Farmers given potato storage advice by AHDB

Businesses told of cost implications of inefficient or old stores

The cost implications for potato businesses of inefficient or old potato stores have been spelled out to Perthshire farmers by the AHDB.

Growers were told at a levy board meeting that poor and ageing potato stores can have running costs three times those of better models.

Taygrow director Ewan Stark said he believed growers needed to put as much effort into storage planning as they do into the rest of the growing season.

He added: “We all put a huge amount of effort into planting, growing and harvesting the crop, but does that attention to detail follow through from growing the crop to storing it? For the best results we need to put as much energy into crop storage as crop growth.

“Potatoes will often be in storage for months, equating to a huge portion of their life cycle, and if you don’t get it right in the stores you can potentially lose a significant amount of the crop.”

Adrian Cunnington, who heads up AHDB’s Sutton Bridge crop storage research facility, has been working with growers across Britain to improve stores and has launched a StoreCheck service, which analyses a grower’s store and offers practical advice on how to improve performance and efficiency.

Greenvale AP manager, John Hutchison, who is responsible for 24 stores, told the meeting he saw the StoreCheck service as a way to ensure the facilities were as efficient as possible.

He said: “After the assessment we invested £20,000 in a store upgrade, which dramatically improved our energy costs and plant running time.

“We reduced our electricity usage from 38,000 kWh to 22,000 kWh in a three month period, and those savings meant we made back that initial investment in just five years.”

Mr Hutchison added that gathering data was important, and crop temperature, CO2 levels, and compressor/fan/ energy usage informed how the company’s stores are managed.

Growers experiencing problems with this year’s crop should contact AHDB on 0800 02 82 111.

For the best results we need to put as much energy into crop storage as crop growth

Potato storage advice was delivered by John Hutchinson and Ewan Stark. Growers experiencing problems are advised to contact the AHDB