England: potato stock lowest since 2012

In some areas of England, 15% of the area was still unharvested in January. Across England, 5,4% has not been harvested, which amounts to 6.450 hectares. Because January was relatively dry in England, some harvesting took place, but this was not a significant area. The 2019 harvest is therefore 7% below the 5-year average.

The northern region of England (both east and west) is the area where most of the area is unharvested. In the area most affected by the extreme rainfall, 16% of the area has not emerged from the ground. The Yorkshire and Humber areas have also been badly affected.

Precisely these areas are the area where the area for processing is the largest (30% of the total area of ​​potatoes for processing in England). The AHDB estimates that total production for processing is 75.000 tons less than in 2018. Do not forget that 2018 was already a year with significantly lower production. It is expected that the poor quality of the soil after the difficult harvest in these areas will also cause problems for the 2020 harvest.

Inventories smaller than last year
According to the AHDB, the total potato harvest in England is 5.1 million tons. That is 182.000 tons more than last year, but clearly less than the average over the past 5 years (5.49 million tons). Although the harvest is slightly larger than last year, the stock is 4% smaller this year. The stock in England was no less than 11% lower at the end of November than in the past 5 years. At the end of November, there were still 2.88 million tons in England's storehouses.

As of November, more than 44% of the English harvest was no longer owned by the growers, which is equivalent to 2,2 million tons. This is mainly because the quality of the potatoes was so poor that they were often sold as quickly as possible. AHDB does expect that the pace at which inventories have been reduced will slow down this period. Stocks of potatoes for processing are 16.000 tons lower than last year.

Major quality problems
AHDB therefore warns that it is not so much the yield in kilos that is important, but the amount of usable product. Problems with baking color and other storage problems are frequently reported. The potatoes harvested during the heavy rains are clearly of lower quality. This also creates a division on the market into prices for good and inferior quality. The gap between these qualities is only expected to widen.

Anyone who reads the year 2012 and England quickly thinks about what effect this had on the market on mainland Europe. As can be seen in the graph below, the potato futures market rose sharply at the time, partly due to the situation in England.