As we come to the end of last year's carrots in the UK, much of the English supply is finished, and most supply is now coming from the Scottish growers.
"After the very wet January and February where some growers lost part of their crop, I understand that there is a bit of shortage," said Rodger Hobson, carrot grower and Chairman of the British Carrot Association. He, along with other growers, spent the first couple of months of this year trying to salvage as much of his carrot crop as possible. In the end, Rodger only lost around 5%.
"There are still a fair bit of UK carrots around, but we are also seeing some imports. We are still about five weeks away from the new season carrot crop, and it has been a bit chilly so I don't expect it to start any earlier; it may possibly be late."
Rodger said that these days there are fewer bigger players, which has a lot of influence on the regional supply.
© Rodger Hobson
Rodger Hobson, Chairman of the British Carrot Association
Planting the 2026 crop
After a very wet start to the year, the spring has been much drier. Some growers had started planting in December when it was still very wet, but Rodger waited and started later than normal.
"We started planting three and a half weeks late due to the wet weather and waterlogged fields. The first carrots were planted on 23rd February, and we planted the last ones on 30th April. I always like to have them done by the end of April, and we managed this thanks to a very hard-working team and some great, dry weather."
The UK's 2026 carrot harvest should start in the 2nd week of June in Norfolk and Suffolk. Rodger, who grows carrots in Yorkshire, will start around a month later in mid-July.
For more information:
Rodger Hobson
British Carrot Grower's Association
[email protected]
