Planting of Jersey Royal potatoes has been delayed as heavy rain on the island has left soil too wet for sowing seed.
The crop, dependent on an early harvest to maintain its value, was worth almost £30 million in exports in last year, the BBC reported.
William Church from the Jersey Royal Company told the BBC that he expects there to be repercussions for farmers' profits later in the year.
'The potato price comes down the later you get in the season, in the UK they produce cheaper potatoes than we do so we have to beat them on timing,” he told the news outlet.
Church said any delay reduced the islands' “exclusive window” and increased competition for shelf space.
He said: 'We do have a couple of hundred staff standing around not doing much at the moment waiting for a full day of dry weather to dry out the fields so we can plant again.'
Church told the BBC that a number of Royals were planted during January but he expects there will be a knock-on effect around the beginning of May with a slow starts to exports.
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