Potato acreage shows historically large decline

The area of ware potatoes in the Netherlands is showing its largest decline in 65 years this year. The starch potato cultivation area is shrinking to its smallest acreage in sixty years. This is apparent from preliminary figures from the 2026 agricultural census by the statistics agency CBS. Ware potato cultivation is shrinking by 15% this year. This matches the wishes that various parties in the potato chain expressed last winter to bring potato cultivation back into balance with market demand. Last year, the potato price fell to zero as a result of oversupply and a smaller sales market for potato products. After extreme drought in 1959 and a large harvest in 1960, Dutch ware potato cultivation shrank by 16% in 1961. That was one of the strongest reductions in acreage in history. Only in 1949 (-19%), 1938 (-19%) and 1923 (-20%) was the decline larger. Since 1851, this year's decrease ranks fifth on the list of the largest shrinkages in potato acreage. In hectares, ware potato cultivation in the Netherlands is decreasing by 12.500 hectares this year. This makes the decline greater than the increase in recent years, when contract prices were raised sharply. With a total area of 70.200 hectares, the acreage is the smallest since 2012. dramatic year The acreage is therefore also slightly smaller than the 71.400 hectares that were grown after the coronavirus crisis in 2021. After that, cultivation increased sharply, supported by higher contract prices. The peak was reached in 2025 at 82.700 hectares. In combination with very high yields, this led to major overproduction. This was accompanied by a decline in sales opportunities for fries. It resulted in a dramatic year for the potato price. The strong rise in ware potato cultivation came at the expense of starch potato cultivation for a number of years. Last year there was a slight recovery, but this year the acreage of these potatoes is falling to a new low. This is mainly because processor Avebe is paying low prices for potatoes from the 2025 harvest outside the A volume. The total potato acreage including seed potatoes, according to CBS, will amount to just under 150.000 hectares this year. That is 8,4% less than last year. Seed potato cultivation remains almost at last year's level.