In addition to a sharply reduced potato acreage, Poland has had a difficult growing season. As a result, the potato harvest can be historically low. Due to the capricious season, quality is also a concern.
This spring it became clear that the potato area would decrease considerably in Poland. The cultivation has been experiencing major difficulties for several years due to extreme weather. This, in combination with meager prices and good alternatives such as wheat, corn and rapeseed, means that companies have made a switch.
Basement of the area
Earlier this year, the Polish statistical agency GUS spoke of around 230.000 hectares of potatoes. This concerns the 'professional' cultivation of fries, chips, starch and table potatoes. These figures were tightened in August. GUS believes that the area may not exceed 200.000 hectares. This means a plummet in potato cultivation, which amounted to around 236.000 hectares last year and even 300.000 hectares not very long ago. According to GUS, the largest decline is in the cultivation of starch potatoes. Other segments have also shrunk. Chip potato cultivation is still somewhat viable.
The growing season was far from good this year. To begin with, there was a tough battle for higher contract prices in all segments, something that only succeeded to a limited extent. The planting season started relatively on time in March, but then it remained cold in April. Night frost, little precipitation and cool weather in May also caused problems with crop development. It remained dry in many places, although locally a lot of precipitation fell in August, up to 100 millimeters or more. In central Poland and the south-west there is no longer a major drought, but in other areas this is still a problem, there is a rainfall deficit.
Quality problems
Breeding institute IHAR sees that the consequences of the season are reflected in the quality. For example, in areas where there was a lot of precipitation, especially in central Poland around the city of Łódź, there are many problems with phytophthora. Rhizoctonia is also commonly found after the cold weather in May. Growth cracks are another common problem.
In addition to the cold and dry spring, the high heat in Poland has cost kilos in potatoes this summer. IHAR researcher Wojciech Nowacki tells news site Farmer.pl that the average yield is unlikely to exceed 30 tons per hectare. This means a potato yield of 6 million tons, while last year 7,4 million tons were harvested. The figure is probably slightly more nuanced, but it is clear that the harvest is considerably small. The biggest decline is in the yield of starch potatoes.
Potato prices are holding up
The potatoes in Poland are also good at a good price due to the bad season. Moreover, there is hardly any competition from products from other parts of Europe. In addition, due to the high transport costs, it is not likely to be interesting to import potatoes. Prices of packaged table potatoes are between €16 and €25 per 100 kilos. Only in the 2019-2020 season was the price higher at this time of year. Normally the beginning of autumn is a period of great pressure on the market because many potato growers cannot store product and are therefore obliged to sell it ex field.
In addition to good demand in our own country, there is also export. Romania is an important customer that is on the market both last season and this season. Last season, almost 500% more potatoes were exported to Romania, a total of 4.700 tons. Another big buyer was Latvia. The largest non-EU destination for Polish potatoes was Moldova. The export of potatoes to Ukraine largely dried up. This partly has to do with the war, but also mainly with the fact that this country had a good harvest last year. The influx of more than a million refugees is also a reason why the domestic demand for potatoes is currently good.
Cost price has increased considerably
Despite the good potato prices, the question is how the cultivation will proceed next season. Many Polish growers have had a series of difficult years that started in 2018. Just as in Western Europe, the question is which contracts the processors will come up with. According to the IHAR, cultivation costs for table potatoes have increased from €2.336 to €4.250 per hectare, an increase of no less than 81%. For delivery in April of Innovator, for example, insiders calculate a cost price of more than €7.000 per hectare. That amounts to about 18 cents per kilo. At current grain prices, it remains interesting to choose wheat or corn. Entrepreneurs are also increasingly choosing rapeseed because of the price.