NEPG: potato yield -12.4%

NEPG expects a total harvest of just under 25,000,000 tons from five countries. This is 12.4% less than last season, and 1% less than the five year average.

Low yield expected in Belgium

Next week the early industry potato harvest starts in Germany, two weeks later than usual. NEPG expects good harvest results, between 84 and 115 tons per acre. Most of the potatoes come from the Rhineland, where nearly 90% of the fields are irrigated. The weight from water seems to cause no problems.

NEPG sees a completely different picture in Belgium. As a result of the cold and dry growing season, and the fact that there is hardly any irrigation in Belgium, they expect extremely low yields for the early potatoes. A 77 day old early variety crop gave an average yield of around 60 tons per acre. At the earliest, they will be able to begin harvesting one to two weeks after Germany starts.

Less potato acreage

Due to the very low potato prices during the 2014/2015 season, many Western European growers decided to cultivate less potatoes. The English, especially, have cut back on their acres of potatoes (-7.1%), thus making the total potato acreage less than 247,000 acres. A record low for British growers.

Because it is still early in the season, NEPG wants to emphasize that this is only a rough estimate.

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