Recently in potatoes Category

Potato production in Great Britain is estimated at 6.053m tonnes from the 2011 crop. This is an increase of 3.5% on 2010, with average yields at 47.9t/ha, compared with 46.1t/ha last year.

The yield increase of 3.9% was on a slightly lower area of 126,328 ha, which is down by 0.4% on 2010, says the Potato Council.

Potatoes are the world’s sixth largest crop by volume, with more than 325m tonnes grown worldwide. Top producer is China with almost 69m tonnes, then India, which grows 34m tonnes. While consumers in Britain eat about 92kg of potatoes each a year, those in Belarus top the consumption league at almost 189kg a year.

Producers who want to supply the London 2012 Olympic Games and companies which win Olympic contracts need to register on CompeteFor

The games will be Red Tractor Assured and the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games is expected to announce shortly which firms have won catering contracts, says BPEX.

LOCOG uses CompeteFor as a brokerage service to match buyers with potential suppliers and to enable businesses to compete for contract opportunities linked to the games and other large public and private sector buying organisations. Registration is free.

49m litres of milk (17m of it organic)..192,000t of potatoes…5.2m heads of lettuce…91m free range eggs a year…these are just a few examples of the annual volumes of British and Irish produce being used by McDonalds. Given the company’s commitment to the London Olympic Games, these numbers can only grow.

The chain is also spreading the word about how food is produced by holding open days for the public at some of its supplier farms, with the farming businesses involved sometimes devoting several days to this role. Top honours must go to a Derbyshire milk producer who reluctantly rescheduled his syndicate’s first day’s shooting to host an open day this week.

PepsiCo UK has announced bold plans to cut the carbon emissions and water usage across its farmer suppliers by 50% over the next five years.

The parent company of Walkers, Quaker, Tropicana and Copella is one of the largest buyers of British potatoes, oats and apples, working with 350 British farmers.

Its Sustainable Farming Report details how the company will work with suppliers to reach its “50 in five” aim.

Measures include: The use of a computerised carbon calculator that allows farmers to analyse carbon use during farming practices and make effective changes; a trial of a novel low-carbon fertiliser; a new web-based crop management system that allows growers to maximise yield and quality; and a series of workshops where growers can learn how technology can reduce their carbon footprint.

As an enthusiastic skier, the sight of snow seldom fails to excite me. But sitting in another two-hour traffic jam on the way to work this morning, even I was starting to feel I'd seen enough.

Many farmers will have reached the same conclusion far quicker, as the cold snap takes a toll on their patience and their businesses.

Precise estimates have yet to emerge as to the overall cost of the "big freeze", though it is likely to run into the £ millions.

As we've been reporting on FWi this week, all manner of costs have gone up. Red diesel has firmed by about 5p/litre, with many farmers now having to pay over 50p/litre. The cost of heating oil has also risen as demand increases.

Animal fodder is getting costlier too, with auctioneers this week reporting a 20%-30% rise in the price of hay. Conventional bales have been touching £4 a bale for top quality meadow hay, with "Claas Quads" making over £50 a bale at Alexanders of Huntingdon's annual sale...

My colleague Mike Abram has recently returned from the British Potato 2009 event in Harrogate, weighed down with story lines from the wonderful world of spuds.

The one that got my business nose twitching was the one about industry representatives calling for a cut in the planted area to try and lift prices.

Of course any orchestrated attempt to achieve this would be highly illegal and attract the intense scrutiny of the competition watchdogs. But the chances are, growers will cut back next season anyway in response to current low prices.

Analysis by the Potato Council proves the point nicely. Buried in the organisation's website - in the Annual Trends section of the Market Information area to be precise - is a report called Production and Price Trends 1960 to 2008.

This shows in clear, graphical form how the volume of potato production and the average price are inextricably linked....

At first glance, the planned 9% increase in the potato levy over the next three years seems hard to justify.

For a start, it is coming in a year in which UK potato prices have been under considerable pressure. The last thing any grower needs is another cost increase.

Potatoes are also the only sector to face any levy increase for 2010. Beef, sheep, pigs, dairy, cereals, oilseeds and horticulture are all set for a levy rate freeze.

But what makes it harder to understand is that the amalgamation of all six levy bodies under the one roof of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board was supposed to generate cost savings.

In an interview with Farmers Weekly in 2006, AHDB chairman John Bridge was hinting that levy rates could fall as a result of efficiency gains. Earlier this year he was quantifying those savings at about £4m a year following the AHDB's move to Stoneleigh...