THE Ballarat farming district could lose up to 25 per cent of potato crops following the recent rainfall and floods.The loss of potato seeds and potatoes, which mostly end up as hot chips, will have a huge impact on the potato chip industry and Ballarat's economy.Dunnstown potato grower Greg Murphy said anything up to a 20 per cent loss could equate to between $5 and $10 million of base income to potato growers in the area. He said this meant farmers would not be able to spend money in Ballarat, including money on farm machinery."It will be a fair economic loss to the area. It won't only affect the farmers," he said.Most growers are due to harvest at the end of the month, but they are uncertain this will happen with more rain predicted today.McCain Growers Group chairman and Clarkes Hill potato grower Dominic Prendergast said the crops were looking good before the deluge, and most of them still were, but it was unknown what the weather would do between now and harvest.He estimated between 20 and 25 per cent of crops in the region were lost, including the seeds that were sown at Christmas time."It will make a big difference in Ballarat because if we don't have the money to spend, we won't be spending it in Ballarat," he said.Up to 90 per cent of potato crops could be lost in Koo-Wee-Rup in the state's south-east after last weekend's deluge and flooding. There have been reports of some farmers losing their entire crop, while others have lost a few paddocks. This is expected to have a huge impact on the supply to the potato chip industry.