If there was a common theme at SAC Consulting potato day at Scone, it was about the need to change. Potato growing simply cannot carry on as before in the face of the real challenge of falling fresh consumption.
Dr Stuart Wale, formerly of SAC and now an independent consultant, characterised the 2014 season as a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly.
“The good thing was the weather, with 2014 possibly the best ever year for growing potatoes. Temperatures were above average in March, leading to early planting and early emergence. Not only that, the temperatures held up during the whole season,” he said.
“The sunlight hours in July and August were extraordinary.
“There was enough rainfall to keep common scab at bay, which was helpful.”
Looking at the precipitation figures, he noted August was wet but nearly all the rain fell in one day as the tail end of Hurricane Bertha swept the country. Parts of Morayshire recorded five inches in 24 hours but, nonetheless, growing conditions across the country were nigh on perfect.
The ‘bad’ aspects were linked to disease, particularly haulm and tuber blight which had in some cases led to soft rots.
There had also been more watery wound rot than normal.
The age-old problem of blackleg had not reared its head during seed inspections, but became more of a problem in late August.
“The ‘ugly’ side is connected to price and has arisen because, given the yield, there were too many acres planted notably for the fresh market.
“Average yields were 47 tonnes per hectare, which is 10% up on 2013.
“Coupled with the reduction in consumption this has caused real problems, and it will have a knock-on effect on the seed sector,” added Dr Wale.
“There are a number of questions to answer.
“What area should growers plant in 2015?
“Have we as an industry learned anything about supply and demand, and can we regulate ourselves?
“Most importantly, will growers take cognizance of the drop in consumption?”
Dr Wale had spoken to many people in the industry, and the consensus was that lower consumption of fresh potatoes is here to stay.
Looking at ways of turning the situation around, he was sure that collaboration across the industry would be more important than ever.
Also, the promotion campaign had to be much wider and not just left to the Potato Council. Growers had to promote potato consumption locally at every opportunity, including through school visits, and packers had to be more proactive at all levels.
He added: “Look at the British apple industry. It had lost 9% of consumption, but countered by introducing new varieties and innovating at every stage. This included finding new ways to present the product.
“The big competition for potatoes comes from rice and pasta. These products have to be boiled just like potatoes, but the difference is in the preparation time.
“Remember, processed potato consumption is actually increasing slightly.”
The supermarkets also had a role to play.
Only this week he saw loose potatoes in a Dundee store marked as ‘Ayrshire New Potatoes’. Of course this was a misrepresentation, with the true Ayrshires only lifted in the summer months.
Meanwhile, Waitrose’s head of fresh produce purchasing Alan Wilson told the conference he had 40 years’ service to the company. His first job, in a south coast store, was keeping the potato shelves topped up with Maris Piper and King Edwards and it kept him busy all day.
“Now the display could be left all day without needing topped up,” he said.
Waitrose has 5% of the UK fresh potato market and 20% of the organic potato market and actually recorded a sales increase this year.
In general, though, the challenge was the same throughout the vegetable sector, with customers instead buying more fruit in their search for sweetness.
“Not having potatoes included in the ‘five-a-day’ campaign was a very bad setback, but I have been speaking for 15 years about the need to stop damage, bruising and greening. Pasta and rice don’t do that, and customers don’t understand the basic difference,” said Mr Wilson.
Total per capita potato consumption in the UK was 110kg in 1993. Now it is about 95kg; but, in the same period, fresh potato consumption had fallen from 60kg to nearer 40 kg.
“To reverse the trend we need striking new varieties with outstanding taste. We are selling plenty of new potatoes, and Mediterranean types are very popular,” he added.
* Polytunnel production has been the preserve of the soft-fruit sector until now but, according to Agrovista agronomist Andy Steven, the technique could be used to advantage in the production of very high-grade first-generation seed potatoes.
“It might seem radical, but we have to learn from other sectors.
“Counting the costs of the polytunnels and moving them every year, it could add £15,000 per hectare to the cost of growing the first field generation of Pre-Basic seed.
“It seems a lot, but by the time the crop has multiplied up to the third generation it would only add £18 per tonne on to the cost,” he said.
“Take it to fifth generation and it only comes to 50p a tonne.”
If the crop was grown in polytunnels for the first two years the cost per tonne by the fifth generation was still negligible at £3 per tonne.
The advantages would be earlier planting, earlier haulm destruction and earlier lifting.
This would improve plant health by dramatically reducing exposure to virus-carrying aphids.
The yield would probably be higher, too, which would add to the cost-effectiveness of the operation.