The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) puts the EU sugar beet yield for 2026 at 67.2 t/ha, 12% below the five-year average and 18% below last year, and the potato yield at 34.2 t/ha, 8% below average and 12% below last year, according to its October crop monitoring bulletin. Summer heat and drought, from June to August, limited root and tuber growth, and the harvest, which in Europe runs mainly from September to November, shows large differences between countries. Sugar beet yields are 35% below average in Slovakia and 33% in Austria, while in Romania they are 17% above.
Sugar beet and potato yield forecasts by country against the five-year average. Source: JRC MARS Bulletin, October 2026.
Sugar beet lost a third of its yield in Slovakia and Austria
In Slovakia the JRC cut its sugar beet forecast by 17% from September, to 40.0 t/ha, 35% below average, and in Austria by 14%, to 52.8 t/ha, 33% below. In both countries and in Czechia, where the yield is 13% below average, the potato and sugar beet harvest had only just started, and early estimates point to poor yields.
In Hungary, at 21% below average after a further 11% cut from September, dry soils increased sugar beet harvest losses and the proportion of damaged roots. In France the yield is also 21% below average and 28% below last year, while in Germany, at 13% below, summer heat and persistently dry soils limited root development. Italy is also 13% below average.
| Country | 2026 forecast, t/ha | vs five-year average | vs 2025 |
| Romania | 43.2 | +17% | +14% |
| Spain | 84.9 | +4% | -1% |
| Poland | 67.9 | +3% | -6% |
| Belgium | 85.7 | ±0% | -12% |
| Finland | 41.0 | -2% | -3% |
| Netherlands | 82.3 | -2% | -8% |
| Sweden | 68.4 | -3% | -18% |
| Denmark | 72.3 | -5% | -13% |
| Lithuania | 61.4 | -9% | -18% |
| EU | 67.2 | -12% | -18% |
| Czechia | 60.0 | -13% | -19% |
| Germany | 69.3 | -13% | -17% |
| Italy | 47.6 | -13% | -3% |
| France | 65.0 | -21% | -28% |
| Hungary | 43.2 | -21% | -15% |
| Austria | 52.8 | -33% | -34% |
| Slovakia | 40.0 | -35% | -40% |
Source: JRC MARS Bulletin, Crop monitoring in Europe, October 2026, for countries with a forecast.
Romania and Spain had a good sugar beet year
In Romania the JRC raised its forecast by 7% from September, to 43.2 t/ha, 17% above the five-year average and 14% above last year. In Spain, where irrigation sustained the crop, the yield is 4% above average, and harvesting in the north of the country was about to start. Poland is 3% above average, with forecasts unchanged from September.
In the Benelux countries sugar beet prospects are generally satisfactory, with Belgium at the average and the Netherlands 2% below, while in Denmark and Sweden early harvest estimates are encouraging despite regional variability, with yields 5% and 3% below average respectively.
Potatoes fell most in Austria and Germany
In Austria the potato yield is forecast 25% below the five-year average and 31% below last year, in Germany 15% below, and in France and Czechia 14% below. In Belgium, at 8% below average, the harvest progressed with small tubers, while in the Netherlands the JRC raised its forecast slightly, to 3% below average, as recent rain improved tuber bulking.
| Country | 2026 forecast, t/ha | vs five-year average | vs 2025 |
| Romania | 17.3 | +13% | +16% |
| Italy | 29.8 | +4% | +4% |
| Poland | 31.5 | +3% | -4% |
| Sweden | 37.2 | +2% | -3% |
| Greece | 27.9 | ±0% | +12% |
| Spain | 31.5 | ±0% | +8% |
| Portugal | 22.2 | ±0% | +7% |
| Finland | 29.0 | -1% | -2% |
| Netherlands | 41.5 | -3% | -10% |
| Denmark | 42.8 | -6% | -12% |
| Lithuania | 15.5 | -7% | -20% |
| EU | 34.2 | -8% | -12% |
| Belgium | 38.3 | -8% | -15% |
| Czechia | 25.2 | -14% | -17% |
| France | 35.5 | -14% | -16% |
| Germany | 37.1 | -15% | -19% |
| Austria | 24.3 | -25% | -31% |
Source: JRC MARS Bulletin, Crop monitoring in Europe, October 2026, for countries with a forecast.
Southern and eastern Europe held potatoes at the average
In Romania the JRC raised its potato forecast by 9% from September, to 13% above average, while Italy is 4% above, Poland 3% and Sweden 2%. In Greece, Spain and Portugal yields are at the five-year average, and in Spain irrigation sustained the crop. In the Baltic states and Finland, by contrast, rain is hampering the harvest, with Lithuania 7% below average and Finland 1% below after an 8% cut in the forecast.
For the market, lower yields in significant producers such as France and Germany matter for sugar and potato supply in the EU, in a year when, as we reported, summer crop forecasts had already been cut in August.
Sources
- European Commission Joint Research Centre. (2026). JRC MARS Bulletin, Crop monitoring in Europe, October 2026, Vol. 34 No 9. 26 October 2026.
- European Commission Joint Research Centre. (2026). Summer crop season closes with below-average yield prospects. 23 October 2026.
