Potato News from United Kingdom

In 2020, with demand for homegrown produce soaring, E W Button & Son decided to invest in a brand new, purpose-built grading facility for its early season and ware potatoes.

A new mobile washing facility, featuring Tong’s next generation barrel washer, is bringing increased throughput and a highly flexible washing solution for UK potato supplier Wolds Produce this season.

Lamb Weston strikes gold again with its marketing agency, Art of the Possible, by winning the 2021 B2B Integrated Campaign at the Drum Awards for Marketing.

As of July 2021, Agricultural Equipment supplier Standen Engineering will begin supplying AVR self-propelled potato harvesters and in-store equipment to the whole of the United Kingdom.

A trade row between Brussels and London threatened to erupt tonight after UK ministers banned the import of seed potatoes from EU countries in a victory for Scottish farmers.

With tuber bulking being such a critical, yet energy sapping period in potato crop development, now is the time to consider nutrition applications to support crop health and maintain tuber growth.

Scotty Brand (a brand of Albert Bartlett Ltd) has welcomed the start of its potato and Scottish strawberry season in Ayrshire. The company has great sales hopes after the number of Scots buying local vegetables has increased.

NFU Scotland is urging its potato growers to complete its survey to identify what functions carried out by the industry’s statutory levy body – AHDB Potatoes - are most valued ahead of body being wound down.

Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots has announced more information on the £2 million financial support package for potato growers.

As part of today’s release of McCain’s 2020 Global Sustainability report Together, Towards Planet-Friendly Food, the company is pledging that it will be implementing regenerative agricultural practices across 100 per cent of its potato acreage by 2030.

Puffin Produce, a potato supplier in the United Kingdom, has reduced its water use to wash and polish its potatoes by 90% and electricity use by 40% as a result of a major equipment update provided by Haith.

In a first for Soil Scout in the United Kingdom, Soil Scout are delighted to announce that Meijer Potato have recently installed their sensors in various key locations around the country.

British carbon capture and utilization company CCm Technologies has been awarded funding from Innovate UK to develop new modular Carbon Capture and Sequestration units.

Crop4Sight’s online and mobile digital toolkit is designed to help growers maximise saleable potato yields and was launched as a commercial service in 2020. Crop4Sight now adds a potato irrigation scheduling tool.

This season AHDB (United Kingdom) is receiving a lot of reports of high levels of softening, dehydration and compression damage from potato store managers.

One of the UK’s largest potato crisp manufacturers, Tyrrells, has taken its latest step in a continued sustainability drive by converting its energy supply to liquefied natural gas (LNG) which will reduce its carbon emissions by over 14% per year.

A Lincolnshire farmer believes many in the industry are ignoring valuable research into how best to protect crops from extreme weather conditions and are losing millions of pounds as a result.

AHDB has announced it is winding down significant activities on behalf of the horticulture and potatoes sectors. While awaiting a decision on the future by Ministers in England, Scotland and Wales, AHDB wants to reassure levy payers their views have been heard.