What does a difficult harvest do to quality potatoes?

Last week, PotatoNL recorded €16,50 to €18,50 per 100 kilos for category 2. Fiwap stated that the Belgian market is somewhat disturbed by a large supply of non-storable potatoes, especially Challenger (with rot problems). The price of Bintje and Challenger in Belgium is therefore €12,50 per 100 kilos.

The question is whether there are also many problems in the Netherlands with potatoes that have been harvested while wet. The harvesting was still late, especially in the southwest. There should be many problems in Goeree-Overflakkee and around Voorne-Putten in particular because of the light soil and because a lot of Agria is grown there.

Problems Flakkee and Voorne-Putten
"The potatoes have indeed been wrestled out of the ground there," says Leonard van der Velde, an advisor at CZAV. "This has resulted in quite a bit of soil, which can cause possible smearing. But so far I have heard little about rot, which you only see after 2 weeks. There is now plenty of ventilation. Occasionally a firecracker appears. found, but that remains to be checked."

Yet he expects that serious problems will still arise, and this does not only apply to small parties. "A lot of violence was used during this harvest and that is never good for the quality. The Agria variety is known to be sensitive to rot. It is expected that some problem lots will have to be delivered before the new year."

Not optimally ventilated
Van der Velde: "This is also because there is no longer optimal ventilation, because it is already cold outside. Lots must then be kept as stable as possible, otherwise you will get germination. At Goeree-Overflakkee there is still approximately 25 hectares in the land, perhaps something similar in Voorne-Putten."

According to Leon Kramer, also an advisor at CZAV, there are no major problems in North and South Beveland and Walcheren. "It is not the case that clearing has to be done out of necessity, although damage is a problem. If the clearing was done before the rain, it was too dry. Moreover, there was a week of cold morning temperatures at the end of October. That is not good for the quality ."

Kramer does not yet see any rotting or storage problems. "Even the quality of the potatoes that were harvested last week is not too bad. There was no real water anywhere between the beds. The soil structure was very good. If there are problems, they will appear in the potatoes that were harvested in the past 2 weeks. have been lifted. However, you will only know that in a few weeks. If the potatoes are suffocated, they can emerge from the ground nicely and only start to leak later."

Problems aren't too bad
Reinier Stoutjesdijk, an advisor at Delphy in the southwest of the Netherlands, also sees few problems. "In Agrias that have been harvested and damaged too cold, there is a risk of rot. In general, however, this is under control. Especially in choked areas on light soils on Flakkee, smearing is visible. Then you see that they start to rot after a while. If it concerns a small part of the party, something can still be done, but entire parties cannot be saved under these conditions."

"Except for some damage in sensitive varieties (Innovator and Agria) that do not heal properly, the samples are generally very good. You see little blue or damage. Within 2 weeks it will be clearer what the actual condition of the batches is," says Stoutjesdijk.

North Holland remains to be seen
In addition to Zeeland, North Holland was also late in grubbing up. "The quality there varies from good to bad. However, several batches are still drying. So we don't know the problems with that (yet). With blue it's not too bad, and the baking figures are not bad either," says Paul Hooijman, the arable farming and field vegetables manager in the northwest Netherlands at Delphy.