The (table) potato harvest in Ireland is about ten days ahead of last year, the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) announced. Expectations for the French fries varieties have been tempered again. For the sale of potatoes, the growers have to rely mainly on the processor, according to the IFA.
The first preliminary acreage figures from the IFA show that Irish potato growers planted slightly fewer potatoes than last year. The area of early potatoes in particular has shrunk somewhat. However, the yield of the early table potatoes this year is above average and the quality is also good. The harvest of the premiere is almost complete.
Ask about old harvest
Sales of potatoes in the retail channel remain stable. The mood in the market is mainly made by the processing industry. For the Irish market, it is mainly the processors in the United Kingdom that largely determine the demand. The demand for potatoes from the old harvest for processing had already weakened considerably. However, interest in potatoes from the old crop has picked up again. According to the IFA, that demand is there because there are some doubts about how far the new potatoes have developed. At the same time, the processing industry on the mainland of Europe also continues to run at full capacity. Buyers are still adopting a relaxed attitude to the market.