News on Potato Cultivation from United Kingdom

The 2025 Hutchinsons Potato Trials Results Day at Worth Farms, Lincolnshire, showcased key field trials and research to help tackle major potato industry challenges, including PCN, herbicide safety, wireworm, catch crops, blight, and Alternaria.

Fera Science’s Enigma I project is advancing to its second phase, focusing on sustainable wireworm control. Agri-food organizations are invited to join as co-funding partners for tailored research and practical solutions.

The dwindling availability of insecticide seed treatment and nematicides has paved the way for pest control using entomopathogenic nematodes.

Leading potato supplier Branston is once again encouraging schools to sign up for the Grow Your Own Potatoes programme this year, as one of the sponsors of the primary school-based farm-to-fork initiative.

Meeting the challenges will be the focus of the 26th annual gathering in Dundee of the country’s leading potato producers and the companies that support them.

Potato farmers have been hit by rising costs and bad weather affecting harvests. Robert Strathern, of Fairfields Farm at Wormingford, near Colchester, described a wet spring that delayed the harvest, making it a 'race against the clock and the weather.'

Potato Days UK, held in early September at Dyson farming’s Nocton Farm in Lincolnshire, ended on a high note, meeting visitor and exhibitor expectations.

The Masser Family of Companies (MFC), the eighth-generation family-owned potato farming company, announced a strategic partnership with Szawlowski Potato Farms (SWAZ), a fifth-generation farm.

On Wednesday, 4 September, at Nocton, Lincolnshire, the new Potato Days UK will be kicking off, offering a full two-day programme of exhibition, trial plots, professional programme, and live machinery demonstrations. Visitors enter for free on both days, 4 and 5 September, with prior registration needed.

In the ever-evolving world of agriculture, farmers are continually seeking ways to enhance crop yields, improve plant health, and maximize the quality of their produce. One of the most promising strategies in recent years has been the use of biostimulants—natural products that enhance plant growth and resilience.

This year’s Hutchinsons Potato Demonstration Day, held at Worth Farms, Holbeach, Lincolnshire, focussed on potential solutions to address some of the key challenges faced by UK potato growers.

Freshly harvested Cornish New Potatoes arrive in Tesco stores and online from June 24 to the delight of shoppers across the United Kingdom.

The concept of foliar applied preparations is based on science, but when they were initially introduced in the late 1990’s many of the initial products had drawbacks, such as leaf scorch, low active volumes per application, poor uptake and even phytotoxicity.

One of the UK's top potato suppliers is looking for alternatives to the popular Maris Piper due to rising costs and unreliable crops during extreme weather.

The ground-breaking trial, set to start in the spring, will equip the 'Slug Sleuths' with special rigs designed to improve the complex machine-learning algorithms used to identify the slimy pests.

The UK’s leading farm machinery manufacturer has started the new year by launching several new money-saving promotions.

Grimme UK is to introduce a new German-made three-bed folding haulm topper in time for 2024's potato harvest.

Hear from National Farmers' Union (NFU) Potato Policy Group chair Tim Rooke in the aftermath of one of the most challenging lifting seasons he has faced.