Hard hit by the drought which has been raging for several months in France, potato producers are anticipating one of the biggest drops in production ever recorded and are calling for “exceptional” support in the face of massive losses.
“After five successive episodes of heatwave and an exceptional water deficit”, the projections of the UNPT (National Union of Potato Producers) anticipate “a massive drop in French production of around -23% in one year”, they indicate in a press release on Monday.
“This campaign could mark one of the largest production drops ever recorded for French potatoes,” estimates the UNPT. This sudden decline would be marked by “the lowest yield observed in more than 30 years”, with a national average yield of ware potatoes of 37.4 tonnes per hectare, compared to 43.5 t/ha in 2025 (-14%) and 43.1 t/ha on a five-year average (-13%). This drop would be even greater than that caused by the historic drought of 2022, producers report.
“In view of the potential scale of economic losses for producers, estimated at this stage by the UNPT at at least 400 million euros”, producers “are asking the State to anticipate now an exceptional support system for the hardest hit producers”, it is added.
On August 5, the Minister of Agriculture Annie Genevard announced a “comprehensive plan” to support the consequences of repeated heatwave episodes in France and Europe, so “that no farmer is left alone in the face of this situation”. In particular, she mentioned emergency measures for farm cash flow, the payment of social security contributions, simplification and exemption schemes, as well as measures intended to facilitate the return to production of the hardest hit farms, but without quantifying the amount of aid envisaged.
On August 8, Arnaud Rousseau, the president of the FNSEA, the dominant agricultural union, indicated that agriculture needed “billions of euros” to recover from this “climate crisis of a magnitude that we have never seen in agriculture over such a period”. On August 14, Ms. Genevard indicated that the calibration of aid would have to wait until August 27, during a meeting of prefects. The summer of 2026 is marked in France by a succession of heatwave episodes and a severe rain deficit since the end of May. In addition to soil drought already at historic levels, fires have ravaged hectares of vegetation and crops in several French regions.
For potato producers, this climate shock comes after they had already had to reduce their production areas, “by 10% in France and -11% in North-West Europe”, after the overproduction of 2025. “Urgency is required”, they declare. Because to the drop in volumes will be added “a more heterogeneous harvest, with smaller sizes, variable dry matter contents and sometimes physiological disorders”, indicates the UNPT, calling for an “adaptation” of the buyers’ specifications.
On August 18, the Federation of Commerce and Distribution (FCD) announced “concrete actions to support producers”, indicating that they will be more tolerant on the sizes and aspects of fruits and vegetables, and will favor products of French origin to support producers.
“The sudden drop in yields and available volumes will necessarily have to be reflected” across the entire value chain of the sector (producers, traders, manufacturers, out-of-home catering, distributors and consumers). “It cannot lead to concentrating the disastrous economic consequences of this exceptional situation on producers alone,” underlines the UNPT press release. Finally, potato producers emphasize that “the drop in yields means that part of the contracted volumes simply cannot be produced”. They ask that the contractual volumes be adapted to the reality of the harvest and that “the government initiate a determined dialogue”, particularly with its European counterparts, so as not to “suffer the double penalty” or risk commercial disputes.
