Good Ground Conditions Maintain Through Harvest

The excellent ground conditions and mild temperatures continue to keep a smile on the faces of potato growers as they are working their way through their crops of potatoes. Growers are hoping that the favourable conditions continue as harvest is behind with many growers especially in the North-east of the country reporting to be behind on digging compared to this time last year. However, many growers in the South-east of the country have finished their harvest for 2018 and yield is reported to be variable and dependent on variety and if crop was irrigated during drought period or not. Prices are remaining stable with very little change reported as increased volumes enter the market on a weekly basis as digging progresses. Queens will exit the market inside the next few days with growers reporting to be running very low on supplies. Meanwhile in Europe, due to the summer drought, the eating potato crop is forecast to be nearly 20% smaller than last year. Growers are struggling to fill contracted supplies while some growers are benefiting from the strong free trade prices as a result.

Ex-Farm Potato Prices reported to IFA