Richard Byass, Field Operations Manager
Following on from the previous update on the 11th July, we are currently 51% through the season (by area) with 6500 tonnes in the cold store. This equates to 54% of the total contract tonnage requirement for the season which means we are running at 106% of budget at the moment.
Yields picked up as expected with the peak mid-season crops performing above budget and this has allowed us to make up for the early season shortfall in the Lothians, hence, we are now above budget.
Quality is also very good with the ‘quality’ grades making up 73% of the total processed to date.
Petits Pois:
Over the last three years we have been trialling high value petits pois varieties and this season has been very successful with yields and quality beyond expectations. As a result of this and depending on our customer requirements, we are likely to increase the petits pois area in the future.
The harvesting team are working very hard to keep the harvest programme on schedule with good communication between field and factory to achieve a regular processing output of well over 200 tonnes/day.
The recent hot weather and high yields has put harvesting under pressure and there is a risk of bypassing some crops but this has not been confirmed just yet.
There has also been a recent explosion in aphid numbers due to the warm weather, however, Agrii have this under control and are up to date with aphicide applications.
We are currently in the Chirnside area which will take about six more days to clear before we work towards the Swinton area next week. We then head up to the Lothians for ten days.
Looking ahead, the crops look generally good so we should expect to get a satisfactory result from these.
