The dry sunny Spring means earlier blossom in the orchards and soft-fruit crops brought on under protection. This led to shoppers having homegrown strawberries to buy at Easter. Sadly, good supplies also equate to reduced returns for growers. Angus Soft Fruits’ Managing Director John Gray, in his recently published Nuffield Scholarship report states, “The UK berry sector is facing extremely challenging times. After many successful years, over the past four years costs of production have increased by approximately 40%. At the same time, output returns have increased by approximately 20%, resulting in a significant margin gap”. Some good news came from the recent Global Berry Congress, with reports that berries, and especially blueberries, are performing significantly better in the market than the rest of the fruit category and in the UK, with 240,800 tonnes of berries sold in 2024, we achieved new all-time-high berry sales at just over £2 billion.
Sharing the AGM for British Apples and Pears Ltd, including an update from Chairman Ali Capper, with the AGM of the National Fruit Show Society, again proved to be a success. The industry is achieving a lot on a tight budget, as BAPL is running a tight ship on much less income compared with other top-fruit trade bodies around the world, such as in New Zealand and Australia. A lot of effort by volunteers and goodwill in the top-fruit fraternity meant that the slimmed down National Fruit Show proved to be a great success last November. Show Chairman Nigel Bardsley was able to report a turnaround in the fortunes of the Show and look forward to this year’s event. The Show can confidently look ahead to celebrating its centenary in less than a decade’s time.
Very topical in the present dry spell is a report from the UK Irrigation Association’s annual conference. Norfolk grower Tim Place discussed his practical experience in establishing ways to secure his water supply. Reflecting on the results of his investment in rainwater collection, he said that in practice the method has been much more efficient than he had originally expected. “We thought we would only be able to collect two-thirds of what we needed, but we have been able to collect more than enough”. Disadvantages remain – the huge capital cost, plus the cost of electricity for pumping water to and out of the reservoir, and extra filtration equipment, but the overall picture is positive.
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