Latest ever planting of Irish early potatoes

This week has seen a major push by early potato growers in North Down to get crop into the ground. “We estimate that 60% of this year’s early crops are now in the ground. But growers are a full two months behind their normal planting schedule,” said Lewis Cunningham, managing director of Wilson’s Country. “It will take weeks of dry, hot weather to get these crops ready for the normal start of the earlies’ season in late June or early July. The delay in planting earlies follows-on from a very poor 2017 main crop harvest period. Wilson’s Country estimates that approximately 2,000 acres of potatoes are still in the ground in Northern Ireland – 20% of the total planted-out area of last year. Meanwhile, on the island of Jersey, the home of the Jersey Royal, this year’s planting schedule is at least three week’s behind its normal schedule. Bad weather in January and February put a halt to all ‘early’ planting activity. More