“If the warm weather continues we could have problems further down the track with overproduction,” said David Piccaver, chairman of the British Leafy Salads Association.
“People are getting plantings under way, but it has been more of a chequered start than we would have liked because of the wet weather. Anyone who isn’t on very light land is going to be struggling. We would have preferred a better start.”
However, he added that growers are managing to plant and grabbing opportunities to get out into the fields when they can between rainfalls.
“The forecast is not great at the moment, but looking back, we were planting last year at the same time and we are not out of sync yet with an average year,” he said. “We just hope the weather is good so that we do not get too far adrift. At the moment, supplies from France and Spain are on programme and the market is in balance.”
The association represents growers of leaves such as Lollo Rosso, Lollo Biondo, Batavia and Frisée, and its members between them produce almost 30 different leafy salad crops.
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