The vegetable industry believes it has not seen the last of the contrary weather and, with an uncharacteristically warm winter, insiders fear that 2008 may bring further damage to vegetable crops, as well as the sector itself.
Mild weather across Europe is causing problems with vegetable supply throughout the UK. Temperatures in growing areas in Valencia, Spain, have reached abnormal highs of 24-25°C, when the average temperature at this time of year should be 13°C. Suppliers have had major difficulties with product from the country, with limp and heat-damaged cauliflower and broccoli coming into the UK.
“We are going to pay for this later on in the season,” says one supplier. “Although Lincolnshire cauliflower crops are about two weeks ahead of schedule, there is still going to be a shortage on the market before the UK season fully kicks off.”
The shelf life of Spanish broccoli and cauliflower has dramatically reduced due to hot growing conditions, and product is very quickly becoming flowery. Whereas product would usually last for up to six days, insiders say Spanish broccoli and cauliflower will not last longer than two days in store.
Courgette crops have been hit hard by the usually hot weather in both Morocco and Spain this quarter, with product coming into the UK damaged and even burnt. As a result of a shortage of good-quality courgettes, demand has risen and wholesale prices are at an all-time high. “Suppliers have written off the latest lot of courgettes from Morocco, and are just waiting for the next crop to come now,” says one supplier. “There is a huge shortage, and the whole of the continent is trying to buy courgettes, but good-quality product just isn’t around. We usually bring in about five to 10 pallets of courgettes a day at this time of year, but it has been more like two to three pallets just recently. The product we have been getting in has had soft ends and is, at times, mouldy. Growers just haven’t been able to take the field heat out of the crop quick enough.”
The south of England has been subject to erratic weather, which has affected both production and demand. “Since Christmas, 80 per cent of the weather we have had has been westerly and warm,” says one insider from Lincolnshire. “But for the other 20 per cent of the time, the weather has been drastically different. At the start of March, the temperature went down to -7°C, then the following week we had heavy snow; this was then followed by the temperature reaching 13°C soon after. We just don’t know what it is going to be like from one week to the next. It is going to have a huge effect on the crops.”
There are concerns for the UK cauliflower crop, which can fare well in temperatures as low as -5°-6°C, but does not thrive when the weather becomes changeable. “This situation is not just a one-off,” explains one grower. “It has been happening a lot, and the crop will not grow properly. If the plants are stressed now, we will end up with elongated cauliflowers, with hollow and rotten stalks on the market.”
British carrot and leek crops have also been affected by mild weather. According to growers, carrot yields are down by as much as 30 per cent this season, and shelf life is going to be an issue. Normal growing techniques for this time of year, which involve surrounding plants with straw to keep frost out, have backfired this quarter. The heat has caused carrots to germinate again, and there have been many cases of secondary growth. Insiders fear the UK carrot season, which usually lasts until the end of May, could be cut short by as much as four weeks.
It also looks like the UK leek season will end prematurely this year, with a shortage towards the end of March to early April on the cards. With Belgian and Dutch sources also running low, the industry is looking forward to the Turkish leek season in May. UK leek growers have seen low yields this quarter, and their labour costs have increased due to the production of smaller, lighter leeks. Quality has been affected by waterlogging, lack of sunshine and warm weather last summer, and yield is down by approximately
30 per cent. “The last quarter’s weather conditions had been favourable until the cold snap in mid-February, which resulted in some growth to offset the lack of growth last summer,” says one leek grower. “The late crop is only going to be about 75 per cent of normal yields.”
However, milder weather has worked in the favour of some winter vegetables. After Christmas, cabbage supply was tight, which was a result of poor planting conditions and poor yield during last year’s weather. White cabbage, in particular, suffered this quarter, with poor conditions and crop loss at the planting stage resulting in a low yield. However, milder weather has got the cabbage business back on track, although insiders indicate that cabbage will still be scarce towards the end of the UK crop. Size was an issue just after Christmas, with cabbage head sizes being on the small side, and this continued until February, when the size improved.
According to the industry, demand for vegetables over the last quarter has been stable, and there has been a lot less imported product on the market. “We have seen a steady yet flat trade, with no great demand, as consumers seem to be watching how much they spend, even on essentials,” says one insider. “However, we have seen odd pockets of demand over the last quarter, which clearly lead back to TV cookery programmes, but unfortunately, this demand only lasts for a couple of days at a time.”
The industry is hoping that crop shortages will push the price of vegetables up, and give growers a better return for their products. “Prices will have to rise, but the supermarkets will not like it,” says one insider. “I think supermarkets will absorb the costs for while, but the increase will have to reach consumers eventually.”
KELSEY PREPARES FOR NEXT QUARTER
reasonably dry weather in the south-east of England has resulted in an easy harvest of late winter brassicas, writes Bill Kelsey, owner of Kelsey Farms, producer of brassicas, carrots, beans, asparagus and squash in Sidcup, Kent. Winter ploughing has also been made easier, due to the weather conditions.
Kelsey Farms supplies local schools, nursing homes and catering businesses with fresh vegetables, as well as stocking its own farm shop. When we have a shortage of any particular product or need to source something we do not grow, we source from local farms and wholesale markets to supplement our offer.
Our main problem over the last three months has been the amount of pigeon damage that has occurred, which has also affected my farming neighbours. Damage caused to the plants by the pigeons has been worse this year than ever. Because we are so close to London and have public pathways through the farm, not a lot can be done to scare the birds away, so it is just something that we have had to put up with.
The brassica crop has done very well over the past quarter; broccoli, purple sprouting broccoli, greens and sprouts have all done much better than 2007, but we were lucky in the South during establishment last summer. Curly kale has been my last crop to harvest on the farm, and quality has remained good, with only a small amount of white fly damage showing in the last cuttings.
Vegetable prices have been low in the wholesale market, especially for cauliflower, but as a retailer we have been able to pull back farm-gate prices through the shop. Demand in the shop has been very strong, especially for cauliflower, cabbage and purple sprouting broccoli. In all, sales have remained very high since Christmas and, compared to this period last year, we have experienced a 14 per cent increase in sales.
As our own crop of broccoli finishes, we are importing broccoli from Spain. Prices have been quite depressed, at around 60-70p per kilo, but we have not seen any issues with supply, and quality has remained very good.
Now, we have to prepare for the next quarter, which means we have been busy on the ground over the past two weeks preparing seed beds. Overall, conditions have been very favourable, and in places it has been very dry and dusty. We have planted asparagus and broad beans, which both went in extremely well. I am very pleased we got the seeds in, especially with the weather taking a turn for the worse since March 10. However, if the weather continues to be on the wet side, this will put back all commercial plantings and sowings. If the weather stays cool and wet, this will cause slow bolting in late cabbage crops, enabling late crop sales, but if mild weather turns up, a quick end to winter crops would occur.
Growers will be planting to programme this year, and not taking any risks in over-planting a bit extra in the ground. I think that the pressure on growers will increase this coming year, with four main commodities making great demands on the bottom line: fertiliser, fuel, packaging and labour. The price for everyday products has to rise to compensate for these increases.
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