The atrocious ground conditions that confronted the Irish potato sector last autumn remains a vivid recollection for Francie Gorman, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) president.
Reviewing the parlous situation of the sector last autumn marked the starting point of his presentation to the 2024 national potato conference.
“The Irish potato industry is the second largest sector within the horticultural area. It generates a turnover of €85 million at the farm gate.
“Widespread flooding in October 2023 caused very difficult harvesting conditions. Growers managed to get the majority of crops out of the ground,” he said.
In some cases, “there were growers who did not. Subsequent frosts added to crop losses, which caused significant financial implications for those affected farmers”, Gorman added.
Irish potato sector
The IFA president continued: “As a result of these challenges there was a shortage of potato supply towards the end of the 2023 season.
“This was compounded by late plantings in 2024. Thankfully the current harvest season is progressing well with most growers having completed all field work at this stage.”
According to Gorman, inflated input costs, as is the case in all, other sectors of agriculture, remain a key concern for potato growers.
“Compounding this challenge has been the added difficulties confronting potato growers of sourcing seed and land suited to the growing of their crops.
“All costs continue to increase significantly at grower levels. These include fertiliser, seed, chemicals and machinery,” he explained.
The IFA president confirmed that all of Ireland five main supermarkets increased the price of potatoes in their retail outlets this year.
“This has been a very positive development, but this was something that was long overdue.
“However, potatoes were one of the few commodities not to see a significant increase in prices directly following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine,” he added.
Gorman went on to point out that potatoes remain a key staple of the weekly shop in Ireland.
“The Office of the Food Regulator, established 12 months ago has two main functions: the compliance with and enforcement of unfair trading in law and the provision of information across the entire agri-food chain through engagement with stakeholders.
“This latter function requires the full cooperation of all organisations operating within the farming and food chain.
“Timely data must be made available on a timely basis to the food regulator’s office. The IFA is calling on the agriculture minister to ensure this requirement is put on a statutory footing,” Gorman outlined.