As a result of last season's unexpected high yield harvest,  Western European farmers had agreed to planted up to 25% less potatoes.        

Real  figures show a different image with an NEPG (North-western European Potato  Growers) result of 11%.                                                    

Belgium :     -16,60%                            The Netherlands :     -15,10%                            

France :       -9,70%                            Germany :     -11,30%  (estimation)                          Total  cut in surface planted : some 67 000 hectares.                                                    

The most  significant fall  back is to be noted  in so-called early varieties (harvest time July) with minus 20%. For main  crop varieties (harvest time from end of August till end of October) the  reduction is estimated at around 8-9% in planted surface.

If the  weather conditions during the growth period would be "potato  friendly" there would be no man overboard and the processing industries  would have to face  a marginal  unemployment of their total processing capacities during the entire season,  which runs from August 2026 till early July 2027.  

However the  climate change is causing a totally different image. In June  there was scattered rainfall in most growing areas, so that the start was  rather promising. The  succession of heatwaves in July hit the potato plant right at the time of  blooming and tuber setting underneath the plant.  As soon as  outside temperature reaches 26-27°C for some time, the soil warms up and the  plant stops its development. In case the  plants have developed good leaves, the effect can be limited, but where only  small foliage was grown, the biologic reaction is  immediate. The result  is that the plant will restart growth at a later stage and create so-called  regrowth, a 2nd generation of new potatoes, which sucks the life from the 1st  generation. it means an  overall reduction of total output combined with serious problems during  conservation in the barns for the rest of the season. The first  official figures in France show an estimated reduction in output of  vegetables and potatoes of 20 % and for the next 12 days  there is not one indication of possible rainfall in the entire NEPG area.

Potato  processing companies have contracted with farmers lower volumes than before  and will find themselves in the obligation to buy extra volumes  on the spot  markets, which already show restless behaviour at this moment even before the  first spud has been lifted.

The overall  expectation is that prices of non-precontracted fresh potatoes will increase  very soon and on top of that farmers will want to recuperate  some of the money they lost during last season's situations of oversupplies.