Belgian Potato Farmers Dump Crops as Record Harvest and Tariffs Create Massive Surplus
By
Jenny Gross
Soggy bottom. Skim the top, leave the rest on the tray.
Summary
Belgian farmers are facing a massive potato surplus of five million metric tons due to a record harvest, reduced U.S. demand from tariffs on frozen fries, and increased competition from Asian suppliers. Farmers like Kris D'haeyere are being forced to dump unsold potatoes back into their fields, as even offering them for a few euros per ton finds no buyers. The situation highlights a severe agricultural oversupply crisis in Europe's French fry capital.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledA thousand tons of potatoes were stacked 15 feet high in a warehouse on Kris D'haeyere's farm for months.
Even though he offered to sell them for just a couple of euros per ton, no one wanted to buy them.
So Mr. D'haeyere did the unthinkable: This month, he dumped the crop back into his fields in eastern Belgium, the cheapest way to dispose of enough potatoes to make 200 million French fries.
Other farmers are doing the same, as Europe faces a surplus of five million metric tons of the type of potato used for fries.
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