Potato Plantings 2015 July 27, 2015 12:00 am The area planted to potatoes this year has dropped 6.6% compared to 2014. This data comes from the first estimate of GB potato plantings published by AHDB Potatoes (formerly the Potato Council). The estimated area for 2015 is put at 113,100 hectares compared to 121,100 last year. This means it is 8.9% down on the five-year average and the lowest level of plantings seen on record. This is the first year that the area of the crop has dropped below 120,000 hectares. Multiplied by the five-year average yield of 44.7 tonnes per Ha this gives a crop of 5.05 million tonnes. This is 12% below the output in 2014. However, production is unlikely to drop quite this low as the average yield figure includes the very poor 2012 year. Even so, it seems potato output could be significantly lower. It is perhaps not surprising that growers have reduced area after two seasons of low returns from the crop. Whether the lower output will boost prices will be seen over the coming months. The area figures and, of course, the yields, will continue to be amended over the course of the season. The next update is due at the end of August.
