In the fields of Somzée, Belgium, farmer Alexandre Wackers is facing a paradox that is becoming all too familiar across the globe. He is harvesting an exceptional potato crop from 10 hectares, yielding approximately 450 tonnes, thanks to favorable dry weather. Yet, this bounty is accompanied by a catastrophic price collapse, with industrial buyers offering a mere €15 per tonne—a figure he states is 92.5% below his break-even point of €200 per tonne. This stark disconnect between production success and economic viability is driving a pragmatic, two-pronged response: a revival of the ancient practice of gleaning and a strategic pivot to direct-to-consumer sales.
The Gleaning Tradition: Social Solidarity in a Time of Crisis
Wackers has opened his 40-hectare farm to gleaners, allowing community members to collect potatoes left behind by harvesting machinery. This practice, while historical, takes on new significance in the current economic climate. For the community, it provides access to affordable food and fosters a direct connection with the land. For Wackers, it is a gesture of solidarity that also ensures the field is fully cleared. However, he notes that this tradition is fading with younger generations, highlighting a cultural shift away from such communal agricultural practices.
The Root of the Crisis: Globalized Market Pressures
Wackers identifies the core issue as the integration of the European potato industry with global, particularly American, conglomerates. He explains that prices in Belgium and Europe are now influenced by U.S. market dynamics, where producers often benefit from larger scales of economy, different cost structures, and potentially higher yields. This creates a pricing paradigm where local production costs become irrelevant, squeezing farmers like Wackers who cannot compete with the imported price benchmark. This aligns with broader concerns in the EU agricultural sector about the impact of global commodity markets on local farmer profitability.
A Viable Alternative? The Direct Sales Model
In response, Wackers is aggressively pursuing a direct-sales model. He offers 10kg bags of potatoes at his farm for €0.50 per kilo, a price point he notes is three times cheaper than the local supermarket price of €1.50 per kilo. This approach cuts out the industrial middlemen and lengthy supply chains, allowing him to capture a greater share of the final consumer price while still offering significant savings. This model not only provides a more economically sustainable outlet for his produce but also builds a loyal local customer base, insulating him from the volatility of the industrial market.
Alexandre Wackers’s story is a microcosm of a larger challenge in modern agriculture: the severe squeeze on producer margins within globalized supply chains. His situation demonstrates that record yields are meaningless in the face of market structures that decouple price from the cost of production. The strategies he employs—gleaning and direct sales—are not just nostalgic traditions but are essential, innovative adaptations for survival. They represent a pragmatic path toward reclaiming value, rebuilding community connections, and ensuring that the work of farming remains financially viable. For agronomists, engineers, and farm owners, this case underscores the urgent need to develop and support diversified market channels that prioritize fair returns to the producer as much as they do bulk commodity production.
