Ramsey farmer says wet weather has affected potato crop

Farmer Luke Abblett said the wet weather provided the perfect storm on providing less potatoes this year

A potato farmer said the wet weather had created the "perfect storm" for a reduced potato crop this year.

Luke Abblett grows potatoes, sugar beet and barley on his Daintree farm in Ramsey in Cambridgeshire.

He said a mixture of dry weather last year and wet conditions this year had negatively impacted his crop.

Mat Smith, chairman of the Cambridgeshire National Farmers Union (NFU), said potatoes were "a high-risk crop".

Mr Abblett said his potato crop was also impacted by disease which caused him to lose a third of his yield.

The potato seeds that Mr Abblett bought did not grow according to its cycle and started "putting out potatoes without putting out the leaf" which caused the disease, he said.

"Quite a few growers had this problem and, combined with dry weather, the yields are down so less potatoes on the market and now with wet weather we've now got even more of a deficit.

"This coming season there's going to be less potatoes in the market. I think we'll run out sooner than we did last year."

Mr Abblett has been farming for 12 years and said he was not the only potato grower struggling

Mr Abblett grew up on a farm and has been farming for 12 years.

He said he was not the only grower struggling said he was not the only one and many other farmers like him were struggling.

"Everyone likes potatoes but they don't realise what a hassle they are to grow, investment and such a gamble they are for the farmer," Mr Abblett said.

Mr Smith, also a farmer, said potatoes were "by far the most expensive crop we grow."

"We used to grow around 70 acres of potatoes a year, this year we've grown 20 and I think we'll cut back to 15 next year," he added.

"I can see us in five years' time growing no potatoes."

He said the industry was under a "real squeeze" and that Ireland and wider Europe was also in the same position.

Mr Abblett said his potato crop was impacted by disease which caused him to lose a third of his yield