As Spring gathers pace, the weather, as usual, dominates how growers perceive the year so far. After the mild winter many may fear greater pest pressure. However, whilst the lack of light, due to the many clouds, delivering yet more rain, has delayed soft-fruit crops by up to a fortnight, apple and pear full bloom was reached unusually early in April and vine growers believe that this has been the earliest budburst ever. For those growing without a roof, the threat of frost or hail is now a huge concern in the coming weeks.
UK viticulture’s positive ‘fastest growing crop’ story has probably helped attract a recent announcement of further government support for the industry, to continue its rapid growth. The recent WineGB Annual Conference at Plumpton College included a visit from the DEFRA Secretary of State Steve Barclay MP to deliver a speech announcing an extra £1.5m for a new Future Winemakers’ Scheme, which will aim to develop skills and job opportunities in the sector and make sure the next generation of viticulturists can build on the successes of the past 20 years. This is good news for Plumpton’s Wine Centre, but the funding seems to be for winemaking and not for growing grapes. It’s a pity that the glamour associated with this crop is not in the vineyard but in the winery. The Minister also emphasised the export potential for UK wines, currently just 7% of production. Fears of market imbalance are acknowledged by everyone in the industry, so exports are a key factor for its future success. The target is to grow UK wine exports to 30% of production by 2023.
Attendees at the joint AGMs of the Marden Fruit Show Society and British Apples and Pears Ltd heard that the present economic and political environment the industry faces have necessitated hard decisions to slim down operations. We are lucky that we still have leaders with vision, energy and the capacity for multi-tasking to keep going in the current difficult circumstances. The recently published BAPL Manifesto has ten points for fruit businesses to use to lobby candidates as we run up to the General Election. Biosecurity and the new border control rules coming in this Spring are providing another issue for the NFU to take up with the government.
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