We farm: “Potatoes and corn in Castletown, Co Meath. Myself and my brother Bernard have carried on the tillage tradition from our father who built the business up from scratch in the ‘50s and ‘60s.”

This week: “We are burning off potatoes but we are three weeks behind. My big worry, and everyone’s worry, is if we’re three weeks behind now we are heading further into winter to dig them. It might be a value crop but it’s worth nothing until it’s in the shed.”

Challenging year: “No question it has been a challenging year, but it’s the same for all sectors. When the drought came, the heavy land here in north Meath stood to us. I visited some farms and we were lucky not to have been affected in the same way.”

Weather reliant: “I suppose what we’ve seen this year is just how reliant we are on the weather. It didn’t matter what setup or outfit you had, the weather affected everyone the same.”

Potato crop: “This year, the yield will be way back. At this point, no matter how big the potatoes get there isn’t the number required under the stalk. The silver lining, I guess, is that Europe has suffered from the same issue so we won’t be flooded with potatoes from the continent.”

Problems: “We ran into problems with secondary growth and had to spray the crop to stop that. It now means we won’t be able to use the seeds next year which is an extra cost.”

Quotable quote: “Most potato farmers now are second- or third-generation but there’s no point growing Kerr’s Pinks because your father grew them. You have to grow what the customer wants and it’s fair to say that potato farmers are willing to do that.”

  • Friday 5 October is National Potato Day.

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