UK: Weathering the worst of the weather

A year ago British Growers carried out some research among 150 growers. They asked about challenges and threats. Topping the poll, along with rising wage costs and loss of actives, were global competition, supply chain relationships and the weather.

Spring 2015 was a bit like spring 2016 – cold. Low temperatures result in low growth rates. Not necessarily something that the supply chain fully appreciates.

Take carrots as an example - planted in the spring with the expectation of harvest from July onwards. By July you’ve only got 80% of the crop you expected due to the slow start to the growing season. So you harvest more area than planned to meet the volume demands of the supply chain.

You can only harvest carrots once so the problem is compounded across the season and eventually you start to run short. Not great in terms of meeting supply chain expectations.

July arrives and with it a heat wave. Great for the UK holiday scene, not so great for harvesting the UK pea crop where excessive temperatures accelerate growth rates over and above the rate at which they can be harvested and frozen. Net result - you end up leaving part of the crop in the field because it doesn’t meet the specification.

Read the full report by the British Growers Association here