Old season Maris Piper are selling for as much as £600 farm gate, this is an exceptional price, but in general high prices are dependent on variety and quality.
In the UK imports are coming in from Holland, Belgium, France, Israel and Spain, these potatoes are also, as expected, expensive. New Mallorcan stock is priced at £500 a ton.
According to Galbraith there is no end in sight to the high prices, "Planting in England is already a month behind, with some parts of Scotland even later. Although the last few days we have had ideal conditions, it is forecast to turn cold again at the weekend and that cold Northerly wind will return. What we really need is a good long period of warm dry weather, there is plenty of moisture in the soil."
To add to the problems of a late crop, there will also be less acreage planted. This is due to a high seed price which meant a lot of farmers opted out of planting potatoes. The uncertainty in the market has also contributed.
Galbraith predicts that the high prices will remain for 2013 harvest at least, but there are no guarantees as far as the weather is concerned.
For more information:
C
olin GalbraithMoorehouse & Mohan
Tel: +44 1354 602860
Email: colin@moorhousemohan.co.uk
www.moorhouseandmohan.com