Potato harvest hit by rising costs and bad weather

Robert Strathern says rising costs have made potato growing a riskier business

Potato farmers have been hit by rising costs and bad weather affecting harvests.

Robert Strathern, of Fairfields Farm at Wormingford, near Colchester, told BBC's Countryfile a wet spring had delayed the harvest, making it a "race against the clock and the weather".

Rising energy costs have also made life more difficult for growers.

"You can soon find yourself in a loss-making scenario. Potatoes have become a very high-risk crop," said Mr Strathern.

It cost about £4,000 to grow an acre of potatoes, Mr Strathern said

About 1,000 acres of land are used to grow potatoes at the farm, producing about 25,000 tonnes a year.

Wet weather earlier in the year delayed planting, which in turn had delayed harvesting, Mr Strathern said.

"We’ve been able to lift most of the time but we had a very wet spring," he said.

"March, April and May were quite wet months so that delayed planting for this year and that delayed harvest date as well.

“Now you’re on a race against the clock and the weather to get the crop in before it turns."

He said the crop this year had been a "mixed bag".

Mr Strathern said the cost of growing potatoes was about £4,000 per acre, while wheat was only about £500 an acre.

"Generally, the potato here has been dropping as growers have less appetite for that risk," he said.

Once harvested, many of the potatoes are moved to cold stores, which allow the farm to keep some of the crop for up to a year, helping ensure a steady flow of product.

However, Mr Stathern said the cold store was also being affected by rising energy costs.

“Electricity is a big part of our costs, so when inflation happened for power, that had a big impact on our business," he said.

"But for making sure we’ve got crop available it’s imperative we’ve got our own crop in our own store, so we’ve got control of it."