Potato Plantings 2013 July 4, 2013 12:00 am Almost invariably, potato plantings rise in the season following one with high prices. But this has not been the case for 2013. The first estimates from the British Potato Council for GB plantings show the area to be down a fraction at 121,200 hectares – a 0.5% drop on the 2012 area. Despite high headline prices, 2012 was a tough year for most potato growers. Many producers had low yields and received prices well below the free-market price under forward contracts. The resulting low profitability has seemingly not encouraged many to expand their plantings. The sheer difficulty of the 2012 growing season may also have played a part, as has perhaps problems in securing short-term lettings after the condition that some land was handed back to owners last year. According to the Potato Council, should yields return to the five year average of 44.7 tonnes per hectare, the national crop would be 5.42 million tonnes. This would be almost a million tonnes up on last year, but would still be the second lowest crop size since 2007.
