Arable Farmer Focus: Successful potato harvest for Martin Lawrenson
Potato harvest looked like it was going to be a long struggle after some pretty inclement weather at the end of September.
Luckily, a dry spell for the first two weeks of October has meant that we have got almost all of the crop into store and mostly in good condition.
Over the past few years, we have increased our potato area and this has meant renting land further from home. This is a source of frustration as it seems to take twice as long and cost twice as much to get the crop back to base. It certainly makes you appreciate having most of our land close to home.
With most of the potatoes indoors, we can now assess how they have cropped. All varieties have performed pretty well, with Accord and Kestrel yielding above average in the early season and Wilja still performing well even though it is an older variety.
Star performer has got to be a new chipping variety for this year, called Arcade, which averaged well over 50t/ha. It gave a nice bold sample and frys well. Hopefully, prices will firm up a bit in spring when we will be hoping to sell them.
We have a new local landmark with the erection of the first big wind turbine in the area. It has caused quite a stir with many arguments about the merits or otherwise of the project. After a couple of weeks standing out like a sore thumb, it seems that people are starting to get used to it and some who were against it don’t think it is too bad.
With a planning appeal currently being considered for two turbines on our own land, we are hoping that, if passed, they will also become an accepted part of our landscape and produce plenty of clean, green renewable energy.
