Lincolnshire to host Potato Day UK

Mitigating the impact of climate change on the production of one of the nation’s most favourite vegetables will be a focus of a major event which will be taking place in the county.

Lincolnshire will be hosting Potato Day in September which will bring around 100 exhibitors to the event which will be held over a 20 hectare site over two days in September.

With extreme weather now having a greater impact on our crops, the event will be putting forward ideas on how to protect the crop during dry spells along with tackling blight - which thrives in the wet.

Two years ago, Andrew Branton, who farms in the Spalding and Crowland area, warned of a potato shortage due to the drought while wet weather last autumn also affected crops.

Farmers from across the UK and Ireland will be going along to the event at Dyson Farming in Norton Disney - it is also open to the public.

Machinery demonstrations of cultivation and harvesting will be given during the event.

Potato Days UK were launched by the DLG (German Agricultural Society) with professional event partners.

Greg Smith, DLG’s representative in the UK & Ireland, said: “At this unique farm venue, potato professionals from the UK and further afield will be able to identify market-ready farm solutions efficiently and what is more, we offer free entry.

“We wanted the event to be as close as possible to farm conditions, which is why we also included large-scale machinery demonstrations on 12 hectares.”

Go to: https://potato-days.ticketsrv.co.uk/tickets/ for a free ticket

The people behind the UK Food Valley say that the fresh produce sector in South Lincolnshire is close to achieving its goal of being a Top 10 Global Cluster and will be putting forward ideas to the new Government about what they would like to work on.

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