Agribusiness News March 2025 – Sector Focus: Potatoes

Sector trends

Potato planting is underway for early crops under fleece in Jersey, Cornwall, and Ayrshire but most producers are finalising field plans and securing seed potatoes.

Prices for the 2024 crop have been relatively firm across the sector, but export markets for seed potatoes have been particularly favourable. The export trade is of key importance for many Scottish producers and is dominated by a handful of free varieties such as Cara and Hermes. South of the border in England seed potato production is almost exclusively centred on controlled varieties such as Sagitta and Taurus.

Packing potato prices have also been reasonable, they have not seen the same strengthening of demand as the export seed trade and current reports are that the free-buy trade is quiet for the time of year.

Pest and disease

Quality in store has been good, but mechanical damage is a common fault. Some issues with dry rot have been reported in susceptible varieties.

Levels of aphid vectored virus have been a concern for the industry, particularly in Scotland where levels have historically been very low. Although level reported still concerning, the incidence of virus faults within the Scottish Seed Potato Classification Scheme (SPCS) was considerably lower in 2024 compared with 2023, indicating that an increased focus on management is having a positive impact.

Managing the issue has put pressure on seed availability however, and this has driven prices upwards and made sourcing some varieties challenging.

Levels of potato cyst nematode (PCN) species have also been a concern over the last decade. Land must be certified as free from PCN before seed potatoes can be planted – in areas of intensive production such as Angus and Perthshire scheduling of land for PCN infestation has reduced field availability for seed production.

These three trends (1) demand for export varieties, (2) PCN distribution and (3) management of stocks to reduce virus risk along with supply and demand in other sectors of the industry have led to a substantial increase in the value of land for potato rents although this does vary somewhat by region.

Varieties and Classification

As AHDB Potatoes no longer exists there is no central body collating planting statistics across the UK potato crop. However, good data is available from the SPCSs in Scotland, England & Wales, NI, and out with the UK.

For Scotland, export seed varieties and the multipurpose Maris Piper dominate. A substantial proportion (31%) of the 2024 crop was of the top three varieties (MARIS PIPER, HERMES, CARA).

However, there are some shifts further down the ranks. The most notable is probably Elland, which has seen year-on-year rises in area share since its introduction. This variety has resistance to one species of PCN (Globoderia pallida) and acceptance by end markets which has helped its popularity.

Figure 1: Top ten varieties by planted area in the Scottish SPCS administered by SASA. Note that these data are based on published final grades.

The area of classified Scottish seed was up slightly for 2024 to 10,393 ha an increase of 6.3%.

A substantial amount of classified seed (3153 ha) is grown in England and Wales – primarily, but not exclusively, on the Yorkshire Wolds. APHA administer the E&W SPCS and report that the three most popular varieties in the 2024 growing season were SAGITTA (405 ha), TAURUS (318 ha), MELODY (194 ha), and MARKIES (172 ha). In Northern Ireland a small amount of classified seed (299 ha) was planted in 2024. The top three varieties were MARIS PIPER (47 ha), KERR’S PINK (42 ha), and ROOSTER (31 ha).

Export Markets

Although seed movement is currently centred around the home market, some interim data is available for Scottish seed potato exports abroad. Egypt is by far the most important export partner (over 61,000 tonnes in 2024) – opening and expansion of new markets are a priority for the sectors sustainability. Exports to the EU remain closed, but a recent audit by the Commission of the sector is a positive development and we hope to hear news of the outcome soon.

potato@sac.co.uk