The outcome of this year’s UK potato crop will be heavily influenced by weather patterns and disease pressure in the final few weeks, before harvest” says Branston’s field director David Nelson. “There is also concern that there will be a repeat of the high dry matter and bruising levels that were a prominent feature of the dry harvest of 2003. Growing conditions since planting have generally been cool but bright and early crops are only running just behind similar crops in 2003, so yield prospects for the field movement remain high.”
Planting in 2004 was spread over a much longer period than 2003 - the earliest completed planting season on record - and the British Potato Council (BPC) has indicated an overall 2.4 per cent increase in the planted area in the UK compared to 2003.
“Last year saw a large reduction in the ware area planted, but little change in the processing sector,” says Nelson. “Following the high ware prices and good seed sales of recent months, it is expected that some readjustment will have taken place this year and that more ware potatoes will have be grown.”
The majority of sand and silt land potatoes in eastern England were planted before the rain in mid-April and elsewhere planting was delayed by rain. This meant that some parts of Yorkshire, Hereford and northern Scotland still had significant planting in early May. “The consequences of the planting delays this year on yield are unlikely to be severe as many growers have now switched to shorter season varieties such as Estima and Saxon which are planted last,” says Nelson. “Late planting could cause some congestion around store loading as early maincrop varieties such as Saxon could be ready to lift at the same time as earlier planted, but later maturing varieties such as Maris Piper. Otherwise the potential for quality with the short season varieties looks favourable as they should demonstrate lower levels of black dot and other main diseases.”
At present blight levels are low but because many parts of the UK were dry during May and June, with the south west experiencing particularly low levels of rainfall, there has been a rise in the incidences of common scab. The dry weather in May and June has increased concern regarding falling water levels and any curtailing of irrigation licences could still have a dramatic although localised impact on yield and quality,” says Nelson.
As the potato sector as a whole consolidates, the number of potato buyers is falling and as a result there is increased integration between growers, packers/processors and their customers. This is demonstrated by the more widespread use of contracts, tonnage programmes and the adoption of farm assurance schemes such as Assured Produce, Leaf and Tesco’s Nature’s Choice.”
The link between grower, packer and retailer is a relationship Branston is keen to emphasise and it is one that has allowed the company to focus on the beginning of the chain. “We are now asking growers to play a bigger part in checking the quality of the material that reaches our factories, and in some cases this has extended to seasonal on-farm packing. This has the advantage of shortening the supply chain which is an important issue for many retailers and their customers,” says Nelson. “It can be difficult to find growers who have the necessary scale of operations to do this but if you grow potatoes locally, then it makes sense to sell them locally too - Tesco is particularly enthusiastic about selling regional produce.”
Despite supply and price issues in the ware sector, it is notable that UK potato packers have still been able to maintain supply of UK ware, bakers and specialist varieties such as Desiree and King Edward without resorting to widespread use of import, says Nelson. “Closer ties between packers and growers through contracts and better programming have resulted in supplies being better coordinated, despite the reduction in overall plantings.
“Prolonged price competition at retail level is also creating intense pressure on packers and processors to reduce costs by cutting waste and improve operating efficiency. Processors are also facing continued price competition and dynamic product innovation from overseas. Although there is a big variation in price levels between different market sectors, the Continent continues to offer strong competition to UK processing growers and this situation will worsen if the euro continues to weaken. It is also notable that sales of new and punnet potatoes are taking most of the growth within the fresh sector and a large proportion of these will still need be imported over the winter and spring to meet demand.”
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