I am feeling rather buoyant as I start writing this article, autumn has been very kind to us here in East Norfolk, my potatoes are in store in good condition. Fortunately, we had enough storage space for this year’s bumper crop and our biggest problem has been cooling the stores down, the ambient temperature at night has been so warm but at least the crop has cured well! We have filled our early potato contracts and managed to market the surplus at a reasonable free buy price, this will help gross margin which certainly needs it after two bad years!
Recently, I attended one of the NFU and AHDB Brexit roadshows and unsupported sectors like pigs and potatoes don’t come off too badly out of the three scenarios worked on by the team. If we are going to succeed then we must drive efficiency and work on the health benefits of eating more fruit and veg as well continuing to look after the environment which the public can enjoy.
AHDB Potatoes will be running the Grow Your Own project with schools next year which is fantastic. There is a real need to educate our children on where food comes from and how it is grown. This project was originally started by the British Potato Council in 2005 and now has 15,000 schools signed up, it must be one of the best school educational initiatives ever done!
Forgive me for mentioning Health and Safety but it was around this time seven years ago that I had a fall from height - please be careful when checking your potato stores or something as simple as changing a light bulb. It can have very serious consequences if not done correctly.