Prekmurje, Slovenia – Lipovci, a village of about 1,000 residents in the flatlands of northeastern Slovenia, transformed into a hub celebrating a beloved national dish. The air carried a sweet, juicy aroma as it hosted the 26th international festival of roasted potatoes. Hundreds of people and more than 50 societies were united – farmers and avid potato eaters from across the country, roasting their own versions of this national dish one September morning.
Estimates by the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia suggest a loss of between 30 and 90 percent for this year’s potato harvest – the yield having been hit by Europe’s severe droughts. In 2025, Slovenia produced only about a third of its total potato consumption, a rate that keeps dropping due to other factors including higher fertiliser prices, restrictions on pesticide use and low purchase prices. Janez Jambrosic, a small farmer from the southern town of Velike Lasce, lost half of his potato harvest this year.
He makes a lighter version of the dish, using vegetable oil instead of pork fat. Lavric, whose potatoes were dug up from a friend’s farm, said this year’s lot was smaller. Others said the drought also hit their corn yields, used for feedstock, and in some cases wiped them out almost entirely, as well as their wine-making grapes.
The drought was most severe in the first half of August. As temperatures soared, the weather hit later potato varieties hardest. Bev grows potatoes for her family’s needs, and dug hers up at the end of July.
The shortages extend far beyond Slovenia. Analysis released on Thursday by the United Kingdom-based nonprofit Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) suggests that the summer drought is likely to knock about 3.1 million tonnes off the potato harvest in some of the world’s largest exporters, such as Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1767, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, who ruled the region at the time, issued a decree on the planting and cultivation of potatoes, a measure farmers initially resisted because they grew potatoes only to feed their livestock.
Now the potato has become so ingrained in local culture that there is even a Slovenian saying: Telling someone they “have potatoes” means they’re lucky. Petra Molek, from Carinthia, presented two versions of the roasted potatoes alongside other women farmers from her village. One was roasted in pork fat, the other in sausage fat.
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