00:00Potatoes, potatoes and more potatoes.
00:04These potatoes are getting cleaned and sorted before they head to the German market.
00:09A market that it turns out is experiencing a potato surplus.
00:14It's been good for shoppers.
00:16In supermarkets across the country, potato prices are a third lower than they were last
00:20year.
00:21It's a welcome relief for consumers.
00:24But the surplus has come at a cost to farmers.
00:27We're still harvesting fresh produce from the field every week, but now it's almost
00:33the end of October.
00:34We'll have quantities that we won't be able to sell through our farm shop, and we'll have
00:37to figure out how to sell them elsewhere.
00:42This year, farmers planted potatoes on nearly 19,000 hectares more than last year.
00:47It's the most land used for potatoes in Germany in 25 years.
00:51Many did so because potatoes were getting higher prices than other crops.
00:55But then Germany had a summer with perfect weather conditions for growing potatoes.
01:00Lots of rain in June and July, and plenty of sun in August.
01:04The combination of increased planting and perfect weather resulted in a much greater yield than
01:09expected.
01:10Now the potato market is so saturated, many farmers are finding it difficult to offload
01:15their harvest.
01:17Some have had a dump crop or use it as biomass.
01:19We have very good market conditions in the last years for the potato.
01:24And many farmers jumped into potato production without having contracts.
01:29A contract, for example, to turn their potatoes into crisps, starch or fries.
01:34It's always advisable to have a contract or to have a directly selling on the market.
01:40And if you don't have this, you oversupply the market.
01:44Germany's potato harvest this year is an estimated 13 million tons.
01:49Farms like the one Lillian Guzman manages is still impacted by the surplus, although not
01:54as badly as others.
01:56The cooperative farm sells many of its products directly to consumers and keeps a varied agricultural
02:01portfolio to protect it from market fluctuations.
02:04I think it's very important to actually have a wide range of products.
02:09We also have livestock farming, sow farming for production, we keep suckler cows, we have
02:14a biogas plant.
02:18Farming generates just under one percent of Germany's GDP.
02:22The country is, however, the EU market leader when it comes to milk, pork and potatoes.
02:27The country is now interested in the trade.
02:28The country is completely independent and the EU market for the country.
02:29The country is very highly competitive and the EU market is quite important.
02:33It's a very important part where the world has managed and managed to buy the corn market.
02:42The EU market is continuing to win the merry-soudening economy.
02:44The EU market is a huge part where they are in the next few months.
02:48The EU market is the e-el-queron.
02:53The EU market is most competitive, and it's a quite competitive.
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