Updated tools to manage risk in the GB potato market
Up-to-date and relevant market intelligence is vital for farming businesses. “We’re at that pivotal point again in the potato farming calendar. Each week from now, more of 2015 crop will be utilised ex-store, and more of the 2016 crop will be planted in the ground,” says Mr Marshall. Potato production is highly specialist, it’s a […]
AHDB Next Generation group explore potato processing
The AHDB Potatoes ‘Next Generation’ tour kicked off in Yorkshire last month, visiting two progressive Yorkshire based potato businesses. The day focused on processing, a star performer of the £4.1bn GB potato industry. The first session in Scarborough was hosted at the GB headquarters of McCain Foods. As the largest UK purchaser of potatoes, McCain […]
Tensions in the potato supply chain follow two years of overproduction
Twelve months ago Potato Council’s ‘Market Dynamics Report’ highlighted that 2013 year-on-year retail volume sales had fallen by 8 per cent (the equivalent of 133,000 fewer tonnes). However, in 2014, just over 121,000 hectares were planted in again in Great Britain, a figure very similar to the year before. “A favourable growing season in 2014 […]
Supporting the Scottish potato industry
Potato Council has been working hard to raise the profile of potatoes amongst Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), promoting their health and sustainability credentials and creating awareness of the significant contribution they make to the Scottish economy. As a result, a Members’ Debate on potatoes took place in Scottish Parliament recently. Following several meetings […]
New event in Scotland addresses PCN challenges
Potato Council creates a new opportunity for growers in Angus to get together in July for a close examination of PCN and the ways science and industry is working together to manage it. PCN is a major threat to potato yields so this event will prove invaluable for those dealing with PCN on land used […]
Potato Council marks 50 years of storage research
The Potato Council division of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) recently marked the 50th anniversary of the opening of its Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research (SBCSR) facility, near Spalding in Lincolnshire. The leading post-harvest applied research centre for agricultural storage in the UK, SBCSR (then known as Sutton Bridge Experimental Station) was opened […]
Potatoes: An important crop for GB
Potato Council acts as a knowledge house for Government raising the importance of the potato. Two years since this work programme started there has been a real increase in knowledge about potatoes amongst parliamentarians with 83% now regarding potatoes as an important crop. In that time, there has been a 19 percentage point increase […]
Secrets of potato blight evolution could help farmers fight back
Researchers at Oxford University and The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich, looked in unprecedented detail at how Phytophthora infestans, a pathogen that continues to blight potatoes and tomatoes today, evolved to target other plants. The study, published today in the journal Science, is the first to show how pathogens switch from targeting one species to another through […]
HIP takes a ‘HAPI’ coordinating role
The Horticulture Innovation Partnership (the HIP) was formed in 2013 to stimulate innovation in the UK horticulture and potato supply chain and will take the lead in the coordination of HAPI. It will bring academic researchers and industry together to deliver improved yields of better quality fresh produce through more sustainable farming practices. The fresh […]
