With ten percent of last year’s potato crop still in the ground in Northern Ireland, some farmers have attempted make to use of recent good weather to try and salvage them, reports Chris McCoullough of Fresh Produce Journal.
However, the sudden onslaught of Storm Ciara has knocked any chances of getting all the crop rescued this week into touch, according to growers.
The dry break in the unusual winter weather two weeks ago had given some potato farmers hope of saving the last of their crops before any inclement weather set in.
One of those farmers on a rescue mission is North Down grower Derek Erwin, who farms with his son Ethan.
Taking advantage of a few days of dry conditions the father and son team were attempting to harvest a crop of the Cultra variety, on the outskirts of Dundonald, which they first started into last October.
