Co Down potato grower Derek Erwin (left) who is harvesting potatoes in the Comber area, with Wilson's Country managing director Lewis Cunningham.
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Potato growers across the country are taking full advantage of the dry weather to finish harvesting their main crop.
Prolonged bouts of heavy rain since July had held up harvesting, with roughly 20% to 30% of main crop potatoes harvested compared with almost 90% by this time last year.
William Monagle, a grower from Donegal, said: “It’s a great relief to be able to get out in the fields.
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“If the weather stays good and the machinery keeps going we’ll have a fair amount of our spuds out this week.”
However, one of the main concerns for Irish potato growers is the threat of cheap imports undercutting prices.
Eddie Doyle, IFA potato chair, told the Irish Farmers Journal: “There’s a good crop there, on a par with last year and we’ve got roughly the right amount to meet domestic demand but the main issue is that we’re being undermined by UK imports.”
But Doyle said so far this year supermarkets seem to recognise the value consumers attach to Irish potatoes.
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Potato growers across the country are taking full advantage of the dry weather to finish harvesting their main crop.
Prolonged bouts of heavy rain since July had held up harvesting, with roughly 20% to 30% of main crop potatoes harvested compared with almost 90% by this time last year.
William Monagle, a grower from Donegal, said: “It’s a great relief to be able to get out in the fields.
“If the weather stays good and the machinery keeps going we’ll have a fair amount of our spuds out this week.”
However, one of the main concerns for Irish potato growers is the threat of cheap imports undercutting prices.
Eddie Doyle, IFA potato chair, told the Irish Farmers Journal: “There’s a good crop there, on a par with last year and we’ve got roughly the right amount to meet domestic demand but the main issue is that we’re being undermined by UK imports.”
But Doyle said so far this year supermarkets seem to recognise the value consumers attach to Irish potatoes.
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