Experts claim that, heading toward Scotland’s lifting season, the overall potato market is looking solid. Last year, the sector appeared to be left behind when other commodities shot up in value following the invasion of Ukraine. Twelve months on, a sharp rise in prices is yet to materialize but similarly neither has any crash in value hit the sector.
This year’s potato crop will have avoided the drought challenges in 2022 with few fields being irrigated apart from some down in of North Cambridge and Norfolk. On the markets table potatoes are seeing a bit of demand with washed produce getting up to £640/t delivered whilst others at £500/t. Processors are taking potatoes at £450/t to £480/t with bagged chipping material in and around £550/t to £580/t.
Overall, growers are stating that spot prices are unexceptional but solid although most crops will already be tied up with contracts signed earlier in the year. There appears to be very little old crop still in store which is helping to firm prices.
Defra, released its potato production figures for 2022/23 which reported a decline of 6.4% compared to the year previous with total production at 4.8 million tons. This puts the crop harvested in 2022 to only 139,000 tons more than the severely affected crop in 2012, which suffered hugely from a very wet season.
Source: thescottishfarmer.co.uk
