British growers should prepare themselves for more erratic weather in future, a leading analyst has said.
The English topfruit crop was hit by frost last month, prompting fears of heavy losses, and Rabobank analyst Cindy van Rijswick said the situation was unlikely to be a one-off.
“The unfortunate reality is that both farmers and consumers in the UK should prepare themselves for this to happen more often in the years ahead,' she warned.
“As weather becomes more unpredictable we are likely to see a recurrence of the type of cold snaps that have caused the shortage of British fruit in recent weeks. Incidents of flash flooding may also become more common, causing further pain.
In a downbeat assessment of changing weather patterns, van Rijswick added that poor weather could also negatively affect greenhouse crops such as strawberries and tomatoes due to fewer daylight hours. 'EU and rest-of-the-world producers that serve the UK could also be hit by shortages of produce like lettuce and spinach because of more common adverse weather,” she pointed out.
Van Rijswick said farmers could mitigate the threat posed by cold weather by investing in technology such as wind-proof netting and plastic coverings to protect fruit.
Meanwhile van Rijswick said that following the Brexit referendum, a number of Rabobank's Dutch and other EU clients are considering investing in British fresh produce, such as tomatoes and strawberries, to provide a post-Brexit UK presence.
See FPJ's feature on The Changing Face of Global Trade, published Friday 19 May
