| Root Crops
Call for expert attention in store following extreme
seasonal challenges for GB potato stocks
“The industry cannot continue to stand the storage losses it’s seen this season. We need early
adopters of best practice on board,” asserted Simon Alexander, renowned Norfolk-based potato
consultant, calling the industry to action at the annual AHDB Potatoes’ Storage Forum.
n a difficult
2015/16 storage
season, AHDB’s
event, hosted by
Sutton Bridge
Crop Storage
Research (SBCSR) at the start of
March, brought timely
encouragement to address
industry concerns.
Elaborating on his personal
experience in the Norfolk area,
Simon Alexander reported, “It’s
hard to say, but the worst losses I
have had due to rots could
probably add up to 10-15%, with
the primary villains being the high
temperature and high ambient
humidity leading to a protracted
drying period.
“The ideal is to have the crops
dried within 3 weeks, but we were
seeing 4 and even 5 week drying
periods at the outset. And the
subsequent lack of cool, and most
importantly dry, air over the winter
months limited our opportunities
as store managers to dry out the
crops without then hitting dew
point.”
“We received pre-Christmas
reports from the worst hit stores of
crop breakdowns to such an
extent that some stores had to be
unloaded,” added Adrian
Cunnington, head of SBCSR.
“However with AHDB’s stocks
survey averages showing around
1.9 million tonnes still being held
in store at the end of January,
expert store management is still a
critical area for attention.
“Dealing with the consequences
of the mild, external, over-winter
climatic conditions in store is now
the reality for many growers.”
Delegates were segmented into
small group workshops on rots,
directed to enabling store
managers to identify and assess
threats, keep tuber quality
consistent and ultimately reduce
waste and losses.
“It was interesting to hear what
others recommended in difficult
circumstances,” concluded
Richard Wilson of R S Cockerill,
York. “Ideas such as utilisation of
industrial dehumidifying units and,
in some cases, a real commercial
advantage of manual over
automatic store control to maintain
a sound, dry crop.”
Summarising the outcomes of
the multiple groups, Mr
Cunnington added, “The
consensus from the forum
workshops was to concentrate
effort into ventilating any ‘wet’
I
areas of the store using all the
tools available to limit spread.
“However, established bacterial
rots in crops at processing storage
temperatures will usually gather
momentum over time, so there
also needs to be some recognition
that storage life is likely to be
limited.”
The event also offered tools and
guidance targeted to ensure stores
are economically efficient, costeffective and prepared to be
compliant with new statutory
regulations, such as impending
label requirement s for active recirculation of CIPC.
“As stocks begin to unload,
we’re heading into an opportune
time to get ready to do work on
empty stores in May and June in
preparation for next season before
the busy harvest period begins.”
explained Rob Clayton, strategy
director for AHDB Potatoes, in the
opening session of the day.
“You here are the risk takers,
sales agents, merchants, and
capital investors – the people who
have to make storage pay. Look
closely at the efficiency of your
storage. Returns can be
significantly improved by
controlling costs and making the
store work more effectively.”
Helping store operators to get a
strong grip of their storage costs,
Nick Blake of Andersons Eastern
presented the new AHDB Storage
Cost Calculator, available to
download free in accessible excel
format from the AHDB Potatoes
website
(potatoes.ahdb.org.uk/storagecalculator).
“It’s a simple, one-page tool
that can be populated using basic
financial information and the
results can really support potato
growers in working out the
margins or value required for long
term and late season decisions,”
enthused Mr Blake.
The day turned to issues of
store design and Shropshire
grower Michael Bubb (J M Bubb &
Sons), McCain’s Southern Grower
of the Year 2012, gave a
compelling summary of why his
business chose to invest in new
bulk storage facilities.
“It was expensive but we
couldn’t see the point in
compromising what we wanted to
achieve for our customers. We
opted for a turn-key solution which
meant every facet of the shed and
equipment was designed to fit
together perfectly.
24 | Farming Monthly | April 2016
“The required ventilation
characteristics were the primary
consideration, however the
approach we took meant the store
design and the equipment
complemented each other to
enable much of the equipment
within to qualify for capital
allowances.
”We calculated the investment
at £178/tonne for the store in 2011
and £158/tonne (after grants) in
2014.”
When probed by the delegates
if he would embark on the same
investment endeavour again, Mr
Bubb replied, “Just try doing
nothing and see what happens.”
Mr Cunnington closed the day
with an update on the on-going
Storage 2020 campaign, intended
to drive store improvements on an
industry scale.
Reminding the audience of the
need to look long-term, Mr
Cunnington said, “The evidence
from surveys at BP2015 showed
that 1/3 of respondents had not
worked
on their stores
in the last 3 years.
“Your stores, however, are
as important for investment
attention as any other piece of
agricultural kit or machinery and
areas of slow development over
the last 10 years are actually
potential opportunities for
progress too.
“The forum created real impact
with over 63% of polled delegates
claiming they would change their
working practices as a result of
attending the event,” reported Dr
Cunnington on the results of
formal feedback. “For those who
missed the chance to be present
however, copies of the
presentations and selected videos
will be available on the AHDB
Potatoes website at
potatoes.ahdb.org.uk in the
coming days.”
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