Potato Innovation Tour

Hear from three growers who attended the Potato Innovation Tour this Summer. As they share their reflections, highlight key innovations, and discuss what these developments mean for their businesses.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:02

Welcome to the Perfecting Potatoes Together podcast brought to you by BSF. My name is Rebecca Dawes, and for this series, I am delighted to be joined by Cedric Porter.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

Hi, I'm Cedric. I'm the editor of World Potato Markets, a weekly briefing into the wonderful world of potatoes.

SPEAKER_04 0:19

And in this series, we visited growers, packers, researchers and agronomists to find out more about the innovations within the potato sector.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

So let's get digging into what we discovered.

SPEAKER_04 0:32

Welcome to our first episode of the new series of Perfecting Potatoes Together. And we're kicking off with a real bang today. Cedric and I are joined by three growers who joined BSF on the recent Potato Innovation Tour in Scotland. So before we get going, sharing some reflections and insights into what we visited and heard, let's find out a little bit about each of the growers. A warm welcome to you all. So I think we're going to get you just to do a quick round, Robin, and introduce yourselves and tell us what you're farming.

SPEAKER_03 0:58

Hello, I'm Toby Hogsberg, farming at the Whippin' Farms Company in North Norfolk. We're growing 80 hectares of potatoes, half of which for birdseye, and the other half for McCain, and obviously it's fully irrigated on light land.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Hello, Dave Bell. I'm a mixed farmer up here in East Central Scotland, the local one out of the three of us, predominantly wear with some salads as well. Ware for the pre-pack market, salads for the early market, growing about 60 hectares in total.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Justin Will has been head of farming for Albert Bartlett in England. Predominantly look after their own growing operation of 515 hectares, growing across four counties, 35 different varieties last season. And we're growing seed, salads, pre-packing ware, and processing ware.

SPEAKER_04 1:45

Fantastic. Thank you all. So, Cedric, we spent two days visiting innovations from agronomic and entreval activity through to science and research in the lab. There's a little bit of vodka in there too, which I'm sure we'll touch on. So, where do we start?

SPEAKER_02 1:59

Yeah, we certainly packed it in, didn't we? We had a good whistle stop tour of innovation throughout Scotland, but relating to the whole of the country. So, yeah, we hopped off the uh plane, trains, automobiles, boats, whatever, and we will pop-footed over to uh Scottish Agronomy and uh learnt a lot about uh some of the soil management stuff there and PCN management as well. So it'd be interesting to see from our panel here what did they learn from that and you know how big an issue is PCN uh on the farm? Should we start with you, Toby?

SPEAKER_03 2:34

Oh well, fortunately for me, we don't have PCN as an issue on the farm here, and we're only farming on our own land. So it was interesting to learn about what they're doing to combat PCN and also understanding how bad it's getting for other growers and more intense systems in the past. So it was a good learning curve for me. I don't have a situation at home where I've got a problem, so it kind of was quite nice to sit back and watch and learn, really, rather than you could be not a smug, but at least sort of aware of it. And I'm I'm fortunate my predecessor took a line of a 10-year rotation 30 years ago, and it's stood us in good stead for the future.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

So there's some good good management there all already. Dave, more of an issue for you.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

I'm just pretty impressed with 10 year rotation for potatoes. That is pretty awesome IPM and good rotation. I thought I was doing pretty well at six for a year rotation, but I'd be left wanting, obviously. But no, I think the visit to Scottish agronomy was great. We got to meet each other, we got the who you are and what you do out of the way, and we just got to pick the Scottish agronomy to pick the we had these world-class consultants and agronomists, and we were able to really challenge them and ask them awkward questions, which was good fun. But similar to Stoby, I I don't really have a problem with PCN either, because I test regularly. I have a six-year rotation for IDM. We touch wood haven't needed to apply any nematicides for that. I'm pretty good with that. I don't want to jinx myself, but it's something that I'm very much aware of that I want to extend my rotation, maybe not get as far as ten years, but I'm keen to extend my rotation for IPM purposes and be less reliant on nematocides.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

So there's certainly plenty of there to learn from, and you know, you've got that sort of resource to fall back on some of that learnings there that they've got there. Justin, you've got growers across a large area of the country. What were your uh takeaways from Scottish agronomy and some of those disease issues and PCN issues and things?

SPEAKER_00 4:38

Myself being 100% rented land, we do in some seasons come upon PCN on some farms. It's not really a big issue for us because we're sort of moving in areas that aren't heavily populated with potatoes or have had longer rotations traditionally. Uh so yeah, we do see it, and it's good to know that we've got the same tools in the toolbox as they've got up in Scotland, and we're really using exactly the same systems, IPM, you know, rotations, uh, number and velum are really the only two products out there that we can use to control PCN. But also it's interesting to know what crops they're putting in, cover crops to control this pest as well. We're currently not using them, but it's maybe something that we should be looking at for the future.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

So after we visited Scottish Gronomy, we went just down the road and saw John Weir. Dave, I know you know John and really sort of impressed with some of the work he's doing.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Yeah, I don't want to admit it, but he's a great farmer and he's an award-winning farmer. He's one soil farmer of the year, uh, dealt for potato farmer of the year in the Nagas next year. But when we're on his farm, the trials he's doing into conjunction with Scottish agronomy, the trap crops he's growing, where where he has hot spots of PCN and helping his soil health and his less love of reliance on chemicals is really interesting and was thought provoking. And when we're all in the field we were able to pull up their plants, actually pick the dirt, and that made it so much more valuable rather than just hearing about it in a PowerPoint and then seeing how he manages potatoes at growing it at quite an elevation as well. I think he was quite high up in elevation, which for us was quite surprising, and he's irrigates everything as well. So it was a really good innovation that he's been doing.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

Yeah, it really sort of showed where you can grow potatoes and if you're really on it and paying that attention to detail, how successful are crops you can get. Toby, a different type of farming from you, but still trying to get those sort of perfect potatoes.

SPEAKER_03 6:39

It's an interesting insight into how other people are doing the job and how they're handling soil. I mean, I was did find it fascinating the trap cops and the PCN management that John's doing and all the ups and downs and problems he's had with that. But it seems that he's troubleshooting his way through that, which is quite an interesting lesson that a lot of us can learn from, as a product that's potentially going to be probably highly sought after in the next five years. So it was interesting seeing that and being able to absorb that information, hopefully never to be used, but for the future of other people to learn from. But he does seem to produce a very good crop up there. He sticks to his varieties, he knows what does best for him, and his attention to detail is is extremely good. So it was it was good to see it. And he got some cracking looking crops, to be fair, especially after the summer we've been having.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Thanks, Toby. And Justin, you rely on having those sort of good people like John. What do you as a company learn from from your growers?

SPEAKER_00 7:35

Oh, there's a hell of a lot to learn. There always is. I mean, it was good to stand on John Weir's farm and stand in the PCN targeted cover crop and have a discussion with a group of people that was there and talk about when's the time to plant this cover crop, you know, how much nitrogen, if any, does it need? And it was good to see the variability on that field, you know, some patches where we couldn't really work out why it was so dense, and then other patches where there was hardly anything there at all. So it's good to see that we don't have all the issues when we're putting our cover crops in. It's a whole farm thing. Um, but yeah, just uh going back to the varieties as well, you know, the varieties on his farm look fantastic, and some varieties that we've actually grown ourselves in England that he was growing weren't so great. So it just shows that the the north and south divide uh for varieties is there as well. Some work in Scotland uh and some work in England. So it was good to see that first hand with John.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

Yeah, it's sort of important for having potatoes grown across the country for the for that sort of quality. And I suppose in years like this, when it has been quite difficult in terms of the weather to have sort of supply from across the country.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

Absolutely. I mean, you know, our irrigated crops have done, you know, really well this season, and and John alluded, he hadn't really put any irrigation on his crops, and they look fantastic, to be fair to him.

SPEAKER_02 8:49

Yeah. Then we went over to see Andrew Sterling, sort of entrepreneur extraordinaire, who is very much sort of supplying mashed potatoes to some of the retailers and really looking at sort of innovation across the piece there and doing some amazing things in the factory. Toby, what were your sort of lessons from Andrew?

SPEAKER_03 9:11

I think the main gist I got from Andrew is that it's determination and willpower to make things work, make things happen. He came up with the idea, he put it into action, and he seems to have worked his way through the system to learn how to get the best results out of it. He's got the whole family involved. It's a real mission for them to keep improving and keep getting better and keep getting more efficient. But it's the miles he's put in, the research he's done into the machinery, you know, picking up bits of kit, modifying them, making things work for him. It's that complete kind of passion for the whole job. If it wasn't for that, I think the wheels would have come off a long time ago because he's been scratching around for kit to find make it cost effective and make it work, because he wasn't sure he had a market to really go on forward to. And he's made the market and he's made it happen for him and his family. And you know, if you've got that kind of drive, it goes to show that with the right people around you, you can really make things happen and get the job done, and seems to be going from strength to strength. And the proof was in the pudding that the mash was extremely uh tasty. The tastings we had later on in the day. So all credit to the family, really.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:21

What was your favourite?

SPEAKER_02 10:22

I I was a haggis.

SPEAKER_03 10:24

There were so many. Um I can't remember the exact flavours. I think there was a good the garlic one was reasonably pleasant, I think.

SPEAKER_02 10:29

Yeah, haggis was good, and there's some some meats and turnies. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:34

Yeah, yeah, they were they were they were all very good. They were all very good.

SPEAKER_02 10:38

Yeah. Dave, Andrew is certainly someone who is not afraid to try new things.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

Yeah, Andrew's a force of nature. If he sets his mind to something, he makes it happen. And as Toby was saying, the fact that he was quite happy for it doesn't have to be new, doesn't have to be sparkling, he's sourcing secondhand kit getting from other companies that have shut down and he's he's making this happen and seeing what works for him and his customers. But I think the real innovation around his packaging, the plastic topped mash that you put in the microwave and it whistles when it's ready, you know, because of the theme that innovation and finding that and doing all that work himself to create a product and create an extension of shelf life so that there's less wastage and that whole circular economy, because as we're all potato farmers and the frustration of wastage is such uh annoying and just it kills the whole industry that we're throwing good potatoes away. He's gonna find a market for this, he's processing it, and he's extending a shelf life as well. I think it ticks so many boxes for the industry. The samples he gave us to try, and we're going through that at the dinner of the evening. Well, I know m I did anyway, I ate far too much of the stuff. Um I'm guilty for for loving my potato too much. But yeah, no, the chorizo one and the haggis and the one with the leak and cheese, yeah, they're all amazing uh stuff to have on the shelf and to understand the story behind it gave it more taste and more you know, once you hear the story, once you understand the work that's gone into this, you appreciate the food more. It's just reconnecting. And us as farmers, we know how our potatoes grow, but it's getting that story out there for the processing side as well. And it's just I find it find it really good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

I suppose it's important to do that. There is that threat there from there, but as you say, there was a benefit. And again, I suppose not using what might be in a waste products or just throwing away a waste product, but actually using that resource. So then after that, we'd worked up an appetite, some of that being satiated by the mash, but then we went to the Montrose for Rebecca for uh well, certainly one of the tastiest and largest meals I've had for a very long time in the Australian bar there sampling some great Scottish fare, including lots of potatoes and an awful lot of pork.

SPEAKER_04 12:44

There was, and I was quite impressed. I think there was only one grower who cleared his plate and one BSF team member who cleared their plate. It was quite a mammoth meal, and I have to say it set us up very nicely for the next day. And Justin, I think whilst we've been talking a lot about MASH, I think you and I were probably taken by the vodka um the next morning, the hair of the dog, as as Cedric uh said earlier on when we were preparing for this call. So we went to see Graham Jarren, a grower who is selling potatoes to the market but also has got his own diversification. What did you take away from hearing from him?

SPEAKER_00 13:14

Absolutely fascinating. To walk into that sort of showroom that he'd put together from an old farm barn. You would think that you're in the middle of the city. It was absolutely fascinating. And uh his passion for what he's doing and something on the side of his farming enterprise, you know, he's a potato grower and he's trying to get more value out of what he's doing. And he again, he's gone out, he's spoken to some people, and he's made it work. It's a real family concern. When we went round the Vodka distillery, it's an absolute eye-opener. Um, yeah, really enjoyable tour.

SPEAKER_04 13:48

And I guess one of the things that he brought into the tour was we heard from the cooperative that he works with where his potatoes are sold to the Scottish Potato Cooperative, and that kind of takes the pressure off for him. Toby, did that resonate with you? Is that something that you thought, God, I wish we had that?

SPEAKER_03 14:02

I think we are quite fortunate down here that we have quite a lot of opportunities in East Anglia to work our own contracts under our own steam. And I don't know how the geographical spread around Scotland is, but it's obviously potatoes are mainly grown in one half of the country and they need to distribute them around. So I think the co-op really does help with such a big group of smaller growers, a larger area of smaller growers. The co-op can bring that buying power together and give everybody a lot more opportunity to reach the markets, the potential that they need to reach for their markets. So yeah, I think it's horses for courses. You know, we're a processing grower, so I'm a little bit more sheltered in that sense. I'm not looking for the pre-pack opportunities as they would be up there. So I think that's what the co-op brings together. And I think that's a really interesting story as well, how they've developed that from an idea and taken it forward over the last few years and really got a trust and a well-knitted group of growers that are all working together for the same goals to supply and help each other out, back each other up and make sure they can fit the supply market that's necessary in their area. So yeah, I think it's really interesting to learn about that and to to get that side of things that I would never really have seen really in my situation.

SPEAKER_04 15:16

And Dave, I know you know of Graham and you followed his journey and you've followed his story as he's evolved the vodka business. It's not without its challenges though, is it? He was quite clear in highlighting that it hasn't been an easy journey.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

No, good things are never easy. It was great to understand as well. I mean, in our head we had a perception of, oh, we'll just put some waste potatoes or something that doesn't have good skins, we'll put that and just make vodka out of it. Ah, what a great job he's got. But to understand that he's actually having to use prime potatoes for that consistency, for that flavour, for that better process took the edge off. But no, it it's that trial and progression, that innovation and that doing it himself without people telling him what to do. The learnings he he had from that is really enviable, great to see. And Graham was so open with us and nothing was hidden, and he maybe should have hid more of the vodka, but it was quite refreshing first thing in the morning. I do have fond memories of the Cassith, the black current vodka that he gave around as well. That was a lot a bit sweeter and a lot more palatable first thing in the morning.

SPEAKER_04 16:17

Good stuff. I'll give a plug to Graham because he's the new follower farmer for BSF, so we'll be following his journey over the next 12 months through videos, so uh do keep an eye out for those. So we then headed across to the James Hutton Institute, and I cannot not start by going to you, Justin, because I think you were in awe of a certain Mr. Cook. The conversation just evolved. But what was it that just fascinated you so much with the James Hutton Institute?

SPEAKER_00 16:41

I mean, obviously, being down here in England, you know, we've heard of the James Hutton Institute, but to go there and appreciate the size of it just blew my mind. I mean, they have a hundred people working on potatoes. I mean, crazy. I mean, you know, that they're taking it from breeding their own uh varieties, which I never realised. You know, they're looking at FLM, PCN, Blight, post-harvest, storage treatments, you know, all the issues that are out there for the potato industry, you know, they're covering the whole base. And yeah, just fascinating, really. And to meet the man that names the blight strains, I mean, great, hey.

SPEAKER_04 17:15

Did you manage to persuade them to name one after you? I can't remember whether that was achieved or not.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

We'll see. I don't know if there's any new blight strains for this season, so let's hope there is, and maybe we might get mentioned.

SPEAKER_04 17:26

Good stuff. And Toby, I know the vertical farming unit that we saw really attracted you and was quite of interest.

SPEAKER_03 17:32

Yeah, just that again totally blew my mind. I've never really seen or looked into vertical farming before, and the owners of the farm here are Californian and they're always talking about how the future's vertical farming and what's going on. But what really got me was the sheer size of it and the potential that it has. You know, they're talking about potato breeding, you know, they're able to potentially do three or four generations of potato breeding in one year in there, and and how they can really speed up the whole process. But it yeah, I just think it's got a real massive amount of potential to help plant breeding for all different kinds of agriculture and all different kinds of of foods. And yeah, I just think so much stuff going on that it it's just you can fine-tune every last inch of everything you're doing to every crop you're growing in there. It just really kind of hit the nail on the head for where the future could be and how quick we can potentially get better varieties and good tolerance and disease and all the rest of it. So, yeah, it was really fascinating.

SPEAKER_04 18:29

And I guess I mean the one thing that's clear from both you and Justin is just how many innovations we saw at the James Hutton Institute and how much they are supporting the sector. Dave, we obviously heard different presentations from different scientists on different topics, PCN being one of them that we talked about. We looked at the blight strains. What was so impressive, I think, for me, was just how much they're doing with a hundred people. It was just so vast. Did anything particularly stand out for you?

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Yeah, I mean, the passion they had. They really wanted to help the industry. They really wanted to prove and improve it. And I mean the fight against blight, and to go back to that, where growers or agronomists send in blight samples and they they map the genome there and then. We didn't have time to go and see the machine, but that was on the wish list. We all wanted to go and just understand how this worked and then just the process of it. Because it was just fascinating the investment they've put into this, and it is just amazing that they can they can turn around within a couple of hours, they could turn around the genome of a blight strain. And having that resource for the industry, it was just mind-blowing that I didn't appreciate it. I mean, it's only half an hour away from home. I didn't appreciate what they had, and it was just great to get there and we could easily have another day visit there. I quizzed them on on more potato erronomy and research because it's just fascinating.

SPEAKER_04 19:43

2026 still, we'll put it there. Uh Cedric, I know um obviously you joined us for the two days, and I think James Hutton was something that was a highlight for you too, was it not?

SPEAKER_02 19:51

Yeah, no, certainly. And working globally in potatoes, I think it's easy to forget how important places like James Hutton are globally as well as the UK, and what a resource we've got here that's recognize across the world, you know, those scientists and what they're doing, and for us to really be at the sort of forefront of um potato development is great and really important to support those sort of resources. I know they're developing the potato innovation centre as well, and it really mustn't be seen as a Scottish resource. This is a UK and even global resource. I mean, they've got thousands of varieties from going back from the original potatoes in Peru, the Commonwealth Potato Seed Bank there. It's a global treasure, it's not just a national one, and yeah, that's something. And I think, you know, just for me, the general tour, that sort of innovation that's happening across the country and from these guys we've we've been speaking to today. And I I think that's great with something like the tours. It's the chats in the bars, it's chats on the buses and things like that that you learn just as much from as well. And you know, you've got that little potato community. We've all got something in comments to talk about.

SPEAKER_04 21:03

Fantastic. Well, thank you all ever so much for for your time today. It's been great to hear on your reflections and go back down a bit of memory lane for two fantastic days. We jam packed a lot in. I suspect there's still more to come in terms of those reflections. Over the next five episodes, we'll be touching on particular days that we went. So in our next episode, we chat to Zach Riley about Scotch agronomy and John Weir. But if you keep an eye out on the news feeds, we'll publish them regularly. And thanks ever so much. Good luck with the rest of the season. I think you've all finished lifting potatoes, hopefully, and you can relax and enjoy with the winter. Thanks so much.