A TWO-WEEK delay to planting may be imminent, but Scottish growers will be able to work around this according to a Perthshire supplier.
In a recent interview with Fresh Plaza, Robert Doig from Caledonia Potatoes in Perthshire said while April 1st is generally the target date to start planting potatoes in the UK, this could be delayed because of the continual rainfall seen so far this year.
“In Scotland even if we don’t start planting until April 15th, it is no big crisis, the date we finish the harvest is more of an issue. A lot of the bigger potato farmers have mixed crops and owing to the horrible, wet weather they will still have lots to do before potato planting starts.”
At the moment there is heavy rainfall in most parts of the UK and that is not forecast to change for a couple of weeks at least.
“The wet weather and delays planting is a bigger problem for growers further south, as here in Scotland we have longer daylight hours which adds up over the summer months,” Robert said. “A short season can lead to a drop in yields, but this will mean the chance of a better trade.”
While there are still potatoes in stock, but if the season is delayed, prices are likely to increase.
“I think this will lead to good start to the new season. Prices at the moment certainly reflect low stocks. We are seeing prices of more than £400 a tonne, which we have not seen before. That said, we are coming off three years of bad seasons, so while there is some opportunity to recoup some losses, we are not any better off in the long term,” said Robert.
Although stocks are low, Robert doesn’t see supplies running out, and there are some imports coming in from Egypt and France.
