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Ireland facing potato crisis as frigid weather grips nation

Farmers down almost $22 million as crops sit unharvested

By
PATRICK ROBERTS,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 11:57 AM
Updated Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 12:51 PM

 

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Irish farmers can't get their potatoes out of the ground due to freezing temperatures

As Ireland faces the prospect of ten more days of freezing temperatures, potato farmers in Ireland are facing a very uncertain future as they can’t harvest their crops.

Between the floods around the country in November and the subsequent freeze in December and now January, potato farmers have been left frustrated as either water or ice has prevented them from getting potatoes out of the ground, and that could result in a loss of around €15 ($21.6) million to Irish potato farmers.

Thomas Carpenter, the National Potato Committee Vice-Chairman of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), said that 6,000 acres of potato files have been unharvested because of the inclement weather.

"The losses will result in a 20% reduction in marketable produce and retailers must respond immediately by paying a viable price to producers for crop in store," said Carpenter.

The IFA is also concerned the frost could kill up to 75 per cent of the potato crops currently sitting in Irish fields.

The reduced supply could result in a hike in prices for potatoes, and Ireland’s signature vegetable is not the only crop suffering.

Carrots, celery, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower crops are also unharvested in recent weeks as the freezing temperatures continue.

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8 Comments

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Posted by jacersisityourself on Jan 10, 2010, 12:28 PM EST
A friend of mine used to be in the potatoes business, selling to all the Irish supermarkets. He imported the spuds, couldn’t get Irish ones at prices competitive enough for Quinnsworth, Dunnes Stores et al. While living in Scotland, I discovered the taste of potatoes grown in Ayrshire, Scotland, to be the nicest - chipped or roasted but particularly tasty when boiled and maybe a slab of real butter melted over them. The soft densely-black soil in Ayrshire is just perfect for potato-growing. My friend used to import them but only in small quantities for high profile restaurants and always kept a bag aside for me & my family after I returned to Dublin. He imported potatoes from Cyprus for years... a lot of the young adults of today in Ireland grew up on Cyprus spuds and crisps. But d’ya know what? He found spuds grown in the north of South Africa to be of even better taste – the red soil there was better than Ayrshire’s fruitful black soil. He said you could dig your hand into the soil, pick up a fistful of it and know it was just so right, so natural. He couldn’t afford to import them to Ireland however; the cost of shipping them here, together with the time lapse from soil to dinner plate defeated the exercise. Irish potato farmers have destroyed Irish soil, rivers and seaside beaches with their chemical treatments. They have no cause to complain to the Irish Govt or about EU Agricultural policies and look for compensation. Like the Irish property developers, the greed of the Irish potato farmers has destroyed their livelihood; the weather hasn’t. I look forward to the spring when I can again sit in my garden where the praties grow.
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Posted by kickstar on Jan 08, 2010, 03:46 PM EST
'zagloba' You also forgot to say that dogs piddle on the opposite side. They lift the other leg now as a result of Global Goreism.
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Posted by zagloba on Jan 08, 2010, 02:53 PM EST
God, the global warming scoffers never give up! If you read serious analysis of the problem, you will see time after time that among the predicted effects of Global Warming are new weather EXTREMES - hotter summers, colder winters, stronger storms, and - more freezing temperatures in Ireland, for example.
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Posted by kickstar on Jan 08, 2010, 02:26 PM EST
6ooo Acres of potatoes Firstly I have never seen a potato in the shops that comes from Ireland in Decades, Most come from Scotland and very many other European countries. Irish crops just do not meet Strict Quality controls imposed by the EC. Northern Ireland produces and markets thousands of tonnes of Seed potato each year for Export, But is a net importer of eating potatoes as is the Republic.
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Posted by carrickcourt on Jan 08, 2010, 02:08 PM EST
Madeline and Dave007 appear to be people who live in alternate reality or should I saw unreality. Global warming is real my friends, you can hide your head in the sand if you want that is your choice. I am more concerned with the price of spuds in Ireland. Will we see the end in Ireland of dinner plates with the spud? Is Ireland headed for rice and pasta rather then the spuds on the plate?
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Posted by plasticpaddy on Jan 08, 2010, 01:58 PM EST
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. As for Dave 007, global warming is still the case, temperatures on average are up. This is one significant cold spell that you use to justify the ignoring of reems of data supporting the golbal warming theses. Fairly pathetic
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Posted by Madeleine on Jan 08, 2010, 03:55 AM EST
Al Gore was on Saturday night live this past Saturday, he was making fun of himslef and said he has decided to act crazy and maybe no one would notice, he was also selling his new book on global warming , I hope that was a joke. I guess this is his way of saying he's through with the whole exposed lie. He's already made his money wiht his own green group so he can let go now. He was funny.
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Posted by Dave007 on Jan 07, 2010, 02:56 PM EST
Europe, Asia, and America gripped in record breaking cold weather, and yet Al Gore and his eco-alarmist chronies still try to scam the world into there global warming web. It is all about the money! They all stand to make billions on carbon trading. The world needs to wake-up and revolt. The earth has cooled every year for the last 8 and they continue to lie and deceive.
 


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