Recently published AHDB Potatoes data confirm that despite the rains during the harvest since 2012 and the third worst autumn crop ever, potato farmers were able to successfully deal with the weather and harvest up to 89% of the harvest in 2019.

However, while the AHDB title looks positive, the picture is very different in sectors and regions of potato growing.

UK potato processors and producers are still extremely concerned. Since the publication of the report on November 15, weather conditions have worsened, since most of the remaining crop is still in the field and cannot be harvested.

Another problem for the country's potato processors is that some varieties cultivated specifically for processing are usually harvested late to ensure proper potato production.

Many later seasonal varieties intended for storage and use during the winter were still in the fields when bad weather began, which means that the producers did not even have the opportunity to start harvesting, and this potato remained in the ground.

The first place in the world for the production of potatoes per capita belongs to Belarus.

AHDB reports that in the Northwest, only 67% of the potato area in the region was harvested by November 12th. For Yorkshire (which received 175% of the “normal” rainfall in October), a staggering 21% of the crop has yet to be harvested.

These are precisely the regions where these late cultivars are cultivated and, as a result, a disproportionate impact on the country's processing sector is expected.

The threat to the 2019 crop is compounded by the fact that 2018 was one of the worst potato crops in the UK in recent years, the volumes of which were significantly lower than average, and processors noted a direct impact on the quality of available raw materials.

A high level of concern remains throughout the industry, in particular in the processing sector, due to the fact that in some regions up to 23% of the crop is still left in the ground.

• Early potato prices in Ukraine fell to their lowest level in 3 years.
• In Indian Bengal, a lingering rain destroyed almost the entire potato crop.
• Earlier, we wrote that foreign young potatoes appeared in Ukraine.
• NBU President Minnett Butters said Britain could face an unrealistic shortage of potatoes.