Producers of winter vegetables are incurring harvesting costs more than double those foreseen at the start of the season, as snow and icy conditions continued to grip the UK and continental Europe this week.
Sarah Pettitt, chair of the National Farmers’ Union Horticulture Board, told freshinfo: “There are whole fields of cauliflower in Lincolnshire that were just ready to be harvested when this weather started and they are rotting now. There are acres and acres that won’t see a knife in them at all. They just cannot be harvested and are lost.”
Early this week, some growers were briefly able to start harvesting Brussels sprouts mechanically again but in the snow, harvesting is carried out by hand and then stalks are taken to sheds to have the buttons removed.
However, Pettitt said that growers have been frustrated that the extent of their efforts is not always recognised.
She said: “Growers are going way beyond what anyone would think is possible to get their crops into the shops. But we find it frustrating that there is propaganda in the media about potential food shortages. It is as though people have not seen snow before. It has been extremely difficult harvesting, but a lot of thought and effort has gone into it and the skills of British growers have come to the fore. Producers are incurring more than 100 per cent extra harvesting costs and it would be fantastic to think that they would be rewarded for this. There is not enough transparency in the supply chain about the costs that are being borne by growers.”
A Tesco spokesman told freshinfo the retailer is doing its part: “We have just widened our buying specifications to help farmers... We are now taking slightly larger or smaller vegetables.”
Meanwhile, in France, supplies of winter salad and cauliflower to the UK are affected. Bruno Scherrer, director of the national federation of vegetable growers, FNPL, told freshinfo: “In Provence, protective structures have collapsed and that is affecting winter lettuce. We don’t know yet how many structures have gone and how much lettuce is lost, as assessments are ongoing. In Brittany, the Loire Valley and northern France this week, rain has been freezing as soon as it hits the ground, so not only are there problems for products such as cauliflower, there are also problems with transport.”
In Spain, growers are also facing losses and huge costs associated with harvesting in challenging conditions. This is reflected in UK wholesale market prices, with courgettes reaching £14 for 5kg on some markets this week, compared to £4 last week.
Julien Taratay of Agriveg told freshinfo: “Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, courgettes, artichokes - just about all products have suffered. We have had a lot of rain and temperatures have been very low. The only products that fared better are tomatoes and cucumber.”
María José Pardo, director of Hortyfruta in Andalusia, told freshinfo that the cold snap is taking its toll on even the most southerly mainland Spanish region. She said: “It has been so cold and cloudy that it is effectively halting all plant growth: tomatoes, lettuce, broccoli, everything.”
Regulations governing the sale of Class II product have temporarily been lifted. Pardo said: “In order to keep the market supplied, we need to sell all that we can harvest.”
In Murcia, several areas have seen vegetable and salad output levels fall by 60 per cent.
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