Potato harvest 2025: record numbers and millions destroyed!

Potato harvest 2025: record numbers and millions destroyed!

A dramatic situation for German potato farmers: Despite a record harvest of 13.4 million tons in 2025, the market is at rock bottom. This harvest exceeds last year's level by 5.3% and even exceeds the average of recent years by an incredible 17%! And this is on a cultivated area of ​​301,000 hectares, which has grown by 6.7%. Christian Schridde, a 42-year-old farmer from Sierße near Peine in Lower Saxony, illustrates the precarious situation by bringing 400 tons of table potatoes to the biogas plant because he couldn't find a buyer. According to the chairman of the Union of the German Potato Industry, Olaf Feuerborn, farmers are suffering from overproduction of 2.4 million tons, most of which remain unsaleable. Many processors already have full warehouses and only pay 10 to 15 euros per 100 kilos for “free goods” – significantly less than the 18 to 40 euros from the previous year. These dramatic price drops have plunged the industry into crisis.

Dirty Business: What happens to the excess potatoes? The warehouses are filling up and many companies have stocked up on contract goods. Starch production, which is in demand, cannot offer a solution because capacities are at an end. Potatoes left in the ground could spread viral and fungal diseases, causing additional damage to overall agriculture. Stefanie Sabet, General Secretary of the German Farmers' Association, describes the situation as an economic emergency: Using the potatoes in biogas plants is a desperate measure. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture confirms this trend, which was already observed during the corona pandemic. At the same time, potato farmers in Germany receive over 48 million euros in tax revenue from EU funding. However, the area bonus of 160 euros per hectare only covers a fraction of the actual costs of around 5,000 euros per hectare.

Economic importance and challenge

The economic importance of potato cultivation remains high despite declining consumption and shrinking cultivated areas in Germany. In 2023, around 11.6 million tons of potatoes were harvested from an area of ​​around 264,700 hectares. Conventional production predominates, while only around 4% comes from organic farming. For example, table potatoes dominate the market, while industrial potatoes only make up a smaller share. This shows that potatoes are still an important staple food, even if average consumption per capita in Germany has fallen from almost 200 kg in 1950 to around 64 kg in 2023.

What are the reasons for this decline? The primary reasons cited are the reduced importance of potatoes in the diet and the increase in feed grain consumption in pigs. Lower Saxony in particular remains the heart of potato cultivation in Germany - around 46% of the total cultivated area is cultivated here, followed by Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Potato cultivation: insight into practice

The growing period for potatoes is typically April or May, requiring an optimal soil temperature of around 8-10 degrees Celsius. Harvesting takes place when the tubers are ripe and have reached the shell strength. Pre-germination of the tubers in January or February, coupled with foil covers, even enables early harvesting. Grain quantities of almost 40,000 plants per hectare are intended for table potatoes. The harvesting machines are technologically designed to treat the sensitive tubers as gently as possible, which minimizes storage losses due to disease and damage.

However, the volatile market and surplus potatoes are testing the effectiveness of these measures. A rethink in the industry may soon be necessary for potato farmers, because the challenges are clear: an unnecessary amount of production combined with falling prices. The noticeable pressure on farmers is increasing - the question remains as to how long this situation can continue.