Up to 3,000 acres of potatoes still be harvested

Potato farmers will make a renewed push in the coming weeks to harvest some of the 3,000ac of potatoes still in the ground.

Poor weather conditions during autumn 2017 meant that ground conditions were difficult throughout the entire potato harvest.

The difficulties were felt both north and south of the border.

The IFA’s latest stock survey estimates that, as a result of poor weather, between 800 and 1,000ac of potatoes remain in the ground in the Republic of Ireland. This represents 4.5% of the total area planted.

In Northern Ireland, growers experienced a particularly poor harvest and, as a result, it is estimated that over 2,000ac of potatoes remain in the ground, equating to 20% of the country’s total planted area. Some reports suggest this figure could be as high as 30%.

Last week’s cold weather has led to concerns about the potential for losses and quality issues with the remaining potato crops.

Widespread frost throughout last week saw temperatures dropping to -10°C in places.

Where snowfall had accumulated in fields, this acted as a layer of natural insulation from frost and, as a result, damage will be minimal.

However, in the absence of snow cover, exposed drills will have felt the brunt of the sub-zero temperatures and frost will have penetrated the soil to depths of between 2in and 3in.

This was particularly the case in key potato-growing areas of Northern Ireland, which largely missed heavy snowfall. Frost at this depth is deep enough to catch tubers close to the surface.

Freezing potato tubers result in the formation of ice crystals within the tissue.

Once frozen tissue thaws, it generally discolours and breaks down rapidly into a soft watery mass, leaving a chalky residue as the rotted tissue evaporates.

Market sentiment

In the past, when faced with similar circumstances markets would normally rally to compensate growers for losses incurred during bad harvests through higher prices due to shortages of supply.

However, this year’s supply has been plentiful and with low prices for lower-quality potatoes and a high level of waste anticipated from frost-damaged potatoes, growers may incur losses from digging these crops.