Contrast for potato crop as growers pray for rain
Potato growers are enjoying a warm and dry start to this year’s planting season which stands in stark contrast to the late, cold and wet start to the 2018 campaign – with producers’ concerns this week reportedly revolving around dryness.
While the memories of the grim start to last year’s season might linger, so far this year plantings in many areas of Scotland are running well ahead of schedule, according to Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board reports.
But while the warmer, sunnier season to date has been welcomed for planting, potato growers are beginning to feel that rain will be necessary soon – and fear that irrigation availability and potential abstraction restrictions will be a key point for many growers as summer approaches.
The AHDB also reported that the consequences of last year’s testing growing conditions and subsequent yield shortfalls had knocked on into current stock levels – with estimates indicating that these were back 13 per cent on the year at the end of March.
However the board said that although down, these figures remained within the normal tight supply season bracket.
Revealing that stocks were only slightly lower than at the same point in 2013-14 and 2015-16 – but still higher than those of 2012-13 – the latest AHDB report confirmed that Scotland accounted for a large proportion of total stocks, with just over a third of on-farm supplies estimated to be held by Scottish growers.
“Growers faced an uphill challenge with the extreme weather experienced at the start of last year, followed by a prolonged dry spell over the summer,” said AHDB analyst Aidan Wright.
He pointed to careful management as well as a relaxing of specifications by buyers as major factors in mitigating some of the impact of the season’s low production:
“However, this still means that British potato stocks are down following the smaller crop from 2018,” he admitted.
Wright said that as the sectors moved into the new season, all eyes would be on the early crop:
“Thanks to the clement weather experienced so far planting is progressing well and conditions are looking good across the country, although the general lack of rainfall is an ongoing concern for some regions.”