Hailstorms and heavy rain swept across much of Kent at the weekend causing extensive damage to the English apple crop.
Some individual growers lost entire orchards, while others escaped unscathed. “We lost a whole farm of Braeburn, about 70 acres completely gone,” said Paul Mansfield of FW Mansfield. “Other than that we have lost abut 100 acres to hail overall - about 10 per cent of our top fruit, but we will definitely still be able to meet programmes.” He estimated that about five per cent of the firm’s Gala crop had been damaged in the hailstorms, that were so fierce they dented cars and cracked windscreens.
Steven Maxwell of Worldwide Fruit said the results of the storms were “heart-breaking”, adding he had seen some individual apples on trees with 12-15 strike marks from hail stones. “Some people are better off than others,” said Maxwell. “Some growers will be able to thin off their trees and others will see whole orchards go to the juice market.”
It is still too early to assess damage accurately. “We will know more in a fortnight when everyone has calmed down,” said Maxwell.
Adrian Barlow of English Apples & Pears, who last week forecast a 20 per cent increase in the English apple crop this year, is now estimating that figure will fall. “The hail has been unprecedented,” said Barlow. “Some parts of Kent have been hit on four separate occasions. It will reduce the final crop, but without underplaying the significance and the tragedy for individual growers, we must be careful not to exaggerate the effects. These losses are against a background of a crop that was 20 per cent higher than last year. At the most, 15 per cent of the crop might be lost but that would still leave us with a crop five per cent up on last year.”
Damage to plums has so far not been reported, and agronomists are hopeful that because plums are generally less exposed to the elements, damage will not be extensive. In several cases, cherry crops that had already begun to suffer splitting have been further damaged by the hail.
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