CU LTIVATION AND TECHNOLOGY Waldersey Farms is steadily increasing its potato acreage, also after Brexit Company details of Waldersey Farms Ltd Area: 5, 500 hectares Cropping plan: Potatoes 840 acres (336 hectares), winter wheat 6,500 acres (2600 hectares), followed by sugar beet 1,500 acres (600 hectares), rapeseed 1,000 acres (400 hectares), peas 500 acres (200 hectares), seed onions 500 acres (200 hectares) maize, linseed, carrots, and lease to third parties. Soil types: Black peat soil and peaty soil with sandy clay Employees: 18 Storage capacity for potatoes: 18,000 tons atively large amount of land is for sale and land prices have fallen by 10 percent in the past 18 months, with the upcoming Brexit as the main cause. For some farmers, especially the older ones, the future’s too uncertain and there’s no drive to invest. They decide to stop and that means there’s extra land for sale’, is the explanation. Irrigation running 24/7 the heaviest soil you can get here in the Norfolk region and not suitable for growing vegetables or root crops, including potatoes’, Loxton says when returning to the main location in Downham Market. ‘They soon discovered this themselves and from that moment on in the planned further growth of the company, Waldersey Farms focused on the purchase of the lighter soils in the region. Even now, the purchase of land is ongoing and is even more interesting than a few years ago. Arable land here costs on average 10,000 British pounds per acre, which is roughly equivalent to 27,500 euros per hectare. Currently, a relLoxton calls the agricultural land in The Fens one of the best in all of England. An additional advantage is that the plots are flat and relatively rectangular, have good drainage, are free of stones (unlike a lot of other farmland in the UK) and it’s easy to irrigate, provided you have sufficient fresh water sources such as river water or basins. More than half of the area can now be irrigated and Waldersey currently has thirteen irrigation systems available for this purpose. Last summer, they were all running 24/7, a solution, but also a high cost factor. Loxton calculates the expenditure at 300 pounds per acre, equivalent to about 800 euros per hectare. They used water partly from their own sources, namely the large basin that they had constructed in 1996 for a cost at that time of 365,000 pounds (about 400,000 euros). ‘It then remained unused for three years, because we didn’t need a single drop of water in those years’, says Loxton. ‘In retrospect, we’re very happy with it, but at the time we thought, “What have we done?” ’, the director laughs. This year, the Agria yield on the non-irrigated plots, mostly the Silt Fens, averages 13.5 tons per acre, which comes to 34 tons per hectare. Not so great, the size is very disappointing and you can see that too. 1:8 rotation Waldersey has been cultivating potatoes since 1993 and with 840 acres (336 hectares) this is only 13 percent of the total cropping plan of Waldersey. The rotation was closer at first, but with the purchase of new land, the area of potatoes has increased relatively less quickly, mainly to increase the hectare yield. There was a 1:4 rotation and now it’s 1:8. This has resulted in a 25 percent yield increase for the Maris Piper variety, which they have grown here since the expansion of the crop plan. The largest crop is winter wheat (6,500 acres), followed by sugar beet (1,500 acres), rapeseed (1,000 acres), peas (500 acres), seed onions (500 acres) corn, linseed and carrots. In addition, Waldersey also leases land to vegetable growers who grow crops such as pumpkins here. Despite the relatively small share, the potato (after onions) is a crop that brings in the most money on average - let’s forget last year. And that will surely only increase, Loxton expects. For next year, there is an area of 1,000 acres (400 hectares) planned. According to the director, this growth of potato acreage is partly due to the cancellation of EU subsidies, which means that other crops yield less per hectare. According to the British Government’s promise, this will be compensated after Brexit, but how much and for what is still very uncertain. Loxton says that the government is thinking about subsidies for soil improvement measures such as drainage, something that would suit him well. ‘However, I don’t know yet whether this will definitely go ahead and what amounts are involved’, the director sighs. Loxton is not happy with Brexit anyway. ‘It’s bad for international trade’, and he’s not only talking about potatoes, but also about an export crop such as onions. ‘The UK will become completely isolated in the world trade of agricultural crops. Especially in the long term. We’ll get through the next few years. When it comes to French-fry 30 Potato World 2019 • number 1 Pagina 29

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