UK Brussels sprouts are enjoying a season of fine quality and excellent flavour this season so far but industry leaders are warning that margins are dangerously tight.
"The hot spell we had in June and July could have been disastrous but the weather in August was better for sprouts and we have a marvellous, clean, green crop with very little aphid and caterpillar trouble," explained Roger Welberry of the British Sprout Growers Association. "The cool weather has kept them away and we do not have too much fungus and disease trouble either."
Crops are growing quite tall and the only potential problem this season appears to be a result of that.
"Certain varieties growing on the best silt land are tending to lodge (tilt) due to their wet roots and the wind," said Welberry. "This could be a problem for machine harvesting as stalks need to be upright, but harvesting on the stronger land is not too bad."
Welberry suggests that yields will be " a tonne or two" per acre in most areas. "Stalks have grown tall but they have not yielded particularly heavily," he explained.
He expects the season to run a full seven months from September 1 to late March and availability should be strong for Christmas "with some of the best sprouts we have seen," said Welberry.
But he warned of the effects of price pressure. "We are down to lean bone now, there is no more fat," said Welberry. "We really need a penny or two more a kilo just to get a return to the field we cannot go any further down on price or we cannot reinvest. This year we have had a labour-cost hike and rising fuel prices. Growers are cutting back on their acreage and I think we will start to see a lot more land up for sale."
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