UK | This year's hot spell has brought forward the annual arable harvest at Waitrose Leckford Farm by two weeks.
With the Met Office on track to record one of the warmest summers since 1884, this year's hot spell through May, June and July and lack of rainfall has sped up the arrival of autumn, bringing crops to maturity far sooner than usual.
Waitrose reported already seeing the early signs of autumn, with a speedy arable harvest at the Leckford Farm Estate, with some of the worst effects of the dry, hot growing season mitigated by farming practices that increase the organic matter in the soil to produce resilient, high-quality produce in these conditions.
The annual arable harvest has taken place two weeks earlier than usual, with 1,600 tonnes produced, and the crop is now in the grain store and kept at the right moisture and temperature to retain its quality.
The following produce already gathered includes Wheat for Leckford flour, loaves and baguettes, Wheat for Wildfarmed produce, and Oilseed rape for cold-pressed rapeseed oil, oats and malting barley.
Thomas Adami, Farming Operations Manager at Leckford Farm, commented that the drought conditions meant that the plants were stressed. In reaction to this, they raced through their growth stages to produce their seed before they senesce, hence the earlier harvest.
“As we are increasing the organic matter content of our soils through our farming practices (cover crops, integrating livestock, minimising disturbance, etc), we are seeing that our soils have a higher water holding capacity, which helps our resilience to drought extremes. An increase of one percent in soil organic matter leads to an increase of 168,000L extra water holding per hectare available to the crops,” said Adami.
"We’re getting ready to do it all again next year. We’re baling and picking up the straw for our cattle, and spreading manure ahead of the new crops, which helps us reduce our reliance on artificial nutrient sources. We have sown our cover crops to protect the soil from the elements over the winter. This helps keep living roots in the soil and is all part of our drive to increase organic matter and soil health."
At the same time, Waitrose is also seeing customer demand for classic autumn fruits like blackberries and apples soar in popularity this summer.
Colin Pratt, Fruit Farm Manager at Leckford Farm, anticipated an earlier harvest, approximately 7 to 10 days ahead of average, due to the long, hot summer.
“We also expect this to be a higher 'Brix' year, the measurement used to establish how much sugar is in fruits, indicating a healthier and more nutrient-dense crop,” he said.
“We've got an early start to the apple season this year, all thanks to ideal spring conditions and a warm temperature throughout the growing season, accelerating the ripening process for many fruits, like apples,” said Jessica Street, Apple Buyer at Waitrose.
“The good news is, there's no compromise on quality or taste, so you can expect to see British apples proving very popular late August and early September."
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