Extreme weather influences the harvest of potatoes, fruit and vegetables

The president of the German Farmers’ association (DBV), Joachim Rukwied, emphasized at the press conference of the DVB that a review of the current 2016 crops showed a lot of produce with disease and damage due to pests. The increase in the disease and damage were caused by the humid and warm weather. 

 

This clearly demonstrated how necessary protection is to secure the quantity and quality of the harvest. “The recorded damage to untreated fruit, vegetables, potatoes, wine grapes is mainly caused by fungi such as downy mildew, late blight or potato blight as well as insects such as the cherry fruit fly and the spotted-wing drosophila. Not just the fruit and vegetables sector, but the entire agriculture requires a sufficiently large range of crop protection products to prevent the development of resistance,” stated Rukwied. The association’s president urged politicians and licensing authorities to allow more crop protection products and at the same time asked a harmonization of the authorization throughout the entire EU.

The DBV gave a review or progress report of potatoes and a few other crops that already have been harvested at the press conference.

According to the first figures, the potato acreage is almost unchanged at 235,500 hectares (-0.5% compared to the 236,700 hectares in 2015). The registered reduction in the surface compared to 2015 (1,200 hectares) is doubtful, a slight expansion is more probable. This increase mainly affects consumption potatoes, the surface of starch potatoes remained stable (53,000 hectares) and the surface of seed potatoes (15,900 hectares) decreased. The most important production areas in Germany are in Lower Saxony (43%), Bavaria (17%) and North Rhine-Westphalia (12%).

In Germany the current harvest expectations range from average to good. The influence of the wet weather on the quality of the potatoes will only be clear after the harvest. Due to the weather an increased use of pesticides was necessary, especially against late or potato blight. The increased infection hazard could have a limiting effect on the availability of organic potatoes. EU-wide lower yields are expected in France and Belgium, while for instance in Poland higher yields are expected.

 

During the early potato season the producers’ prices increased with 5 to 10 Euros per 100 kilos compared to the previous year. This increase in price compensated for the loss in crops. At the end of the early potato season pressure on the price was noticeable, however they remained on the same level as the previous year (20 to 27 Euros per 100 kilos). The prices of potatoes for processing (French fries, chips etc.) are often protected with preliminary contracts. In week 33 the consumer prices of early potatoes were: 1.07 €/kg for waxy (1€/kg in the previous year) and 0.94€/kg for predominantly waxy potatoes (0.87€/kg in the previous year). 

After the bad harvest of the previous year, a harvest of 1,052 million metric tons is expected in 2016, this is an increase of 8% (0.973 million tons in 2015 and 9% above the average of 2013 to 2015). In some regions the lower yields of some varieties are due to the biennial bearing (or alternatively), the fluctuations of the fruit yield from year to year. 

The amount harvested increased the expectation of rising producer prices for the start of the new apple season (September), and the sales of apples to the processing industry will be economically viable again.

 

Prognosfruit estimates the apple harvest in the EU at 12,005 million metric tons, 3% less than 2015 (12.3 million metric tons). In 2016 the largest apple producing countries in Europe are Poland (4.15 million metric tons, +4% compared to the previous year), Italy (2.28 million metric tons, same amount compared to the previous year), France (1.56 million metric tons, -7%) and Germany (1.05 million metric tons +8%).

The German pear harvest is estimated at just 36,000 metric tons (-16% compared to 2016). In the entire EU a total yield of 2.17 million metric tons (-9%) is expected.

In all German regions the start of the cherry harvest was spoiled by damaged cherries due to the rain. An average harvest of about 33,000 metric tons of sweet cherries is expected (31,400 metric tons in 2015). The prices are on the same level as the previous year, however in the south of Germany a substantial share of the ripe fruit was damaged by the rain in June and July, and could not be sold.

In addition to the rain damage there are problems with the spotted-wing drosophila. This recently imported pest originates from Asia and the unfavourable weather this year led to increased problems. The regions Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate are especially affected, and not only cherries also raspberries and strawberries suffer from this pest. Controlling the spotted-wing drosophila proves to be very difficult due to the enormous and rapid development potential. In Germany the pest was found for the first time in 2011. The fruit infested with flies and maggots become inedible and tasted like vinegar.

The sour cherry harvest is estimated at 16,000 metric tons (the level of the years 2012/2013 and 2014/2015 was 17,000 metric tons). The prices for the processing industry remain stable.

The expectation of the plum yield is with 44,000 metric tons lower than the previous year (2015: about 46,900 metric tons). Prices are just at the same level. About 5,000 metric tons of Mirabelle is expected, compared to 4,500 metric tons in 2015.

 

In Germany strawberries are cultivated on a total surface of 13,000 hectares and this year the yield is about 10% lower, approximately 155,000 metric tons to 173,000 metric tons compared to the previous year. In the southern parts of Germany the warm and humid weather, which caused rot and spotted-wing drosophila infestations, led to substantial crop losses, however the availability is sufficient to ensure the supplies even at the end of season. In the north of Germany the season was somewhat better than the previous years.

The expected soft fruit yield is, due to the unfavourable weather and spotted-wing drosophila infestations, lower than the previous years. The yield of redcurrants is estimated at about 5,000 metric tons, for blackcurrants at 9,000 metric tons, for raspberries at 4,500 metric tons and blueberries at 10,000 metric tons.

The asparagus season has come to an end and the temperatures were too low during a substantial part of the season, this had a slightly negative effect on the yield. The yield of 110,000 metric tons of asparagus was lower than the 113,600 metric tons of 2015. This year the asparagus season was clearly divided in two: until Pentecost, the prices were higher than the previous year and after Pentecost the prices were clearly below last year's level. 

The acreage of onions increased again, with 5% to 11,000 hectares. Even though the surface increased, only 500,000 metric tons of onions were harvested (2015: 498,000 metric tons).

The carrot yield is with 550,000 metric tons slightly higher than the previous year (2015: 527,000 metric tons), while the acreage remained stable.

For a long time normal quantities and regular prices for lettuce was observed compared to previous years. This is the case for the whole range of available lettuces not only the regular iceberg lettuce but also colourful lettuces such as lollo rosso.

A very stable price level characterises this cauliflower season, which is not typical. Until the end of June the prices for cauliflowers were a bit above average.

The broccoli prices developed similarly. However, since July, some fluctuations were recorded. Initially the prices for broccoli were lower than the long-term average, but the prices clearly increased from the 2nd week of July.

 

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