Home consumption and demand from retail remains unchanged and should see a boost as schools return from this week onwards. Early Rooster continues to be harvested where fit, with excellent demand due to the scarcity of old season Rooster crop. Yields are reported to be very average at best. It will be a number of weeks before more volume of new season crop comes available, again coinciding with this year’s difficult planting season. Merchants continue to seek out any remaining old season crop with strong prices reported accordingly.
Blight pressures and their associated cost continue to be a significant burden for potato farmers this season.
Across Europe, ex field movement is now focused on clearing contracts, in particular crops which were left to bulk up following adverse growing conditions, when it was very dry in June and very wet and cold in July.
In the U.K. early maincrop varieties are senescing and burn down of packing varieties started last week on medium soils. This follows some rapid growth rates over the last two weeks, where low tuber numbers on some crops have caused potential oversize.
Later planted maincrop still have much to do with flowering still widespread on Markies. Crops which were not irrigated during the very dry spell, particularly whites on silt soils in the East, have not recovered well and have very variable yields with mis-shapes.
Price reporting will return shortly when new stocks become readily available.
