An unprecedented rise in all input costs looks set to impact the price of potatoes in the shops throughout Ireland, with industry representatives predicting a 30% rise in price in the coming months.
Commenting on the impact, Wilsonâs Country managing director, Lewis Cunningham, said:
âSignificant hikes across all energy, fuel, growing inputs such as sprays and fertilisers, as well as land and labour costs, are now in train.
âSome of these factors have been impacting all manufacturing businesses over recent months including our packing, distribution and storage operations.
âWith the continued increases coming at us in 2022, unfortunately we have no option but to pass these increases down the line to our customers.â
According to the management team at Wilsonsâs Country, thereâs no sign of any easing with these costs and itâs likely that these costs will be sustained throughout 2022.
âThe coming weeks will see growers commence the planting of first early crops. This will be followed later in the spring by the planting of main crop potatoes.
âThe reality is that farmers are also facing dramatic increases in the cost of all crop inputs at the present time.
âThe end result will be a significant increase in the production cost of all potato crops coming out of the ground at harvest time this year.â
He continued:
âBut Northern Ireland is far from being alone in this regard.
âFarmers and growers around the world are being impacted by fast increasing costs of production at the present time. This will have a universally strong impact on international food prices throughout 2022.â
Wilsonâs Country agronomist, Stuart Meredith, explained that fertiliser prices have more than doubled over the past 12 months.
âFertiliser prices are currently over double the price compared to the same period last year with no sign of prices easing before planting.
âSupply and demand may actually become an issue through March and April, which may drive further price rises.
âAs many potato growers rely heavily on annual rental agreements, buying up stocks of fertiliser last autumn wasnât an option for them as much of the land wasnât secured at that stage.
âLast year, it was costing approximately £200-£250/ac to fertilise a potato crop, depending on different soil analysis. This year, we could be looking at somewhere in the region of £500/ac.â
Stuart added that the demand for clean, virgin land has increased within all the agri sectors over the last number of years.
He further explained:
âIn turn, this has pushed the price being paid by potato growers for the right land up by approximately £150/ac.
âAnother input that has seen a significant rise in price is fuel. It takes approximately 250 litres of diesel to produce an acre of potatoes.
âLast year, red diesel was hovering around 50p/L: at the minute itâs closer to 75p/L.â
According to the agronomist, some of the chemistry used in potato production has also experienced huge increases in price over the past few months.
âSome products have doubled in price in the space of six months,â he confirmed.
âAll the above increases have made growers very nervous about going forward into a new season.â
Taking all of these factors into account, the members of the management team at Wilsonâs Country believe that the overall cost of producing, packing and distributing potatoes is estimated to increase by upwards of 30% over the coming months.
Meredith added:
âGiven this backdrop, 2022 is a year for farmers to really be aware of all their costs, management of these costs along with excellent crop management will be essential."
Cunningham concluded:
âAll sectors of the agri-food industry are facing major increases in their cost base at the present time. Unfortunately, potatoes are no different in this regard.â