Agricultural news week 6

Prices of land in Poland increases

The price of agricultural land has been increasing for years in Poland. However, significant increase in prices of land is recognizable during the Covid-19 epidemic. The demand for land for building, recreational, forest and agricultural purposes increased sharply and was higher in 2020 than in 2019 according to the chief analyst of HRE Investments.

Land prices in Poland vary greatly per region. The most expensive is a hectare of land in the region of Kujawsko-Pomorskie (almost EUR 13 750) and Wielkopolskie (almost EUR 20,000). For comparison, in the following regions of Zachodniopomorskie, Świętokrzyskie and Podkarpackie, land is about twice as cheap. The average transaction price there does not exceed 7 500 EUR per ha.

In individual regions, a different level of fragmentation of farms is recogniazable. For example, in Podkarpacie or Małopolska, the average farmer has less than 5 hectares of land, while in the Zachodniopomorskie Region and  or Warmia and Mazury the average farmer has an acreage even 4-6 times larger.

Source: Business Insider

Frost harms trade

Frosts and snowfall have been preventing the sale of fresh fruit and vegetables on wholesale markets for several days. Growers are holding back from opening a storage room or a cold store, hoping for a quick improvement of the weather and price increases. Cold weather significantly affects trade. In fact, since the beginning of this week, the apple sales traffic is very low, there is a shortage of fruit and buyers. There is no trade and apple prices remain unchanged. There are single sellers and single buyers, but the majority of fruit growers refrain from taking goods to wholesale markets, waiting for the frost to ease, hoping that the trade will thus revive. Some fruit growers transfer their offers to the Internet, on the increasingly popular online sales platform.

Source: SadyOgrody.pl

Polish mushrooms

In the last 10 years, the export of Polish mushrooms has doubled. Even during the pandemic, it is not diminishing at all, but changes are visible:

Experts estimate that although sales of fresh mushrooms will decline this season, processed mushrooms - frozen or canned - will increase.

The value of exports is already estimated at nearly EUR 490 million. It is a developing market, the cultivation area and mushroom production in Poland are growing - every year by another 5000 tonnes. Last year, the harvest amounted to 340000 tonnes. Mushroom prices are stable. On wholesale markets, a kilogram is priced from PLN 6.5-8.

Germany, France and Denmark are the three main European buyers of Polish mushrooms. From the third countries UK is the most important importer of mushrooms.

Source: SadyOgrody.pl