Wilson’s Country has confirmed that the maincrop potato harvest in Northern Ireland is slightly below 40% completed.
Company managing director, Lewis Cunningham, said:
“There was heavy rain on Tuesday of this week. This halted harvesting for a couple of days. However, the weather outlook up to the weekend and beyond is quite good.
“So, there is every prospect of getting meaningful tonnages of potatoes out of the ground in the near future.
“It’s imperative to get as much of the harvest as possible completed now. The last thing we need is potatoes over-wintering in fields. This was the case last year. The end result was significant tuber losses with potato quality equally affected.”
Despite the late planting dates this year, “most crops to date are performing well”, according to Cunningham.
He continued: “Growers are reporting yields in the range 19t to 21t/ac, although there are some crops around the 15t/ac range
“So, all in all, it’s looking like an average yielding year with no bumper yields. This week has seen us fill and close the door on our first cold store.”
Maincrop potato harvest
The Wilson’s Country representative also confirmed an approximate 10% increase in the area of maincrop potatoes grown in Northern Ireland in 2024.
“This reflects the fact the fact that many cereal crops were not drilled because of the very late spring.
“The strength of potato prices at that time and the relative availability of seed would have also encouraged growers to plant a greater acreage of potatoes back in the spring.
“But the total quantities of potatoes available for the market should not be that different, year-on-year. And that’s assuming the crops all get harvested in the next few weeks.
“Many of the later planted potato crops may well have lower yields than would normally be the case,” he outlined.
Cunningham characterised the 2024 potato growing season as one which did not see crops experiencing any form of extreme growing conditions, caused by the likes of drought and/or flooding.
“All of this is extremely positive. The one down side was the continuing, cool conditions through the summer months and the general lack of sunshine.
“Potato crops need a combination of heat and sunshine in order to maximise yields.
“Blight was challenging at times. However, those growers who stuck rigidly to the recommended spraying programmes were able to keep the problem at bay.
“Crop quality is holding up well right across the entire range of potato varieties,” he explained.
The Wilson’s Country managing director added that “growers are very much in the hands of the weather now. If dry conditions persist, the 2024 harvest could be wrapped up in pretty short order”.