Carrot
Production in Great Britain
Carrot Country
Winter 2007
Production Facts
The carrot crop is Britain’s major root vegetable. More than 700,000 tons
of carrots from 9,000 hectares (22,230 acres) are sold each year.
Each year 22 billion carrot seeds are sown, producing around 100 carrots per
person. Value of the crop is around £280 million. In U.S. dollars, that’s
approximately $571.2 million. Freshly harvested carrots are washed, packed and
distributed daily to nearly every shop in the country.
Convenience carrot products, such as batons, shaped carrots and salad shred,
are becoming increasingly popular.
Production Periods
Carrots are harvested in Britain almost 12 months of the year using the natural
climates in different parts of the country. Harvesting techniques vary.
Early season carrots are sown in the winter and very early spring and are protected
with plastic or fleece covers. They are harvested from June to August.
Green top carrots are sown in the open ground in spring and are harvested from
August until the first frosts being to appear. Strawed carrots are sown in April
to early June and are harvested from December
through late May. Straw is applied by machine in October until December to protect
the carrots from the winter weather and keep them dark as they attempt to grow
in the spring.
Production Areas
Traditionally, carrots have been grown in the east of the country – on
the Norfolk Sands and Fens region and up on the Lancaster peats. Over the years,
this has altered with Nottinghamshire and Scotland becoming important production
areas.
Each region has different qualities and climates, making it possible to have
yearround carrot production in the country. The early production is in Suffolk,
Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. Green top carrots are grown in all regions. Strawed
carrots are grown in Nottinghamshire and the late strawed crop in Scotland.
However, all areas can produce carrots throughout the season.
Production Methods
Carrot growers prefer growing their crop on free draining sands. A de-stoned
or de-cloded tilth is required with a loose depth of soil – usually 50-75
mm deeper than the required length of the carrot. In practice, this means a
depth of 250-300 mm.
Precision drills, such as a Stanhay or Mini Air, are commonly used to ensure
maximum uniformity of the drop. The drill is set up to ensure differential between
the outside and middle rows of the bed. More seed is placed on the outside rows
in a 60/40 split. This varies from site to site, depending on the grower’s
experience and intended market. The use of cover crops is widespread.
Barley and mustards are commonly used to prevent sand blow. These crops are
usually drilled with the carrot seed depending on the potential risk of blowing.
Once drilled, conditions contributing to rapid germination are important. Unless
there is a welcome rain shower, irrigation is required.
Irrigation
Irrigation is essential for maximum carrot yields and quality. Application is
usually overhead via hose reels, pivots and hand lines. Due to the increasing
cost of water and energy, monitoring systems are considered essential.
Harvesting
Two basic harvesting systems are in use. Both have their different merits based
on the crop and time of year. Top lifters are used in the early part of the
season when the foliage is strong and the carrots are very prone to breakages.
These undercut and lift out the carrots by the foliage. The foliage is then
cut as it reaches the loading belt. During the summer this operation usually
takes place at night – important in avoiding the heat of the day; the carrots
are lifted just prior to washing. Once the foliage is not strong enough, Share
Harvesters are used to hold the carrot as soon as the roots are strong enough
to take the agitation of the web.
Grower Profiles
Britain has a number of outstanding carrot businesses. The following is a sampling:
Martin Evans, Freshgro: A seven-year-old co-operative, Freshgro is an example
of strength in numbers. In 1999, ten farms
got together to form a dynamic cooperative, which stretches from Penzance to
Yorkshire – 2,500 acres of carrots.
“We aim to be innovative,” says Martin Evans, managing director. He,
himself, has a horticultural background, has served as managing director since
the group’s inception and describes himself as “the gunslinger”
of the group. Headquarters for Freshgro is at Bilsthorpe in Nottinghamshire.
Thirty people are employed.
The carrots are sown from October to May and lifted from late June through late
May. They also grow Chantenay carrots, which are lifted 52 weeks of the year.
Added to this is an impressive array of other vegetables, which include parsnips,
onions, runner beans, asparagus, salad potatoes, iceberg lettuce, a full range
of specialty lettuce including lamb’s lettuce, organic swede, cabbage and
broccoli.
The market is changing, Evans observes, and, therefore, the company also has
to adapt.
“Consumption patterns have changed, and we need to keep up with it. We
need to do things differently, promote our products, control costs and be efficient.”
William Hunter, Huntapac Produce Ltd.: By the end of the 2007 season,
1,545 acres of carrots from all over the country will have been grown, harvested,
washed and packed by Huntapac Produce. Carrots are sown by Huntapac’s own
experienced farm staff from January to May, when the early season carrots, having
been under polythene to speed growth, are ready for harvesting. They are lifted
during the night and transported to the factory at Tarleton in Lancashire where
they will be washed, polished, graded and packed ready for the customer. These
early season carrots are harvested by lifting them from the ground by their
tops. From October onwards until the end of the season, share-lifting is used,
where the whole bed, including the soil, is taken.
William Hunter heads the company as managing director while his son, Warren,
and brother, Jason, take on the day-to-day running of the business.
“Huntapac was formed in the 1930s by my grandfather, William, on this site
here at Tarleton,” Warren recounts. “He began by supplying a wholesaler
in Bury with fresh vegetables and gradually developed the
business to supply markets in Lancashire and Yorkshire. In 1967, a new pack
house was built here to cope with the increasing demand for high quality produce,
and in more recent years investments have seen the site more than double in
size. We have become a 24-hour, 365-day-a-year operation.”
The range of produce grown by the firm includes parsnips, caulis, cabbage, lettuce,
broccoli and sprouts but carrots account for the majority of sales and are grown
in Lancashire, Cheshire, Shropshire,
Yorkshire, Worcestershire, Suffolk, Northumberland and Scotland. Huntapac’s
own harvesting teams began last June in the south of England and have been gradually
making their way northward where the season ended near Inverness in late May.
“Years ago, carrots were not strawed for winter to give protection against
the frost,” Warren recalls. “Extra soil was piled on top. The entire
crop was share harvested using a Whitstead Harvester, and the only washer used
was a barrel washer. All the packing was done by hand by six employees.”
Today, pre-packing is done automatically, and Huntapac now has a staff of more
than 300.
Kirstine Dinnes, Tio Ltd.: Mid Coul Farms, set in the Moray Firth in
Scotland, is one of the country’s leading growers of organic carrots. Wholly
owned sister company, Tio (This Is Organic) Ltd. handles the pack and distribution
of the crops. Tio’s commercial manager, Kirstine Dinnes, is a bit of an
expert when it comes to growing organic carrots.
“As organic farmers, we work with nature,” she explains. “Trees,
hedges and wide unfarmed fi eld edges are important on organic farms like ours
because they provide habitats for natural predators such as beetles, spiders
and birds which control pests.”
The farm employs various levels of weed control, ranging from the use of stale
seedbeds, thermal weeding, both manually steered and computer vision-guided
mechanical hoes, all the way through to hand weeding. Weed competition is one
of the biggest threats to the crop, because carrots struggle to compete against
them. As the farm is organic, it does not use any chemicals. Mechanical and
hand weeding
are the only options.
“It’s one of our biggest production costs,” admits Kirstine.
“We spend about £480 per acre on weeding. And on our scale, this
gets well into six figures.”
Tio has a high-tech approach to seeding its fields. “Rather than having
our guys crouching down in the fi eld, we use a specially adapted tractor which
has two attachments on either side, each holding 16 mattresses on which the
weeders lie, face down, and weed the fi eld as the tractor slowly drives around.”
The fields are fertilized by rotating the crops, using composted manure and
planting crops which naturally feed nitrogen to the soil. Tio handles around
13,000 tons of organic carrots each year and supplies pre-packed organic carrots
to some of the major supermarkets all year round. From August to November, Tio
supplies around 100,000 bunches of carrots, topped with their beautiful green
foliage, to the supermarkets.
Kirstine loves the versatility of carrots. “I like to oven roast them as
it really brings out their sweet fl avor,” she says. That said, she also
admits that carrots are just as good eaten cold and are packed full of
goodness and fiber.
Simon Pearce, Alfred G. Pearce Ltd.: Simon Pearce’s family has
been growing carrots in Norfolk since 1959. Today, he and his brother, Jonathan,
run the family business started by his father, Alfred, over 45 years ago. Back
then, the business was limited to selling fresh carrots locally or canning them,
as this was the only way of preserving them.
“Things have moved on a lot since then,” says Simon. “Nowadays,
we sell carrots to our customers in every shape and form you could image. Cut
into batons, shapes, fresh, frozen – you name it, we do it.”
But the one thing that hasn’t changed is the importance the family places
on the taste and appearance of its carrots. Flavor is still top of the list.
“Taste is probably the single most important thing to our customers,”
Simon says. “They are using carrots because they give a lovely flavor to
so many different dishes and, of course, they add fantastic color.”
Based near King’s Lynn in Norfolk, Alfred G. Pearce Ltd. sells around 45,000
tons of carrots each year. The east coast of the U.K. has historically been
a very good area for carrots – from Suffolk and Norfolk right up to East
Yorkshire and east of Scotland. This is mainly due to the lighter soils and
the lower frost temperatures provided by the coastal areas.
Speaking of his carrots, Simon adds: “I love their versatility. There aren’t
many vegetables that can be grown year-round, and it’s one of the few vegetables
that you can eat hot or cold. It always amazes me when I see where our carrots
end up. They are used in everything from carrot cakes to salads, stir fries,
ready meals and even baby food.”
His favorite way to eat carrots? “Raw, just grated into a salad,” he says. “Perfect!”
Guy Poskitt, M.H. Poskitt Ltd.: Guy Poskitt has always been involved on his
family’s farm, from playing there as a young boy to working on it as a
young man. Today, he is the driving force behind the 4,000-acre farm, a major
supplier of carrots to U.K supermarkets. Guy’s mother took over the running
of the farm (after her husband died) when Guy was just eight years old. As soon
as he had finished his
education, Guy relieved her of that stewardship.
The business has changed a lot over the years. “I’ve taken the business
from producing just 1,500 tons of carrots per year to over 60,000 tons today,”
says Guy, justifiably proud. In the 1950s, his father was basically supplying
wholesalers and canners. However, when Guy took over, he quickly realized that
the opportunities with wholesalers were limited and the way forward was to supply
the major retailers.
“I never thought I’d become a businessman,” he laughs. “I
thought I’d always be a farmer, but nowadays I can drive a computer much
better than a tractor.”
The operation is still very much a family business. Mrs. Poskitt senior still
works part time and Guy’s wife, Clare, manages the financial side of the
retail accounts.
“I eat loads of carrots, and I eat them raw at my desk all day long,”
admits Guy. His staff claims they can measure his mood by the amount of carrots
he eats. As his stress level goes up, so does the number of
carrots he crunches throughout the day.
Editor’s note: The materials here are condensed and edited from
the Great British Carrots Web site: http://www.britishcarrots.co.uk/british_carrots.
Photos and material are reprinted with permission.
© 2007 Columbia Publishing