Everybody in Europe is watching the new season potato crop to see when enough product will be available to resume processing after plants have closed for repair.

In Belgium, where planting was done much later, this pressure appears to be the greatest. Right now, it appears that there won’t be much early processing crop accessible in July, and sufficient quantities won’t become available until mid-August.

“Some early ‘table’ varieties are being lifted. Prices are similar to last year and have not dropped off as they normally would,” according to the latest IFA press release.

Due to the continued cold and rainy weather, there is still a strong demand and consumption of potatoes in Ireland. As new season variations keep making their way onto the market, available inventories are getting scarcer.

“The market will continue like this for at least another two weeks until more new season Queens are fit to dig. There are reports that some of the early planted early varieties are back on yield because of the weather conditions after planting,” the IFA potato experts concluded.