.

Ex-Farm Potato Prices reported to IFA

Potato growers are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel as the potato harvest of 2018 draws to a close. Unlike previous years, there has been little disruption to the harvest as both ground and weather conditions were favourable throughout the digging season. It is estimated that there is less than 10% of the planted potato crop left to be harvested with the majority of growers expecting to be finished up inside the next week. Prices are holding stable with no price change being reported over the past week with the tonne box of Rooster potatoes continuing to trade at €530. Growers are reasonably happy with quality and it is better than was feared during the drought period. Meanwhile the situation in the UK is similar to Ireland, Fieldwork continues to make progress with many growers now having finished lifting. Prices for best quality supplies have stayed flat in most markets, though ongoing quality issues have meant that trade in some sectors has slowed.