Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by
00:29 Lilian Guzman, Farm manager
01:21 Fabian Blöchl, Brandenburg Farmers Association
02:06 Lilian Guzman, Farm manager

Script:

Potatoes, potatoes and more potatoes.

00:03

These potatoes are getting cleaned and sorted before they head to the German market. 

A market, that it turns out, is experiencing a potato surplus.

It's been good for shoppers. In supermarkets across the country, potato prices are a third lower than they were last year. It’s a welcome relief for consumers, after years of inflation. 

But the surplus has come at a cost to farmers. 

00:28

+++SOT Lilian Guzman, Farm manager+++  
"We’re still harvesting fresh produce from the field every week. But now it's almost the end of October. We'll have quantities that we won't be able to sell through our farm shop. We'll have to figure out how to sell them elsewhere.”  
“Momentan ernten wir noch wöchentlich frisch vom Feld. Aber jetzt zu Ende Oktober wieder. Und wir werden über Mengen haben, die wir auch nicht über einen Hofladen loswerden. Und da müssen wir uns natürlich kümmern, wie wir die anderweitig verkaufen.”  

00:41

This year, farmers planted potatoes on 18,800 hectares more than last year. It's the most land used for potatoes in Germany in 25 years.

Many did so because potatoes were getting higher prices than other crops.

But then, Germany had a summer with perfect weather conditions for growing potatoes: lots of rain in June and July, plenty of sun in August. The combination of increased planting and perfect weather resulted in a much greater yield than expected.

The potato market is now so saturated, many farmers are finding it difficult to offload their harvest. Some farmers have had to dump crop or use it as biomass.

01:20

+++SOT Fabian Blöchl, Brandenburg Farmers Association+++
"We had very good market conditions in the last year for the potato, and many farmers jumped into potato production without having a contract."

A contract to turn their potatoes into crisps, starch or fries, for example. 

01:34

+++SOT Fabian Blöchl, Brandenburg Farmers Association+++
"It's always advisable to have a contract or to directly sell on the market, and if you don't have this, you oversupply the market." 

Germany’s potato harvest this year is expected to weigh in at a hefty 13 million tons ... 15 percent higher than last year. 

Farms like the one Lilian Guzman manages is still impacted by the surplus -- although not as badly as others. 

This farm is a cooperative made up of 35 members. It sells many of its products directly to consumers, and keeps a varied agricultural portfolio to protect it from market fluctuations.

02:04

+++SOT Lilian Guzman, Farm manager+++  
"I think it's very important to actually have a wide range of products. Not just in one field, but we also have a broad base. We also have livestock farming, sow farming for production. We also keep suckler cows, we have a biogas plant."
Ja, das ist, denke ich, sehr wichtig, dass man viele Produkte tatsächlich hatte. Nicht nur auf einem Feld, sondern auch wir sind breit aufgestellt. Wir haben auch eine Tierhaltung bei uns, eine Sauenhaltung zur Produktion. Wir halten auch Mutterkühe, wir haben eine Biogasanlage.

Farming generates just under 1% of Germany's GDP. The country is, however, the EU market leader when it comes to milk, pork and potatoes.