Russia and Kazakhstan: Half of Surveyed Farms Report Lower Potato Yields in 2026
Every second grower assessed the crop below last year: early results of the potatoway “2026 Potato Harvest” survey (n=40, Russia and Kazakhstan).
A third rain in a week, and harvest stops again. That is how autumn 2026 looks for many respondents of the potatoway survey “2026 Potato Harvest Results”: every second farm assessed the crop below last year and named excess moisture as the season’s main problem. Between 3 September and 3 October, 40 people took part; more than half are potato growers.
The survey is anonymous and builds on self-assessment. This is a first-hand picture, not official statistics.
Of 26 answers on the comparison with 2025, 13 reported a lower harvest: 11 farms down 10–30%, two down by more than 30%. Nine reported a result on a par with last year, four reported growth.
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11 farms gave a specific yield: from 30 to 46 t/ha, with a median of 36 t/ha.
By early October, 13 of 26 farms had lifted more than three quarters of their crop or finished harvest. Five were below half. The spread is wide.
Geography: 14 respondents from the Central Federal District, six each from the North-West and the Volga regions; answers also came from the South, the Urals, Siberia, Kazakhstan and elsewhere in Asia.
Excess moisture was named by 15 respondents, diseases — late blight (Phytophthora infestans), early blight and others — by 11. Next come machinery, labour and harvest organisation (6), drought and heat (5), and marketing and prices (3).
Excess moisture hits the season twice. First come heavy fields and shifted harvest dates. Then wet tubers go into storage, where the risk of rots runs higher. The same link showed in this week’s news: cold, cloudy weather in Russia slows desiccation and drags out harvest, while European growers are managing without diquat this season.
More than half of the crop goes into storage at 21 of 26 farms; 14 store almost everything. A tuber from wet soil is like a damp shoe in a box: it cannot breathe and takes long to dry. The first weeks of storage — drying and ventilation — decide what the crop looks like coming out in spring.
The world background raises the value of every stored tuber. Switzerland reported a record-low harvest — 333,000 tonnes — and imports will rise. In Europe the market has split: spot prices moved up while 2026 contracts stayed behind.
Respondents themselves ask the editorial team to write more about regional prices and supply volumes. Request accepted — the topic is in the plan.
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Source: potatoway survey “2026 Potato Harvest Results” (n=40, 3 September – 3 October 2026) · potatoes.news: Switzerland’s record-low harvest, the split EU market, desiccation in Russia (3 October 2026).
