Heat and drought curb EU potato yields

Europe is experiencing a warm and dry summer, as you will no doubt have noticed. Yet the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) is relatively moderate in its outlook for the potato harvest. In its July MARS Bulletin, the JRC expects yields to come in just below the five-year average. In eastern Belgium, Luxembourg and southwestern Germany it is dry. According to the JRC, the warm weather has further depleted soil moisture reserves. In France, the combination of heat and drought has hampered the development of crops planted this spring. Nevertheless, generally sufficient soil moisture reserves and irrigation in some areas still offer scope for crop recovery, while southeastern France has been less severely affected, writes the JRC. In the Benelux, good potato yields also depend on irrigation. In the north of the Netherlands, summer crops continue to develop under near average conditions, without noticeable effects from the recent heatwave. Potato set has been delayed in various fields across the Benelux by the heat and drought, the JRC notes. For most crops, yield expectations remain lower than in 2025, but higher than the five-year average. Cautiously optimisticThe JRC expects the EU potato yield this season to be 6% lower than in 2025. With an average yield of 36.5 tonnes per hectare, the yield is only 1% below the five-year average of 37 tonnes per hectare. For Belgium, the JRC expects potato yields to be around the five-year average, while in Germany, France and the Netherlands yields are expected to come in below the five-year average.