According to the vice-president of horticulture at the Victorian Farmers’ Federation it’s 'very likely' that Australia will face a potato shortage in coming months.
Kathryn Myers from the Victorian Farmers’ Federation states that farmers haven’t been able to plant potato crops due to recent wet weather.
“It’s just not been possible to get tractors on the ground to work up our paddocks to put potatoes in,” she told 3AW. “It’s very likely we’ll see a shortage of Australian Crispin and hot chip potatoes.”
“We had a very severe storm back in January in the central highlands potato growing region where a really nasty, very isolated hail storm really damaged crops, so there certainly were shortages going through the Ballarat factory,” Ms Myers said.
As there is no surplus in Europe due to the dry summer, importing potatoes from there may not be an option either. Potatoes aren't the only product that could be in short supply this season. Ms Myers says stone fruit, citrus, apples, pears, strawberries, tomatoes and grapes could also be affected by the wet weather.
Source: 3AW