Dutch farmers fear bumper asparagus crop will be left unsold

“Because of the good weather, the asparagus grow faster. Through plastic management, we can try to slow down the process a bit. But when temperatures reach 30°C, it gets more difficult.”

Greater production also increases the need for workers, with harvesting asparagus being labour intensive, meaning farmers will be left with costs if their crop remains unsold.

It was estimated automating picking could cut harvesting costs by 40-50 per cent, with the latest agritech expected to be available for next year’s harvest.

RaboResearch fruit and vegetable analyst Cindy van Rijswick said prices had already been falling for many weeks and increased consumption could boost them, but supermarkets were not flexible enough.

The short shelf life of asparagus was also causing problems, because there was not enough capacity to handle the overabundance. Ms van Rijswick said: “Supermarkets have scheduled their promotions in advance and do not quickly adapt to the market situation..

“If too many asparagus are available, prices go down. If the best AA-grade asparagus are selling at lower prices, then the D-grade or lowest quality might not be sold at all.”

She also suggested there was untapped potential for asparagus
promotion as part of a healthy diet, but white asparagus was ‘time consuming’ to prepare because it had to be peeled.

This has led growers to invest in peeling machines, allowing the asparagus to be sold pre-peeled for the convenience of shoppers.