As of: May 6th, 2021 7:46 am
Because restaurants and canteens have closed due to the corona pandemic, significantly fewer fries and fried potatoes are consumed than usual. The potato farmers in Schleswig-Holstein are also feeling this.
Farmers like Hans-Jürgen Seifried, who has a potato farm in Hohenlockstedt (Steinburg district), have full warehouses. Seifried gives some of his potatoes to his colleague, who uses them as fodder. “I’ve already driven a couple of wagons here. The cows already know that,” says Seifried. He doesn’t get any money for it. And the vast majority of Seifried’s harvest is still in storage: that’s 100 tons.
It is impossible to completely reschedule
During the corona pandemic, Hans-Jürgen Seifried tries to adapt his business to the declining demand. He’s reducing his potato acreage by about one hectare for the next season. That’s around 50 tons of potatoes. He cannot reduce more in the short term. Because the arable land is already firmly planned and prepared, the contingent of seed potatoes has already been ordered.
Mitigation
So now it is important for Seifried to limit the damage. He and his wife sell potatoes at markets in Burg, Brunsbüttel and Bad Bramstedt. Fortunately, the demand here is good. Seifried’s regular customers continue to buy from him. Seifried has to postpone investments such as the planned new market car. “We hope that we can somehow bridge the year,” he says.
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