THIS YEAR’S POTATO harvest is “the worst in recent memory”, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has said, as flooding has plagued crops.

The chair of the National Potato Committee, Sean Ryan, has expressed concern that heavy rainfall has turned the season into a “salvage operation”. 

Around 60% of the crop has yet to be harvested and “sizeable losses” have already occurred, he said, with more expected.

“Met Eireann data shows some stations have already exceeded the average annual total rainfall and others close to it. Now that we are in November, we are in extremely difficult territory with this much crop left to be harvested,” Ryan said.

“The heavy rain has washed most of the clay off the top of the drills which leaves the crop more prone to frost damage.”

He worries that a few frosty days could “wipe out entire crops”.

The 2023 potato season was always going to be a late year as crops were planted very late due to weather conditions in the springtime, the IFA explained. Maturation was slow and crops were a minimum of six weeks behind schedule before the current weather conditions kicked in.

“Dry fields were harvested first leaving the wetter ground to be harvested now. Very little potatoes have been harvested into stores to date as the market absorbed a lot of crops as they were harvested,” Ryan said.

“With more heavy rain forecast on already saturated ground, it looks like there will be no let up for growers in the near future.”

The financial impact of the loss of crops will be difficult for some farmers to survive, he added, potentially hitting the whole sector in the medium term.