Potato lifting has once again been suspended in various parts of Europe due to unexpectedly high rainfall. In Belgium, more than 10% of the crop and between 12 and 15% of the crop in The Netherlands are thought to still be in the ground.

The quality of the remaining crop is very doubtful as temperatures are predicted to plummet to minus 3 to 4 degrees Celsius over the next week. Approximately 1.4m tons of potatoes, or 6% of the total crop, are still in the ground, according to World Potato Markets.

Retail potato consumption and demand are still high in Ireland and are expected to rise sharply as Christmas draws near. Over the past week, there has been some progress in lifting; however, it will be very difficult to estimate the saleable yield of potatoes in storage.

“This year’s yield dig figures are now published and the results show that both Rooster and Kerr’s Pink yielded lower than the five-year average and had 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,” the IFA experts concluded.