end of potato harvest disrupted in the North

The potato campaign is in full swing in the North. The harvests are a little late because the spring plantings were disrupted by bad weather. Additionally, heavy rains last week made the soil very sticky.

As autumn has barely begun, the potato harvests are disrupted by rain. In the North, the harvest of this starchy food is in full swing, as in Bourbourg in Flanders.

“This year, the conditions are very complicated, we have had a lot of rain and as a result the earth is very sticky and it is difficult to separate the potatoes from the earth,” explains Benjamin Smee, farmer, at the microphone of BFM Grand Lille.

Using shovels, farmers remove the soil that has become stuck in the belts of the harvester and is preventing the potatoes from being harvested.

Good quality despite low quantity

Arriving at the warehouse, the potatoes are scrubbed as much as possible by hand, but storage conditions must also be adapted.

“There we entered into digging conditions which are very difficult, which will require a lot of ventilation in the storage building to be able to dry this soil, so that it comes off and the potato also dries” , confides Bertrand Achte, president of the Potato Producers Group to Industries.

Despite these complications, the caliber and quality are there. However, in Flanders, barely half of the potatoes could be harvested due to planting delayed by bad weather in spring.

“As these potatoes are not yet ripe, they have not yet been able to be harvested. And there, we must not have a series of rains for 15 days/three weeks because there is some of the potatoes which risk not being able to be harvested because a potato if it is too long in too humid soil it deteriorates”, indicates Bertrand Achte.

Farmers are hoping for a return of good weather to ensure demand. According to Météo-France, the weather will be generally sunny in the North in the coming days before a return of rain on Monday. The Hauts-de-France region supplies two out of three potatoes consumed in the country.