Root crop harvest hit by high temperatures and drought

Root crop prices are expected to rise as producers report poor yields of potatoes and onions due to soaring July temperatures and a prolonged drought.

Onion crops have been particularly badly affected, as they require stable growing conditions to flourish. According to root vegetable processor Parripak Foods, varieties grown in the UK cannot cope with abnormally hot conditions, and when temperatures rise above 28-30°C, the crops will 'shut down'. Crops grown in very sandy soils are particularly vulnerable because the heat is more quickly absorbed, which will then burn the roots.

Parripak's joint md, James Parrish said: “The impact on the main drilled onion and potato crops has been severe and the outcome is that we are likely to see much smaller sizes. Typically in a normal growing season we would expect to see onions of between 65 and 85mm; this year we could well see the size reduced to between 50 and 70mm, which means that processing throughputs and yields will be significantly lower.”

Most crops in the UK are irrigated, said Parripak, but in countries such as Poland, where temperatures were even higher, this is not the case, and some growers are reporting yields are down as much as 60% from an average year.

Parrish said: “Analysts are already predicting that the conditions will push crop prices to their highest level in years. Some are also predicting that this could be the tipping point for agricultural commodities where we start to see a sustained price boom after years of sustained low world wide prices.”

He added that this was not only driven by more extreme weather patterns, but also increasing demand from developing countries such as China and India, as well as an increasing need for agricultural land for growing bio-fuels.