Potato farmers warn of potential shortages and price rises

William Gilmore, a fifth generation potato farmer, says the month of March has been "a write off"

"We need dry weather and we need it asap."

William Gilmore is a fifth generation potato farmer in County Down.

The County Down potato grower has described the month of March as "a write-off", as producers warn of potential shortages and increasing prices.

By now, Mr Gilmore's fields should be shrouded in polythene wrap to encourage the young tubers to grow.

But the ground is too wet for the machines to work on.

"It is frustrating for everybody and all the farmers in the area are getting very edgy," he said.

"There's a lot of finance at stake for everybody and they're getting quite worried about the whole situation."

The poor weather means a delay of "a month or six weeks" in growth and production, which is "really frustrating", says Angus Wilson of Wilson's Country, which packs and processes potatoes.

"It's been a very difficult spring, but it's actually been a very difficult weather pattern from last July, with a lot of rain all the way through," he said.

"That created a difficult harvest which left us with a scarcity of potatoes across Europe, maybe 10% lower than the normal crop, and that has affected both the quantity and quality of the potatoes that we're dealing with."

Angus Wilson says the difficulties are not just confined to Northern Ireland

And it is not just Northern Ireland grappling with the weather.

"It looks as if, across Europe, it's going to be a very difficult market for the next probably three months," said Mr Wilson.

"If crop does get planted at the end of April, well, we should be back on track again maybe in July, but it depends totally on the weather."

It can cost about £3,000 an acre to grow the humble spud and prices depend on what comes out of the ground.

'A perfect storm'

After a wet summer and autumn last year, Mr Gilmore said a perfect storm of seed potato shortages, less land available for growing and last year's cold store crop already exhausted meant buyers would feel the impact as well as farmers.

The wet weather has disrupted work in the fields

"Consumers will probably end up paying more," he said.

"I was talking to a neighbour and they're looking at bringing in French potatoes.

"So the Northern Ireland potato is a scarce commodity this year definitely."

A spell of drier, brighter weather would be welcome for everyone but Mr Gilmore is philosophical.

"Things can certainly turn around very quickly in the springtime and it can dry up very quickly," he said.

"People think the farmers maybe are always moaning about the weather, but the weather can either make or break us."