Farm gives away millions of surplus potatoes after growing too many

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A farm in Saxony, Germany is giving away its potatoes for free because they’ve harvested so many that they can’t sell them all, and the farm wants to avoid wasting food.

We’re giving away potatoes because we had a surprisingly large harvest this year. There are simply more potatoes than buyers, leaving us with about 4,000 tonnes (almost 8.8 million pounds) that we need to distribute.

Instead of letting the potato harvest go to waste, the farm teamed up with local groups and the eco-friendly search engine Ecosia to offer the potatoes to the public for free at several distribution locations.

Surplus potatoes distributed amid debate over impact on farmers

The Farmers Newspaper reports that a potato harvest was so large, it created a surplus. Millions of pounds of potatoes would have gone to waste if a solution hadn’t been found.

Although the overall amount collected is almost 9 million pounds, only a small portion – about 440,000 pounds – is currently being sent to places like food banks for distribution.

Hundreds of tons of potatoes remain stored in warehouses.

Although giving away free potatoes to everyone might seem like a good idea, the Brandenburg Farmers’ Association strongly criticized the plan, calling it a publicity stunt that could harm local farmers and markets.

The farm and its collaborators are giving away potatoes to prevent them from being thrown away. According to Bauern Zeitung, Germany is expected to harvest over 14 million tons of potatoes in 2025, which is 17% higher than usual.

In 2025, a farmer in Poland faced a surprising issue: a fake social media post went viral, incorrectly stating he was offering free potatoes.

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2026-01-31 18:18