Analysis: There are two reasons why we are seemingly short of Irish potatoes at the moment and both are related to weather
By Shay Phelan, Teagasc
Many consumers are noticing that Irish spuds are both scarce and expensive at the moment, with very few "new potatoes" available on shop shelves. June and July are traditionally the months where potato connoisseurs looked for the new season potatoes and, in the case of the second earlies such as British Queens, they were eaten with not much else other than butter and salt.
There are two reasons why we are seemingly short of Irish potatoes at the moment and both are related to weather. Our main crop, which is dominated by the Rooster variety, are usually planted in April or early May and harvested in October. These are then stored in refrigerated stores until they are required by the wholesaler. Modern fridge stores are capable of storing potatoes for 12 months so roosters that were harvested in 2023 should still be available now.
Unfortunately the growing season of 2023 was a poor one for potatoes as it was a later season which meant that crops were harvested late. This was combined with really poor conditions in October and November 2023, where many growers struggled to harvest their crops which were already lower in yield due to the poor season.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Today with Claire Bryne, are we in the midst of a potato shortage?
Bord Bia has estimated that yields of potatoes before harvest in 2023 were already 10% lower than 2022, even before the delayed harvest resulted in hundreds of acres that were simply not harvested at all and were left to rot in the fields. Those crops that were harvested suffered higher than normal losses due to the poor harvesting conditions. The lower overall yield meant that growers who produced potatoes for the supermarkets had much less crop to sell and this is now starting to show on the shelves.
Coupled with the poor growing year in 2023, spring 2024 was one of the wettest on record, especially in the traditional growing areas of the south and east. Normally early season potatoes such as Homeguard or Premiere would be planted in counties like Wexford, Cork in mid to late February, coastal areas in North Dublin and Louth would then start in late February or early March. These crops are considered a 90 day crop so they should be available for sale in early June.
But the record rainfall that these counties received this year prevented most if not all of these crops from being planted at that time so most were planted in April. It was very noticeable over the last month or so that most of the roadside stalls which would normally sell strawberries, jams, potatoes etc had no potatoes for sale until relatively recently. This year I noticed many had kindling for sale instead, a real sign of how cold the weather was.
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From RTÉ News in April 2024, potato shortage looms as farmers face ongoing bad weather
Similarly with the second earlies such as British Queen - or "Wexford Queens" or "Rush Queens" as they are often called - these would normally be planted in February or March depending on where they are grown to be ready in early July. However, these also weren't planted until April so the bulk for these won’t be ready for another few weeks.
In the case of rooster, which makes up approximately 50% of all the potatoes planted in Ireland, the vast majority of these crops were not planted until May. Maincrop varieties like Rooster, Kerrs Pink, Record which we see on the supermarket shelves - or Markies which are mostly imported and sold to chippers - generally take 120 days to grow a crop fully. Therefore most of these crops won’t be available until the autumn at the earliest. Roosters often start to appear in shops in mid-August just before the schools open again, but we can expect very little of that to be available this year also as they are usually planted in March.
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From RTÉ Brainstorm, why Irish people go mad for floury spuds
In order to keep supplies on the shelves, supermarkets have had to change how they are selling potatoes this year with Irish Roosters being sold in smaller 2.5kg packs. These are generally in the clear plastic packages and are sold washed. The 7.5kg bags are now predominantly made up of imported varieties: Mozart is a red skinned variety which is very similar to Rooster in appearance, though the taste is quite different.
Growers have reacted to this year's weather and have planted slightly more crops in 2024 than 2023. Even though this season has been another late one, this should ensure that there should be adequate supplies later in the year and into 2025. This would indicate the current shortage of Irish potatoes will only be a temporary blip and the market will return to normal in by early autumn.
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Shay Phelan is a Crops and Potato Crop Specialist at Teagasc
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
