Despite difficult weather and a late seeding, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) has offered a positive appraisal of this year’s potato harvest. In Germany, a total harvest of 10.9m tons is anticipated, exceeding the multi-year average by more than 2%.

According to the German Potato Trade Association e. V. (DKHV) data, regionally, both the potato cultivated area and the crop yields per hectare developed extremely differently.

“While the cultivated area decreased in most federal states, it increased in North Rhine-Westphalia, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Baden-Württemberg. A look at the federal states makes it clear that crop yields per hectare vary from state to state. The decisive factors for this are the regional climatic conditions, the planting periods, the weather conditions, the use of irrigation as well and the potatoes themselves with their different lengths of growing season. A striking example of this is Lower Saxony, which is expected to harvest 5.11m tons of potatoes. This represents a reduction compared to the previous year (5.28m tonnes), which is due to the reduced acreage and lower yield. Bavaria, on the other hand, is recording a larger forecast harvest volume despite a decline in cultivated area,” the DKHV experts explained.

They continued by saying that it is impossible to determine from the data thus far available which sorts of use are specifically impacted by the seeded area reduction. Additionally, DKHV experts say this early harvest estimate is founded on scant and unreliable information. As the harvest season proceeds, the numbers will be increasingly accurate.

For this reason, DKHV President Thomas Herkenrath advises caution.

“It is still too early to make a final assessment of the overall situation as many areas still need to be cleared. Ultimately, the quality and stability of our inventories will be crucial in determining what quantities are available for marketing,” DKHV President Thomas Herkenrath mentioned.

The German Potato Trade Association e. V. (DKHV), based in Berlin, is an independent business association that represents the interests of around 170 potato trading, peeling, and packaging companies in Germany towards governments, parliaments, associations, and the public.