'Buy wonky veg to help farmers after drought' leader warns, as fears potato crop could halve

Lucinda Douglas, the regional director of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has warned that potato and other root vegetable crops could halve following the dry summer.

And she has demanded the Government do more to support farmers facing the impact of climate change.

More funding should be released by Government for farmers to build on-farm reservoirs and create their own irrigation systems, she said.

It comes after the Met Office said future summers in the UK could last longer with an increased risk of drought.

A study found that "summer-like" weather patterns will lead to warmer and drier autumns, as well as hotter and drier summers from the mid-2020s onwards.Ms Douglas, who lives on a farm between Pickering and Malton, said: “At the moment a lot of people have finished harvesting. In terms of yields, broadly speaking it’s been okay for spring sown crops but there’s massive issues in the root veg and potato sectors –it’s a big concern. Some potato yields have been halved in our region. We are going to see a shortage of supply unless processors and supermarkets ease their specifications.

"If we have those supply issues, prices will go up for all root veg, which is dependent and reliant on weather.”

Ms Douglas has said part of the issue is the high standards that buyers put on vegetables, with food processors and supermarkets turning away yields that do not meet high specifications set.

She has said customers should consider buying bags of wonky vegetables to send a signal to supermarkets that they shouldn’t turn away less than perfect produce.

"In Britain, we’re at 70 per cent self sufficiency on potatoes but we can expect that number to diminish further. We’re looking down the barrel of reduced yields and increased costs if processors and supermarkets don’t ease up their specifications. The veg is no less nutritious. We have conditioned ourselves to expect it to look a certain way and we need to re-educate ourselves,” she said.

Some 1.9m tonnes of wastage is produced each year by manufacturors who turn away produce.

Explaining how farmers should be protected against future droughts, she said: “Some farmers do have their own form of irrigation but for others they’re in the lap of the gods depending on rain.

"There are some things we can do so farms can build their resilience. On farm reservoirs, these are not quick fixes but we need to decide if we want to make sure we have food security.

“This resilience is essential especially in parts of North Yorkshire where we naturally get less rainfall than on the West of the Pennines. There is some government funding available but it won’t cover it all.

“Farmers are at the whim of the global market and banks are jitterish about lending.”

Experts have said sufficient rainfall over the autumn and winter would replenish rivers, lakes, groundwater and reservoirs to normal levels by spring, but planning should begin now on how to manage shortfalls next year if the coming months are dry.