Yorkshire potato grower Guy Poskitt is cutting back his spud area by 26% next spring. The reasons for this are the shortage of available labor, rising growing costs and a move to be more efficient by abandoning growing potatoes on more marginal land.
“We will be looking to cut back to 500 acres [200ha] next year, and will need an extra £25/t on the price just to stand still,” he Poskitt said.
Poskitt will concentrate on supplying chipper McCain with a big proportion of his crispers going to Walkers. Nationally, the potato area is in decline, with the Defra June 2021 census showing the UK potato area fell by 3.9% to 137,000ha.
Poskitt’s headquarters is at The Firs, Kellington, between Selby and Pontefract, from where he farms about 2,000ha including combinable crops, sugar beet, carrots, parsnips, swedes and pumpkins as well as potatoes.
Source: fwi.co.uk
