There is still a huge amount of uncertainty as to where the national potato crop will end up – Arable Farming

We are hoping for some decent rain as it is the first time for a while that we have had a lot of plums because there were no late frosts. If it does not come soon no doubt a lot of them will drop off the trees or the fruit will be very small.

Whenever we have a hot, dry summer comparisons are always made to 1976. That summer the letter P stood for potatoes as the saying goes. All the potato farmers in the Wisbech area had new cars with P registration due to the high price of the crop.

The summer of 2022 is shaping up to be the same or even worse in terms of weather; the highest temperature in 1976 was around 35degC; this year as I write forecasters are predicting temperatures in the low 40s.

However, a much larger proportion of the potato crop is irrigated to greater or lesser extent and the crops that have received adequate water are bulking well. Bulking will slow or cease in these temperatures but as soon as they cool the crop will be off again where there is enough water.

The benefit of early water is very evident and where crops were dry early, the canopies have struggled and have not made up under the continued dry weather. Even where varieties do not need a scab regime, they still need water to grow canopy.

With irrigation restrictions being announced in some areas there is still a huge amount of uncertainty as to where the national crop will end up.

When it does rain, there will be the risk of secondary growth and growers will be looking to use maleic hydrazide to help alleviate the issue, as well as chitting in store as this weather will inevitably lead to early dormancy break. Currently though, the uptake will be very limited with the crop under so much stress and may do more harm than good.

Foliar disease is noticeable by its absence. I have not seen any blight and even alternaria, which we would normally expect to be an issue in this hot weather with crops under a huge amount of stress, is restricted to one or two of the varieties that I look at.

The lack of humidity and extensive use of mancozeb due to the low blight risk may be the cause. Beet on light soils is inevitably suffering too with many crops flat to the floor. Better bodied soils are holding on better and I have still yet to see any disease.

I had anticipated we would have seen some powdery mildew by now, as we had such a mild winter, but as I write just the odd fleck of rust is being reported.

Speaking to British Beet Research Organisation, the cercospora model has yet to be triggered due to lack of humidity, although the temperatures are more than sufficient. The big problem in 2020, when we had cercospora devastating the crop, was the hot weather and continental nights when the temperature never dropped below 20degC and thunderstorms accompanied the heat and increased the humidity.

At the moment I think we would all settle for thunderstorms and an increase in humidity as we can manage disease to a certain extent, but we all desperately need rain.

Another very hot July was 1948 and my father remembers seeing Denis Compton play cricket at Wisbech. He mentioned this to a local farmer, who had also been a very fine opening bowler for Wisbech and the Minor Counties. He promptly went to his car, got his computer out and showed Dad a picture of Denis Compton in front of the old pavilion. It made my dad’s day.

In 1948 the weather broke on August Bank Holiday with thunderstorms followed by widespread heavy rain for the next 10 days. I wonder what this year will bring?