English potato growers will welcome a temporary exemption granted this week by environment secretary Hilary Benn that allows them to use mechanical harvesting equipment on waterlogged soil to lift their crops.
The new measure, granted until October 4, is subject to review. But it puts potato growers on an equal footing with veg growers, who have been exempt from the Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition standard III rules to protect soils for four years.
The National Farmers’ Union’s Ian Backhouse welcomed the move. “This action removes one barrier to gathering in the remaining crop and the threat of fines levelled on farmers for bringing home crops while soils are wet,” he said. “It is the natural inclination of farmers to look after the soils that support their livelihoods and the NFU encourages its members to record the effects of harvesting in difficult conditions and what steps were taken later to rectify affected fields.”
Graham Ward, a director of the Stockbridge Technology Centre in Yorkshire, was instrumental in securing the derogation for vegetable growers four years ago, when he was NFU horticulture board chairman. He said: “Up north, we have got water between the ridges in the potato fields. Growers are harvesting potatoes, carrots and parsnips, but there is a lot of mud and it makes the washing operation very difficult.”
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