It is now known that the early potatoes in Belgium and Northern France have reached a worrying state. However, the main crop is also in serious danger. Several sources agree on this.
The futures market ping-ponged back and forth from 19 euros to 21 on Monday, June 19, before rising again to 16 euros per tonne around 00 p.m. The cause of the fluctuations is the extreme drought and heat. "With temperatures around 19,50 degrees and higher, the potatoes have stopped growing," says Rik Tanghe of RTL Patat. He fears that the tonnages will not drop. 'There is also the risk of overgrowth, to which Bintje is especially sensitive. We will still remember this situation in 30 years. In the early potatoes you can really speak of a panic situation.'
Irrigation ban
Romain Cools from Belgapom finds this situation unprecedented. 'Last year at this time we were struggling with flooding and now we are experiencing a shortage. This has consequences, especially in the Westhoek and northwest France, where there are many early potatoes and there is an irrigation ban in some areas. Grubbing will start in about 1,5 weeks. I hear around me that yields are up to 25 percent lower than the average harvest. This certainly has an impact on an area of say 10.000 hectares of early potatoes.' It is possible that these growers are eligible for the disaster fund, says the Belgapom secretary.
Loss of Belgian early potatoes
Joris van Campfort of AgriCamp also sees the concerns among growers. "It may be too late for early potatoes. These will yield less than half," he estimates. 'Things can still change for the main harvest, but then it has to rain. The average yield will be lower in any case.'
Van Campfort further notes that the foliage 'grows very thinly upwards. This means that weeds appear between the rows, which require spraying. That costs extra. And it can be good to give extra foliar nutrition, because the potatoes do not absorb the nutrients from the soil properly due to the drought.'
Contracts still in the drawer
If there is no precipitation in the next 14 days, Van Campfort expects the main harvest to be a disaster for Belgium. Wordings that are in line with grower Jan Moonen in Normandy. The Dutchman has had an arable farm in Héberville, France since 1995. He has not yet signed and returned the contracts for his seed and chip potatoes. 'I'm afraid that I won't get the volumes this year due to the drought. The heat and the wind have made it bone dry here. If this continues until July, we will harvest size 25-28. The tuber formation was good and to get the right size, you usually need a little rain, but how big will those tubers get now?' Moonen wonders.
Sandbox in France
The Moonen plots received 2015 millimeters of rain in 829, in 2016 it was 732 millimeters and this year so far it is 254 millimeters. "A sandbox, then," the grower summarizes the local situation. 'Normally that doesn't happen here and on this scale. No one has irrigation equipment. On a scale of 1 to 10, I estimate the degree of severity to be 7 or 8. If this type of weather continues, things will go terribly wrong with the main harvest. There is no other way than for the potato market to rise.'
Double obligation contract
Belgian potato growers are also looking at their contracts in doubt. Insiders say that in some cases the old contract, from the 2016 harvest, must be filled with the new harvest. That's in the small print. Strangulation contracts, that's what they are called. 'No one can bear twice such a bad year. Many growers in our region (West Flanders) will see black snow this year," says an insider. In addition, very expensive seed potatoes were purchased this year.
Raw material from Spain
Cools points out that if rain comes in July, the crops can resume growth. 'Without rain we will have a big problem, but the futures market is now reacting from emotion. We will really have to wait and see how this works out for the storage potatoes.'
In the meantime, the transition from the old to the new harvest is causing tension for the chip factories. 'Raw material is sourced from Germany, other parts of the European Union, but also from the South of France and Spain, where the early potato market together has fallen.'