European potato prices are soaring as heavy rains leave spuds mired in the mud, curbing supplies just as demand for the Christmas-dinner staple rises. Farmers in Belgium, France and the UK have sidelined tractors, which have difficulty navigating waterlogged fields, limiting collection. The crops risk rotting if left too long. Potato futures in Europe are now trading at the highest seasonal level in at least 14 years.
The surge in potato prices is the latest example of a growing number of crops affected by climate change. Futures for the commodity, although thinly traded, spiked in May due to heavy rains. Wet weather has also risked wiping out part of the continent’s sugar beet harvest and has delayed winter grain plantings in France.
Most potatoes are harvested by late autumn, but around 15% of the Dutch crop remained in the ground in November, according to the North-Western European Potato Growers foundation. The Netherlands was the continent’s fourth-largest producer in 2022, after Germany, France and Poland.
Source: independent.ie