Food security and the sustainability of the potato industry are set to be top of the agenda at this year’s West Midlands Potato Day.
The event, to be held at Woodlands Farm, Weston-under-Lizzard, Staffordshire on 8 June, will consist of a mixture of talks, an open forum and field workshops.
Keynote speakers will be AHDB chief scientist Professor Ian Crute and Potato Council sector director Dr Rob Clayton, who will be looking at challenges resulting from climate change and sustainability of the potato industry respectively.
“It is important for growers to understand the language being used by retailers and policy makers and to decide whether practical actions need to be taken at farm level,” said Dr Clayton.
Practical field workshops will be given by industry experts such as agronomists Denis Buckley, Andrew Wade, Luke Hardy, water consultant Peter White and ADAS’s Martyn Silgram.
Minimising phosphate losses is also becoming increasingly important as fertiliser costs have seen year-on-year increases of around 30 per cent and growers will have the opportunity to quiz Silgram on the work done to date on soil management strategies, their application and effectiveness.
Additionally, there will be opportunities for networking and viewing the latest machinery.
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