EXTREME RAIN FROM CLIMATE LEAVING POTATO GROWERS IN DEEP WATER
POTATOES are at the forefront of what is being dubbed international ‘sogflation ‘.
With just one planting and one harvest per year, the conditions have to be just right. But in autumn 2023, poor weather forced harvesting to stop in Europe after just three weeks, as sodden soil meant farmers could not get crops out of the ground.
North-Western Europe Potato Growers , a market exchange platform for the potato supply chain, estimates that 650,000 metric tons did not make it to market in that region, with many spuds succumbing to rot in anaerobic conditions, and has warned about a 20% decrease in seed availability for 2024.
What farmers were able to retrieve was compromised in quality, meaning their potential storage times were reduced. Sellers rushed to move limited stock and prices are rising as packers and processors compete to obtain the stock.
Europeans are one of the biggest consumers of potatoes per capita, accounting for about 90kg (198lb) on average a year.
Planting of the new crop may be delayed thanks to waterlogged soil and rain, suggesting that sogflation will bite all year.
English white potato prices are up 81% year-over-year, an all-time high, according to Mintec Global , a commodity price data company. Market players expect further price increases before the new crop arrives in 2024.
In Europe, the Netherlands and Belgium, two key regions that grow processing potatoes for fries, were the worst affected, with Dutch processing potato prices at their highest level recorded for April, at €370 (US$398) per metric ton.
Harry Campbell, a commodity market analyst at Mintec, says that as consecutive years of bad weather stack up, it is increasingly hard to recover from a poor season, while in some locations, farmers lurch from dealing with drought to flooding.
Facing a lot of risk and uncertainty, commodity purchasers are contracting more – agreeing on a price and amount in advance of the harvest – to reduce their exposure to volatile price swings, as well as increasing the numbers of growers or countries they’re sourcing from, he said.
He said supply chains will need to be more flexible, and ultimately more complex, to keep food supplies secure at a time when one supplier could be facing floods and another a serious drought.
Source: SCMP
https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3261581/how-extreme-rain-climate-change-ruining-potato-crops-driving-prices-and-leaving-farmers-deep-water
