European potato harvest equal to that of 2017

The potato harvest in the European Union this year is at the same level as in 2017. In particular, Germany and France are producing more potatoes than eight years ago, but this is more than offset by the fact that fewer potatoes are being grown in Poland and Romania nowadays. The total production of French fries, seed, table, and starch potatoes this year in the 27 member states of the European Union amounts to a little under 55.9 million tons. This outcome is calculated based on preliminary figures from the statistics office Eurostat, updated with information from national statistics. Due to significant expansion in Germany and France over the past two years, these countries are by far the largest potato producers within the EU. France cultivates potatoes on about 244,000 hectares, of which a little under 196,000 hectares are consumption potatoes, excluding early potatoes. The total potato production in France rises to about 10.2 million tons. This marks a significant step for French potato cultivation, as in previous years, production fluctuated between 8 and 9 million tons. In Germany, the area has increased this year to just above 300,000 hectares. This area, combined with good yields, brings the total production to 13.4 million tons. Thus, Germany reaches a record amount of potatoes just like France. High yields in 2017 For European potato growers, 2017 was a year with very high yields in kilos. In Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands, yields averaged 46 to 48 tons per hectare. French growers also achieved a peak for their standards with 44 tons per hectare. This year, the yields in these countries cannot match the high level of 2017, except in the Netherlands. A peak of 53.5 tons per hectare of consumption potatoes raises the average yield in the Netherlands this year to 48 tons per hectare. That is still 2 tons more than the 46 tons in 2017. In Germany and France, the yields are over 2 tons lower than eight years ago. In Belgium, yields due to drought at 41.4 tons cannot compare to the 47.6 tons of 2017. Overall, the average yield in the EU-27 this year is about 37.8 tons per hectare. This is 3 tons more than the 34.8 tons in 2017. This difference can be explained by the fact that there has been a significant shift in area from Eastern to Western Europe. The result is that now, on a ultimately smaller area, the same amount of potatoes is produced as in 2017. Area shift The total potato area in the 27 member states is this year with 1.48 million hectares nearly 8% smaller than the 1.6 million hectares in 2017. That difference is therefore largely offset by yields that have increased by 8.5% due to the area shift to Western Europe. The shift to Western Europe is attributed to an exploding French fries industry in Northwestern Europe. The enormous capacity expansion in Belgium and Northern France, combined with sharply increased contract prices, has given potato cultivation in Germany and France a tremendous boost. In Belgium, processing capacity has expanded from around 4.5 million tons to 6 to 7 million tons. And in France, there has been a doubling from 1 to more than 2 million tons. In addition, there is in the Netherlands still processing capacity for the production of potato consumption products of more than 4 million tons and in Germany about 2 million tons. Starch and seed potatoes For that increase in processing, more seed potatoes are also needed, which has led to a boost in specific varieties for potato processing. The cultivation of starch potatoes has meanwhile declined significantly. This is especially true for France, but in the Netherlands, the area has also been limited to less than 40,000 hectares in the last two years. Nonetheless, the production of starch potatoes this year rises to above 1.8 million tons, and thus the harvest is back to a level that was usual with an area of about 45,000 hectares. In 2016 and 2017, slightly more was harvested at 1.9 million tons. The Dutch seed potato growers are expected to have achieved a record production of about 1.6 million tons. Thus, the yield competes with years in which more than 43,000 hectares of seed potatoes were cultivated. So far, 2022 stands as a record in the books of CBS with 1.59 million tons on an area of 43,157 hectares and a yield per hectare of 37 tons.