Vegetable and potato crops are being impacted by one of the driest Julys on local record, with a drought having been declared in Lincolnshire. Jo Musson, the National Farmers’ Union Holland county representative, is encouraging shoppers to buy British produce - even if it is wonkier and smaller. According to spaldingtoday.co.uk, she has also issued a plea for supermarkets to relax their specifications for what vegetables they will take - as the area braces for another heatwave.
As another heatwave hits the region, shoppers are being warned that a potato shortage looms as the drought bites. South Holland has endured one of the driest Julys on local record with just 8.9 mm of rain falling. Farmer Andrew Branton is having to irrigate his potato crop 24 hours a day - but is seeing lower yields and smaller tubers, which he fears will be more expensive for customers.
Branton: “I think there will be a shortage and I think the shortage won’t be just in this country but Europe. We normally import a lot of potatoes and I can see a reduction as they will be needed on the continent. The advice I would give to people is open your eyes, look at what is going on around you. If you have a garden and the lawn is suffering imagine what crops like potatoes, which need a huge amount of water, are like. Don’t believe the stuff the supermarkets are telling you that there is an abundance of cheap food - that is over.”
Source: spaldingtoday.co.uk