‘Potato yields have held up on all but the lightest of soils’ – Farmers Guardian

We’ve got a fig tree in the garden and the number of figs we’ve had over the years has been very sporadic, often blamed on the weather or, in one year, as a result of hard pruning by my enthusiastic wife.

However, this season the yield of figs has been incredible; we’ve been picking fresh ripe figs for a month at least and have so many that the excess has gone into jam.

Normally, when we have just the odd fig, the wasps have them, but this year there have been so many, we have all had our fill.

So, good levels of sunshine and the excellent roots of the fig tree accompanied by appropriate management have led to a bumper year.

The same could be said for my normal topic of root crops.

The dry spring has meant that potato crops went into excellent seed beds and a high yield potential was set early on.

The strong early growth further enhanced the yield potential, but then the dry weather hit and water and lots of it was needed to capture the yield potential.

Where growers have invested in irrigation via reservoirs or bore holes, and used it when needed, the combination or lots of sun and water has meant that yields are strong – to the extent that boxes and storage space are at a premium.

Non-irrigated crops obviously haven’t fared as well, but yields have still held up on all but the lightest of soils, where the good soil conditions early on weren’t compromised and roots have gone deep and been able to access the much-needed moisture.

There are some issues with bruising, black dots, secondary growth typical of seasons with challenging water supplies and some wireworm. Good management has been needed to avoid rejections.

These potential issues needed to have been highlighted early, and the appropriate actions taken.

Sugar beet also went into good seed beds and, apart from the lightest soils, has managed remarkably well where the roots have been able to grow unhindered to access whatever moisture has been available.

Weed control has been an issue in some fields, mainly fat hen, and it’s amazing how despite the lack of moisture, it has taken advantage of crops that don’t reach ground cover as quickly as some others.

Many once clean fields are now full of fat hen.

One thing I always look for where fat hen becomes an issue late is Beet Cyst nematode, as the reduction in canopy in the infected areas can often lead to a fat hen issue due to lack of crop competition.

Sugars are generally higher in beet crops than over the last few seasons, so this will help overall yields.

The decisions made as to which fields to lift early and what to leave are very important; don’t leave the poorer crops to make up as they never do.

Weedy fields, those badly affected by beet moth or lack of canopy due to moisture stress – get them lifted – and concentrate on the good ones.

These will be able to utilise the green leaf protected by good fungicide programmes and, with a good back end, turn into excellent high-yielding crops.