The vital link in
food-chain development
Is there a silver line appearing on the grey clouds of winter?
The winter weather experienced during December and January has left many vegetable growers and suppliers counting the cost across the UK. How did Agrimarc fair?
The extreme weather conditions, coupled with the heaviest snowfall seen in over 30 years and many days and nights of sub-zero temperatures made the normal activities of harvesting root crops more challenging than usual. However, despite this Agrimarc and their partnership growers rose to the challenge and continued to maintain supply to all customers, although some days were touch and go. John Cook, Root Vegetable Manager for Agrimarc said “The decisions we made in December to straw more crops when the prolonged frosts were being forecasted were invaluable. This ensured that we maintained continuity of supply and minimised any losses in yield and quality.”
Delays in drilling and potato planting due to the cold and frosty weather are now behind us - Agrimarc’s Spring field work is now full steam ahead.
The recent weather is also reported to have had an additional impact, more specifically to brassicas. There is an increased need to think more carefully about what type of crop and variety should be grown, along with geographical location, to withstand such adverse and prolonged conditions. The opportunity now lies in varieties being available that not only provide the yield and quality required but the reliability and hardiness for winter cropping . Agrimarc are well placed through their Innovation and variety trials and relationships with key seed breeders to investigate and develop this further.
If you would like more information on our farming operations, or how you can get involved with the Innovation and variety development and trials programme then please contact us via info@agrimarc.co.uk.
Posted March 2010