UK: Costs of potato production trends revealed at BP2015

There may be a small decrease in the costs of potato production this year for the second year running, but the long-term trend is for them to increase. This is partly because the price of red diesel has gone down by almost 25 per cent, and fertiliser costs are benefiting from a 4 per cent drop in the cost of nitrogen. Speaking at BP2015, Bidwells partner Neil Cameron said the downturn in profitability in the arable sector also means machinery prices are not going up so quickly, with second-hand models cheaper to buy. Nevertheless, smaller growers are still tending to sell-out to bigger enterprises as the industry continues consolidating, he said. More