Potato Council Report September 2024

Potato Market Report

21.08.24

	Low	High	Average
Rooster box	€700	€800	€750
Rooster 10kg	€8.50	€9.50	€9
Kerr Pinks 10kg	€9	€10	€9.50

Retail demand and home consumption will ramp up in the next two weeks as schools return after the summer break. Some more quantities of early season Rooster are coming available on the market. This supply along with Queens on the market is easing the pressure on supply of old season stocks. Queens are now being harvested in earnest by the few remaining growers and this year the early harvested crops were being sold at record prices however, prices have softened somewhat. 

In the U.K. crops have yields well to date but more questions will be asked of later planted crops, particularly of later maturing varieties such as Markies. Soils have become dry in the South and East and fields which were not in good condition when planted are now starting to show signs of stress.

Across Europe it is also reported that later planted crops still have a lot of catching up to do and the next five weeks will be very influential.  In Holland some later plantings have not closed the ridges and are “flowering profusely”.

Food Regulator 

IFA continues to engage with the office of the Food Regulator and further meetings with the CEO are arranged for the Autumn. The office of the new Agri-Food Regulator was launched in December. This new State body, tasked with regulating the food supply chain, An Rialálaí Agrabhia, will play a very important role in bringing fairness back into our food supply chain and level the playing pitch in negotiations between farmers, processors and retailers.  

Unharvested Potato Crops

Harvest 2023 has been reported as one of the most difficult in recent memory. Widespread flooding in October further compounded the difficult conditions and it was almost inevitable that losses would occur. Growers managed to get the majority of the crops out of the ground, which was referred to as a ‘salvage operation’ by many. According to a survey IFA conducted in January, some 650 acres remain unharvested. There was no opportunity to harvest any of this acreage due to weather conditions. 

IFA arranged a meeting of affected growers and a number of these growers met with Minister McConalogue on this issue in July. 

Activity since last Council

• IFA is in the process of holding a series of regional potato meeting in advance of the main harvest season. 
  • Southeast growers meeting took place in the farm centre Enniscorthy on August 1^st.
  • Munster growers met in the Vienna Woods Hotel on August 7^th.
  • North East growers meeting took place in the CityNorth Hotel on August 22^nd. 

• IFA arranged a meeting of growers affected by unharvested potatoes and met in Kilkenny in May.  A number of these growers subsequently met with Minister McConalogue in July. This delegation was led by deputy president Alice Doyle. 
• An IFA potato and horticulture delegation met with Minster Darragh O’Brien in North Dublin on August 20^th. Key asks in IFA’s Budget submission https://www.ifa.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IFA-PreBudget-Submission-2025-A4-Jul24-v10WEB.pdf  were discussed. 
• A number of potato/horticulture growers met with Minister Helen McEntee and Nina Carbury MEP on August 9th as part of a wider IFA delegation. Key asks in IFA’s Budget submission were discussed in detail. 
• AN IFA potato and horticulture delegation met with Minister Jack Chambers on August 1^st. Key asks in IFA Budget submission were discussed with particular focus on residential zoned land tax (RZLT). 
• IFA Potato Chairman Sean Ryan continues to engage with media on the difficult year potato farmers have had in terms of weather and high input costs and shortage of supply. 
• IFA continued to engage with all retails and potato packers on potato stocks and spec requirements with the challenging weather. 
• IFA submitted an application for a derogation for the use of Diquat in May to Minister McConalogue. Due to weather conditions it is inevitable that this season harvest will be late. 
• IFA continues to lobby for all potato farmers to be excluded from commercial rates as per the Valuation Act. In recent years there has been an increase in inspections on potato, tillage and horticulture premises by Local Government on behalf of the Valuation Office. Inspectors are deeming storage sheds, packing sheds, and washing bays ratable. These buildings are not ratable by virtue of constituting “Farm buildings” as defined in the Valuation Act 2001. If a precedent is set, then almost all agriculture buildings could be viewed as ratable, creating a potentially disastrous situation for all agriculture sectors. Accordingly, the current exemption is not fit for purpose.

Upcoming Activity/Events

• IFA will continue to monitor the origin of produce with the use of Isotope testing.
• IFA continues to engage with retailers on crop availability and setting up meetings with retailer buyers and packers at this critical period. 
• IFA will continue to contact growers to ensure they are aware of the costs of production and engage in both stocks/acreage surveys.