This year's early potato harvest in the Palatinate was completed on the traditional cut-off date, 10 August, with good results. "Under irrigation, 
there were normal yields and qualities, which was also reflected accordingly in the price. With prices exceeding 60 EUR for quintals, record-high prices were even achieved," Volker Erne (right) from Landhandel Barth sums up.
Although the headquarters of the agricultural company is in Aglasterhausen in northern Baden, the marketing of the early potatoes from about 45 farms is done via a branch in Schifferstadt, in the heart of the Palatinate. In the third week of August, the first firm-skinned produce of this year's season could be harvested here, according to Erne. In the food sector, mainly the varieties Colomba and Musica are grown, otherwise they supply the processing industry, such as peeling companies and french fry factories. "For early potato cultivation, we see tough competition with vegetable cultivation for free leased land in the Palatinate. Accordingly, the cultivation of early potatoes has been declining slightly for some years."
Another factor is the increasing interest in early potato production in other growing regions in Germany. Erne: "The Palatinate has a strong position in early potato production due to its earliness. In areas such as Bavaria and Lower Saxony, however, producers are increasingly trying to get involved in early harvesting, which is why the trade there is increasingly buying regional instead of supraregional goods. However, I still see potential in the processing sector, especially in the area of French fries, because several factories have been opened in recent years, which is why production capacity has been expanded accordingly," the potato merchant outlines.
"If there are not enough storage potatoes, it will always happen that you have to resort to early potatoes. It won't be like that every year, but if I think back about ten years, the industry didn't need early potatoes. Instead, they invested in storage capacity. However, many French fry potatoes are not grown under irrigation and climate change has also become increasingly noticeable in this area in recent years. This, in turn, has led to a greater demand for early potatoes for processing in recent years than was the case about ten years ago," Erne concludes.
Pictures: Kartoffel Barth GmbH
For more information:
Volker Erne
Kartoffel Barth GmbH
Schifferstadter Str. 102
67165 Waldsee
T: 06262 922422
[email protected]
www.landhandel-barth.de