This decline is the result of a combination of factors: five consecutive heat episodes, an exceptional water deficit and a previous reduction in the cultivated area following the overproduction recorded in 2025. According to the UNPT, the national average yield is expected to stand at around 37.4 tonnes per hectare, compared with 43.5 t/ha in 2025 and a five-year average of 43.1 t/ha.
Less acreage and lower yields
The campaign had already started with a smaller planted area. In France, ware potato plantings are expected to stand at 173,415 hectares in 2026, compared with 192,099 hectares the previous year, representing a decline of 9.7%. Across the NEPG area, which brings together the main potato-producing countries in north-western Europe, the reduction in acreage is estimated at around 11%.
This adjustment, aimed at rebalancing the market after a year of oversupply, has been aggravated by adverse weather. As a result, the crop is under double pressure: fewer hectares planted and lower production per hectare.
A shorter and more heterogeneous crop
The drop in volume is not the sector’s only concern. The UNPT warns that the 2026 crop could be more heterogeneous, with smaller tubers, variations in dry matter and possible physiological disorders.
Faced with this situation, the French organisation is calling on buyers and processors to adapt their specifications to the reality of the campaign. The aim is to prevent marketable potatoes from being excluded due to criteria designed for seasons with normal production conditions.
Economic impact could exceed €400 million
UNPT estimates that economic losses for French potato growers could reach at least €400 million. The organisation argues that an impact of this scale cannot fall solely on farmers and is calling for the consequences to be shared across the entire value chain.
The sector is calling for dialogue between growers, buyers, industry, retailers and public authorities, particularly regarding contracted volumes that cannot be delivered, quality issues and the economic consequences of a weather-driven campaign.
Contracts, another source of tension
One of the most sensitive issues will be contract fulfilment. The UNPT rejects the idea that growers should have to buy potatoes on the open market or compensate from their own resources for volumes they have been unable to produce due to exceptional weather conditions.
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The organisation is calling for contracted quantities to be adjusted transparently to the production actually obtained, and for provisions related to force majeure and exceptional climatic events to be taken into account.
A crisis with a European dimension
The situation in France forms part of a wider European context. The European Commission’s JRC MARS Bulletin indicates that persistent heat and water deficits have worsened the outlook for summer crops across much of western and central Europe, with yield reductions and stress during critical development stages.
Europe’s dimension is particularly relevant because of the integration of the potato market in the north-west of the continent. The UNPT has asked the French Government to engage in dialogue with its EU partners to prevent commercial disputes linked to contracts, undelivered volumes and tensions between growers and buyers.
From overproduction to the risk of shortage
In just one campaign, the French potato market has moved from a situation of overproduction to the possibility of a historic drop in supply. The UNPT warns that the decisions taken now will be key not only to managing the current campaign, but also to preserving French production capacity ahead of 2027.
The organisation is calling for an exceptional public support mechanism for the most affected farms, at a time when growers are already defining their crop rotations and planting decisions for the next campaign.
France’s 2026 potato harvest is therefore shaping up to be a critical season from an agronomic, economic and commercial standpoint, with potential consequences for growers, industry, retailers and the wider European market.
