News on Potato Cultivation from the Netherlands

Preparations for PotatoEurope 2025 are underway at Wageningen University’s Lelystad site. Alegria potatoes, known for high yield and disease resistance, are planted. The event on Sept 3-4 will showcase innovations in harvesting and cultivation.

Case IH will be the exclusive tractor sponsor at PotatoEurope 2025 on 3-4 September in Lelystad. With 17 years of partnership, it remains a key player in the potato sector. This year, the focus will be on live demos and FieldOps™ telematics solutions.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima toured a Cypriot potato field and a production facility Tuesday during a visit to the Mediterranean island nation. The visit featured a long tour of the farm and facility in Xylophagou and Liopetri, respectively, in the island´s renowned potato-growing region.

Just one kilometre from the coast, in the Frisian village of Minnertsga, between the windmills, stands the newly built shed with a renewed sorting line of partnership Schuiling.

The Consumption Potatoes Working Group (WCA) of the Dutch Agricultural Union (NAV) has made an estimate of the cost price for the upcoming season (2025). In recent years (harvests of 2022, 2023, and 2024), potato growers have already faced a significant increase in costs.

HZPC Americas Corp. (HZPC) and partners are embarking on a new phase of supporting the North American potato industry with the creation of a Seed Potato Dealer Network.

Most potato farmers across the NEPG zone had a lot of luck during October and the beginning of November to finish harvesting, even though some of the harvesting was done in very difficult and expensive conditions.

PotatoEurope is an international event exclusively dedicated to the entire value chain of potatoes: from Farm to Fork! The event takes place each year in one of the event’s four partner countries: the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France.

Agrico's annual Variety and Seedling Show 2024 on November 7 and 8 will showcase their latest 'Next Generation' potato varieties, featuring enhanced disease resistance, yield potential, and sustainability.

On October 29, 2024, the General Meeting of Shareholders of Royal HZPC Group considered and adopted the 2023/2024 financial statements. The 2023 crop year was characterized in Europe by a late start due to high rainfall, followed by a hot and dry period.

Royal Avebe's starch potato campaign is in full swing. The initial results show good quality of the starch potatoes delivered. 

The organisation of the PotatoEurope, which will take place on September 3 and 4, 2025 at the Dutch location of Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Field Crops in Lelystad, can already speak of a flying start.

The 2024 growing season – with the main harvest not yet done – was a difficult, stressful, risky and expensive one for potato growers across the NEPG in North-west Europe. New challenges appear as climate change takes its toll.

Gerard Backx, CEO of the Royal HZPC Group, says there is an imbalance in the Dutch seed potato market. He expects less volume of these potatoes to be available this season. Although there is a good tuber count in many areas, and the harvest should be successful, the wet summer significantly damaged some areas.

Seed potato acreage is shrinking in the Netherlands, Germany, and France.

In season 2023, potato growers in North-western Europe were confronted with difficult weather conditions, a high disease pressure and rising costs.

In the Netherlands, the weather affected the potato harvest and raises many questions about the future of production in the country.

La sostenibilidad de las variedades de papa es el nuevo horizonte para los obtentores como HZPC.