Analysis Potato market
Spring disaster arable farming is increasingly coming into focus
The sun doesn't seem to want to appear on the horizon. The average arable farmer is not happy when he checks the weather forecast in the morning and empties the rain gauge. The amount of rain that has fallen, in combination with changeable weather, is causing spring work to continue to be postponed. Last year there was also a late spring, but this year seems to be even more disastrous.
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Choose the subscription that suits youThe bad autumn of 2023 ensured that the soil structure for the new season would not be optimal, but the long wet spring period also certainly means that the starting points for this season will deteriorate compared to last year. A limited or mild winter also prevented the soil from recovering sufficiently.
Now that the weather forecast appears to remain changeable until mid-May, dark clouds are forming over the potato and onion market. Potatoes can still produce reasonable to good yields with a planting date around mid-May, but this is a different story for onions, as the 2023 harvest shows. In an inventory of the state of affairs in onion sowing, it appears that less than half of the national planned area to be sown. Much of the acreage also still needs to be sown in France and Germany. Arable farmers in the Flevopolder are said to have made the furthest progress in sowing. In other growing areas such as the south-west of the Netherlands and on northern sandy soils, less than 25% of the acreage has been sown for onions.
No paw again
Late spring is also a big challenge for potatoes. Many potato growers have increasing concerns about the availability of seed potatoes, but also about their delivery and quality. Due to the scarcity of seed potatoes, a lot of cutting will have to be done (both literally and figuratively). When cutting seed potatoes in stock, there must be 'planting weather', in which case cutting should preferably take place two to three days before planting out.
If it weer When this happens, everyone will want to get onto the land as quickly as possible, but it is expected that waiting times of two to four weeks may arise when freshly cutting seed potatoes. Something that could mean that there will be growers who will only receive their seed potatoes very late.
All in all, it seems that the start of the new harvest year will be even slower than the previous harvest year. It is not yet clear whether this will also affect the price. The futures market for April 2025 shows only limited movement around €29, which is logical because many growers have already signed contracts and have nothing left to sell if yields are low. People are also waiting for the next season for onions. The area growth in Northwest Europe and the bad mood on the current onion market makes everyone very cautious.