British tomato shortage could last until end of April, warns UK’s largest grower
British tomatoes will likely remain scarce until the end of April or even early May, the UK’s largest grower has warned.
It comes after Tesco and Aldi became the latest supermarkets to place limits on some fruit and vegetables customers can buy due to supply shortages.
The soaring cost of energy, and fertiliser also derived from gas, has put British growers off planting tomatoes in glasshouses over winter, which need light and heat, said Phil Pearson, group development director at APS Produce.
The delayed start to the growing cycle means it will be another two months before most British tomatoes are ready for picking, he told Sky News during the National Farmers’ Union conference in Birmingham.
This year we have “grown later to try to recover some value because everybody’s been squeezed on prices – not just for energy, but fertiliser, labour, everything has gone up,” he said.
“So instead of starting [harvesting] end of March, it’ll be more like the end of April into May.”
APS Produce, which usually picks 650 million tomatoes a year from 70 hectares, has let some of its glasshouses stand empty during dark winter days to avoid the cost of lighting them.
“And what’ll also happen is everybody will do the same thing,” at the same time, instead of the usual staggered planting and harvests, he said. “So you’ll go from famine to feasting in one go, just after Easter.”
That will be good news for shoppers, as a glut of supply should bring down prices for the time being. But that means less money for farmers, compounding their struggle to meet costs, he warned.
“Then all of a sudden we’ve got less income through the summer. So then what we do for the following year?” he asked.
More stable prices and government support with “massive” energy costs would help, he said, and welcome the stabilising of wholesale gas and fertiliser prices.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
NFU chief Minnette Batters warns of rationing
Rationing warning
On Tuesday the NFU president Minette Batters told Sky News there was a risk of rationing for tomatoes and other vegetables that require light and heat through the winter such as cucumbers, peppers and leafy salads.
Shortly afterwards, Asda and other retailers announced limits on the purchase of some vegetables due to difficult weather in Spain and north Africa – countries Britain relies on more in winter.
On Wednesday Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey told farmers at the conference “we can’t control the weather in Spain” when confronted on the shortages.
“No, but we can be encouraging these guys to be producing here,” replied Ms Batters, who on Tuesday urged government to extend a business financial support scheme to horticulture and poultry, some of farming’s most energy-intensive industries, which are currently excluded from the package.
Warning for cereals
Meanwhile, one farmer warned a similar problem was brewing for crops with longer growing cycles than the few months needed for many salad vegetables.
Olly Harrison, who grows cereals at Water Lane Farm in Merseyside, said the cost of cooling his rape seed in storage has shot up from around £200 a week to £1,000.
Last year he cut back on fertiliser, but in the end the drought had a worse and greater impact on his yield.
He said energy costs were impacting “straight away on the salad and the veg crops, but when you work it through, we’re going to see it on other commodities as well that have a longer growing cycle, it just hasn’t happened yet”.
“Because people will make a decision: ‘Well, I can’t afford to grow it,’ he told Sky News.
“We either lose money growing them or we lose less money by not producing anything,” he added.
“The recent drought has cost me a lot of money,” he said. “If I get another one, I’ll be like ‘there’s no point’.”
Watch the Daily Climate Show at 3.30pm Monday to Friday, and The Climate Show with Tom Heap on Saturday and Sunday at 3.30pm and 7.30pm.
All on Sky News, on the Sky News website and app, on YouTube and Twitter.
The show investigates how global warming is changing our landscape and highlights solutions to the crisis.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has called on Sir Keir Starmer to sack Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq over allegations she lived in properties linked to allies of her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, the deposed prime minister of Bangladesh.
It comes after the current Bangladeshi leader, Muhammad Yunus, said London properties used by Ms Siddiq should be investigated.
He told the Sunday Times the properties should be handed back to his government if they were acquired through “plain robbery”.
Tory leader Ms Badenoch said: “It’s time for Keir Starmer to sack Tulip Siddiq.
“He appointed his personal friend as anti-corruption minister and she is accused herself of corruption.
“Now the government of Bangladesh is raising serious concerns about her links to the regime of Sheikh Hasina.”
Ms Siddiq insists she has “done nothing wrong”.
Her aunt was ousted from office in August following an uprising against her 20-year leadership and fled to India.
Ms Siddiq is also named with her aunt in Bangladesh court documents about meetings with the Russian government.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has called on Sir Keir to sack the minister
Read more from Sky News:
Ten Reform councillors quit in protest
Liz Truss sends cease and desist letter to Starmer
As economic secretary to the Treasury, Ms Siddiq is responsible for policy on both the City and tackling corruption.
She referred herself to the prime minister’s ethics watchdog on Monday following the reports about the properties.
On the same day, the prime minister said: “Tulip Siddiq has acted entirely properly by referring herself to the independent adviser, as she’s now done, and that’s why we brought into being the new code.
“It’s to allow ministers to ask the adviser to establish the facts, and yes, I’ve got confidence in her, and that’s the process that will now be happening.”
Police in Aberdeen have widened the search area for two sisters who disappeared four days ago in the city.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV on Market Street after leaving their home on Tuesday at around 2.12am.
The sisters – who are part of a set of triplets and originally from Hungary – crossed the Victoria Bridge to the Torry area and turned right on to a footpath next to the River Dee.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti were last seen on CCTV in Market Street. Pic: Police Scotland/PA
They headed in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club but officers said there is no evidence to suggest the missing women left the immediate area.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and a marine unit have been trying to trace the pair.
The sisters crossed Victoria Bridge before walking along a footpath next to the River Dee
The pair were heading in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club on the south side of the River Dee
Further searches are being carried out towards the Port of Aberdeen’s South Harbour and Duthie Park.
Police Scotland said it is liaising with authorities in Hungary to support the relatives of the two sisters.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Eliza and Henrietta’s family are understandably extremely worried about them and we are working tirelessly to find them.
“We are seriously concerned about them and have significant resources dedicated to the inquiry.”
The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Officers have requested businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review their CCTV footage for the early morning of Tuesday 7 January.
Police added they are keen to hear from anyone with dashcam footage from that time.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports9 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway