Potatoes: 06/06/2017

Wholesale ex-farm potato prices reported to the IFA

Comment: Early potato sales continue to increase, with small volumes being met with strong demand. By the end of this week, there will be very little Home Guard left to harvest, while there will be more Premiere available. Some growers had sown Queen in February and this will begin to appear on the market also. However, it will be another two weeks at least before we see any significant quantities. Lifting of new crop has started in Germany and elsewhere. However, yields are reported to be light and there could be a significant impact from the frost damage in April. More growers are finished with old-season crop. Therefore, it gives others a chance of securing much-needed price increases on the wholesale market in particular. There are some reports of Scottish Rooster on the Irish market, so buyers and retailers need to be aware that they are not mislabelling product when it is not Irish.