Big increase in potato planting anticipated

The first estimate of acreage planted to potatoes in the North-Western European Potato Growers (NEPG) region is projected to have reached a 10-year high.

Excluding plantings of potatoes for starch or seed, the total planned area is approximately 572,000 hectares (1.41 million acres), according to NEPG.

The season estimates revealed that all five countries in the group (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France and the UK) will plant more potatoes in the upcoming season than they did last year, with the biggest increase expected in Belgium.

“Although these estimates suggest a substantial increase in planted area this does not guarantee 10-year high output,” said AHDB analyst Amber Cottingham.

“There is still much of the season to come and yields vary, driven mainly by weather, a factor that is difficult to predict.”

However, she said AHDB Potatoes’ production modelling, based on planted area and various yield scenarios, forecast a year-on-year production increase of between 3% and 21%.

Most NEPG countries, she added, have indicated that stocks are low, especially for free-buy potatoes.

“With processing levels currently high and around three months still to go before the first early processing varieties would typically be available, this could keep prices firm,” she said.

In Great Britain, with approximately 70,000ha planted to April 22, the current estimate is up by around 37,000ha on the same week last year and approximately 5,000ha up on the same point in 2015.

In the UK, the estimate is up by around 37,000ha on the same week last year.