Potato yields suffer in dry, with storage costs to come

摘要

The lack of summer rain has led to a tough time for potato growers across the country as spud harvesters lift low-yielding crops. Marianne Curtis reports. Potato yields are down significantly this season due to the hot, dry spring and early summer weather, and for growers putting spuds into cold storage there is the double whammy of higher electricity costs on top of lower tuber numbers.Harvest is going faster than expected -thanks to lower yields - on Mark Means' farm in north-west Norfolk, where lifting began on 8 September. He was 35 through by the middle of September.