Switzerland: Potato Harvest Falls to Record Low of 333,000 Tonnes, Imports to Rise
Switzerland has harvested its smallest potato crop on record: 333,000 tonnes in 2026, almost 20 percent below the 2020–2025 average of 411,000 tonnes, according to the trade organisation Swisspatat. The country will need to import around 130,000 tonnes to cover domestic demand.
The shortfall follows an exceptionally hot and dry summer. The Swiss Farmers’ Union (USC) estimates total agricultural losses from the drought at CHF 522 million in 2026 — a figure matching 2003, another year of record heat. Potato and sugar beet production both fell by about 20 percent.
“For vegetables currently growing and due to be harvested in the autumn for storage, we can expect smaller sizes and lower yields,” said Markus Waber, deputy director of the Swiss Union of Vegetable Producers.
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Price negotiations have already begun. Dairy producers secured an indicative increase of four centimes per litre for milk, but potato producers obtained a rise of just two centimes per kilogram from major retailers — a fraction of what irrigation and lost yield cost growers this season.
For the wider European market, the Swiss import requirement lands at a difficult moment: north-west European supply is already about a quarter below last year’s record crop, and spot prices for processing potatoes are trading well above contract levels. An extra 130,000 tonnes of demand will compete for the same tightening pool of ware potatoes in Germany and France.
Source: Swisspatat and the Swiss Farmers’ Union (USC) via AWP / Potato Grower Magazine.
