Farmers in Australia have long been known to struggle against the scourge of drought, but now a household staple is struggling from the other end of the spectrum.

The potato industry has been mashed by floods in recent months, wiping out existing crops and leaving the ground too sodden to plant more.

In turn, potato prices are set to skyrocket until at least February 2017, which bodes poorly for our upcoming barbecue and potato salad season.

Australia is a nation of potato lovers with each person consuming an estimated 63kg of spuds per year, according to a 2004 study by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

But it’s not all bad news – not all varieties of potato are in short supply. The soil covered brush potato is the hardest hit, and is unlikely to be gracing our Christmas feasts unless you’re willing to pay considerably more for it.

Victorian potato farmer, Des Jennings, told news.com.au that he recently sold his crops for $400 a tonne, but that price has hiked to $2000.

“The growers who have potatoes are laughing,” Jennings says.

“They are getting prices they haven’t seen before.”

“But obviously a lot of farmers don’t have potatoes, which is why we have a shortage.”

This is not the first time Australia has had a potato shortage, with drought severely affecting South Australian crops in 2014. In times gone by, shortages such as these may have had dire consequences, as it did in Ireland in 1845 when a famine saw over a million people tragically starve to death.

We wish the farmers luck with getting their crops planted and grown for next season. Luckily for Australia, we have plenty of other options to tide us over (we’re looking at you, sweet potato chips).