Farmer tears down orchards as trade falls
A farmer says he's having to tear down his apple orchards because production is no longer financially viable.
James Smith, a fifth-generation fruit grower who runs Loddington Farm in Maidstone, has ripped up three orchards after seeing trade drop from 80% to 4%.
He has been in the business for more than 20 years, but says growers cannot afford to invest in new orchards because they have such low returns on their fruit.
When he joined the farm, which also produces and sells Owlet fruit juice, 98% of their income was from apples and pears.
The remaining orchards are currently being converted to organic production and there has been no new planting since 2018.
James change, energy believes climate labour shortages, prices and retailer behaviour all play an equal role in the decision to step back from apple farming.
He said: “The first three all increase risk and cost, the latter ensures that none of those risks will be rewarded or the costs covered.
“In terms of volume of fruit grown, we peaked around eight years ago at 2,000 tons of our own production and now plan to pick around 170 tons.
“So in terms of production, we are producing around 8.3% of what we did.”
James is converting his remaining orchards to organic production under countryside stewardship (CS) – a government-run scheme which provides financial incentives for farmers, foresters and land managers to look after and improve the environment. He added: “We have invested lots of money in modern orchards and have done what we have thought is right for food. “But we are now trying to farm in a much more natural way and taking a journey which involves moving away from the chemically-intensive way of producing food.
“We've all been pushed into producing more for less, which has been driven by cheap food. “I've been trying to pivot away from that in the last few years.
“We will continue to grow apples, but we'll be going back 50 years to traditional varieties, which will mean lower yields but more output from the fields.”
He added: "For a farmer here in the UK, there is a high-risk and low-reward business model – what we are seeing are risks increasing. The availability of labour is low and energy prices are high.
"Retailers are pushing the price down for us too so the risks associated with commercial fruit growing are just too
high now. So it's about managing those risks – which means a reduction of commercial growing.”
James also cites climate change as one of the reasons for removing orchard fields – as unpredictable weather patterns have left food production uncertain.
James says the weather started taking a toll in 2021 when late frosts in April heavily impacted the crop.
"In that year we had 21 nights below freezing in April
– something we've never experienced before," he said.
"We're seeing changing seasonal weather and prolonged periods of cold. Mild and wet winters mean trees don't shut down as well as they should – so you don't get the growth potential for the following year. "Modern trees designed for production are not resilient enough for mild winters and cold springs.
"You have one shot at an apple production each year – if weather isn't on your side,
you're at a huge disadvantage.”
Ali Capper, executive chairman at British Apples and Pears Limited said: “With supermarket returns low and costs high, most UK apple and pear farmers are really struggling. We’re very worried about the long-term future of our industry – if we stop planting new trees, we will reduce the future supply of British apples. To stop the rot, we need retailers to pay a fair return to growers.”