British cauliflower production has been the worst affected sector in the last 12 months in terms of production levels, says chairman of the Brassica Growers’ Association (BGA), Alistair Ewan. “It has been an extremely difficult year for brassica growers,” he says, “the most difficult in my career, with dramatic weather conditions and extreme price pressure.
The cost of production is not being recouped and growers are trying to deliver produce to the supermarkets in difficult conditions. The ongoing high street price wars and supply pressures are making it extremely tough.”
The BGA held its annual general meeting in the second week of January and discussed the pressures facing brassica growers across the country, as well as what can be done by the industry to improve the brassica sector’s future performance. “On average, growers have performed well under difficult circumstances,” says Ewan, “but how long they can survive is the big question. Even the best will be looking at the figures at the end of this season.”
Independent agronomist, Richard Moynan has been consulting for the Cornish brassica sector for many years now. He says the cost of production is a contentious issue for growers, with prices below costs for a large part of the season. “The BGA will attempt to calculate an honest number for the cost of production in the coming months,” he says. “Typically, farmgate prices for cauliflower range from 22-25p a head, representing the cost of growing, harvesting and distribution.” But wholesale market prices for cauliflower, on average this season, have been 30p a head.
Vegetables are a key contributor to the Cornish horticultural industry with the majority grown in west Cornwall. Winter cauliflowers are grown between October and April and, according to Cornish Horticulture Enterprise (CHE), make up a growing area of 2,290 hectares consisting of a total of 25 million heads. The other major winter crop, spring greens, is grown on 1,100ha and represents up to 9,000 tonnes, while other winter and summer brassicas are grown on 400ha.
In addition to his work with brassica growers, Moynan is currently on the BGA board and is a part of an NFU working group for pesticide management. He continues: “This is quite a crisis for the industry as costs have risen by 22 per cent and returns have fallen.
“The industry needs to do some serious thinking and decide whether it leaves it to market forces to rectify the situation or not. But with the continuous threat of imports, simple economics may not find the right solution. There is tremendous potential from new EU member countries and strong competition from Italy and Spain.”
Over the past year, the Cornish brassica industry has undergone a few changes. Since Univeg closed its vegetable packing plant near Penzance following the loss of two supermarket contracts, some capacity has been taken up by Marshalls vegetable packers. Joint managing director Nigel Clare says that since taking over the extra capacity in 2004, Marshalls has increased its brassica acreage in Cornwall by 20 per cent. Marshalls specialises in the distribution of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbages, and spinach and mainly sources cauliflower and spring green cabbage from Cornwall.
“Many of the extra programmes for 2004/05 were achieved because of the moves to other camps by ex-Univeg growers. Overall the cauliflower acreage has not increased,” says Clare. “Marketing of winter Cornish produce is in just a few hands and, this season, I have been very disappointed with the growers and marketers in Cornwall. We have had to source winter brassicas from Kent, Suffolk and Spain because of the changes to the market dynamics in that region.”
Clare adds: “The Cornish region has created a bad name for itself during this season. The sector isn’t delivering what was promised on any account - neither in terms of volumes nor price. Basically, supply agreements made with us have not been honoured, unlike the relationship with our suppliers in Kent and Spain.”
Southern England Farms (SEF) has also taken on two extra growers since the exit of Univeg from the Cornish region, and now has 20 dedicated cauliflower growers. Production manager Stuart Rowland says that yields have been average for cauliflower this season while spring green volumes have been even lower. “Given the flash wet weather we had last summer and the large rainfall in the region, much of the crop was washed out of the ground. On top of that, we tend to be naturally short in January and February.”
Despite the average performance, Rowland estimates that winter brassica supplies to Tesco this season have risen from 10 to 20 per cent, mainly due to the increase in capacity. During the winter months, SEF supplies pointed cabbage, which is still gaining in popularity, Savoy, spring green, and cauliflower on a year-round basis to supermarkets. Rowland says the wholesale markets have taken on a little more Cornish-grown produce this winter. “A market still exists for Cornish brassicas with the wholesalers, but you need to be a regular supplier into them if you want to build up a good business, rather than just flush the produce into the markets,” he says.
Since SEF supplies Tesco with cauliflower 12-months a year, it does not use the regional Cornish King brand on its packaging, even though it does highlight the produce origins on the packaging. “The Cornish King brand is used for seasonal produce, so instead we use the words ‘Cornish Flourish’ on our packaging. To use the Cornish King brand would be a Tesco decision to make rather than ours,” says Rowland.
The Cornish King brand was launched in May 1996 to promote quality Cornish horticultural produce to national and international markets. The brand is managed by CHE who oversee quality control and licence the marketing companies and individual suppliers. However, in the next two to three months, the brand will be re-designed in time for the start of the potato season in April.
“The logo will remain the same but will exclude the Cornish map. This is a good time to look at re-establishing the brand locally and several wholesale markets are looking at fully adopting the brand and the concept,” says CHE director, Roger Whilding.
“For the first two years the brand was supported by Tesco and Sainsburys. However, funding became an issue and up until last season, the brand was used on the majority of the brassicas supplied to Sainsburys,” he says. “Unfortunately, the brand has fallen away for brassicas growers with the disappearance of Univeg. Unless the supermarkets back the brand and its Cornish suppliers, it is difficult to implement its use.”
One of the reasons for the redesign, says Whilding, is to refocus the brand regionally with supermarkets, wholesalers and businesses. “Riviera Produce is keen to use the brand but mainly for local promotions, and we have had interest from some wholesale markets to use the brand too.”
Whilding agrees that the Cornish sector is in a state of flux: “With Univeg losing their ticket, 20-25 growers were left to find alternative suppliers. But as soon as the growers knew who the suppliers would be, Tesco signed them up, although one or two smaller growers have given up. The brassica growing acreage may have fallen slightly but the supply chain continues and Cornwall is still needed by the supermarkets. Its produce has not been replaced by foreign produce because there is a strong tradition from Cornwall as a good supply base, with good growers and quality produce.
“The slack left from Univeg’s exit has been taken up and this shows that the infrastructure exists in the industry to be able to cope with these changes. As a result, the sector may have even become stronger.” Whilding says that with the three or four main packhouses who supply the supermarkets, Cornish growers have more choice and in turn strength and acreage is protected. “The region has the ability and flexibility to supply a range of retailers.”
He adds: “Given the difficult growing conditions in the sector, many growers are asked why they don’t grow other produce on their acreage, to help financially. Many would rather optimise and increase volumes and scale to improve returns. But many small growers can’t do it, and those growers in Penzance now have to transport their produce further since Univeg’s exit. Existing packers need to produce more and find extra capacity, which is short at the moment. There is some strain on the industry to expand its capacity, which is costly.”
Whilding says there will be continuing changes in the supply chain as the control passes to Lincolnshire-based packhouses. “This may make the sector vulnerable but as secondary suppliers with a good supply base, we may handle the risks.”
Adding to the pressures for Cornish cauliflower growers this season was the increased occurrence of the leaf disease, Xanthomonas. SEF’s production manager explains: “It tends to be more of a problem for Lincolnshire growers but this year it has been increasingly present in Cornwall. Luckily, the incidence has been mainly on the outer leaves. This has meant we only needed to remove the diseased leaves and the remaining cauli has been of good quality.”
Moynan dedicates the majority of his time to issues relating to Cornish winter cauliflower and says the main perennial problem for cauli growers is club root. “Although the huge epidemics are a thing of the past, club root is still a big issue. There is a lot of research done in learning to manage it using commercial products such as Perlka, a slow-release nitrogen fertiliser, which, as it breaks down, has good fungicidal properties that reduce the amount of pathogen in the soil,” he says. Products like these have become very successful and popular over the past four years says Moynan: “During the initial trial stages, 20t were used compared to the 350t used last season.”
Moynan also assists growers with the plantings of varietal trials. “Many growers are looking to replace old varieties because they have not performed so well over the last decade.
“Growers predominantly supply the supermarkets and so have the same desired characteristics for the produce as the supermarkets - a variety with a more perfect performance; with better cut per hectare; with a white perfect curd that doesn’t colour; wrapper leaves that remain around the curd until cutting, but are not difficult to cut for the workers who may be seasonal and not so experienced,” he says.
“Growers are looking for a deep-shaped curd that is sufficiently wrapped to withstand winters. Good examples are Roscoff-cross caulis.
“All caulis are now hybrids and seed companies dedicate time to develop programmes. Duchy college trials in Cornwall are now the national standard for trials because the climate in the west is tricky.
“If the variety grows in Cornwall, it will grow in Kent and Lincolnshire. The Duchy trials have become the benchmark and are strongly supported by the packhouses,” Moynon adds.
The BGA chairman has been working in the sector all his life and remains optimistic for brassica growers and suppliers. Ewan says: “The sector needs to be kept moving forward and produce prices need to increase to cover costs and achieve positive returns. There are massive pressures on growers - increased wages; fertiliser and chemical costs rising as well as the cost of fuel. The question is, how to recover these costs with the price pressures? I don’t know the answer.”
“It is essential that growers continuously reinvest in production to keep the industry moving forward. But with poor returns at the moment that are not even covering costs, it is difficult to spend funds on new developments and technologies - we can’t keep up with these current prices,” says Ewan.
As a supplier to UK supermarkets, Marshalls has experienced problems this season with its Cornish supply base, but Clare says: “This doesn’t mean that we won’t market Cornish produce in the future, far from it. I still believe that we can redeem the Cornish brand. However, the Cornish marketers have to realise that if agreements are made they should be honoured. Breaking them forces us to look elsewhere, and the UK supermarkets then start to ask questions about their supply. I feel strongly that the Cornish sector’s reputation has certainly been damaged, and this means we must work very hard to rectify this position.”
THE WONDER OF MESH
Tim Skewes from WR Skewes and Sons on Trebarvah Farm, Perranuthnoe, Penzance, bought Wondermesh netting last April to cover half his swede crop to protect it from cabbage root fly. He says: “I covered half of my swede crop with Wondermesh and left the other half open and unprotected. The half that was covered produced perfect root uniformity and quality.
“When compared to the crop left in the open, the difference was night and day. The unprotected crop showed signs of heavy maggot damage and was very twisted and out of shape. I will be covering my entire crop with Wondermesh this coming April.”
Wondermesh is a supplier of insect netting for the agricultural and horticultural industries, in particular brassica growers. Sales manager Dominic Martinez says organic growers are using the products for safe chemical-free control of pests, and conventional vegetable growers are also becoming increasingly aware that chemical controls are under scrutiny and looking for alternative protection. He says: “With supermarket margin desires high, and product specifications tightening, excellent crop quality and harvest yields have become the main focal point for many growers and suppliers.
“The most significant benefit of using Wondermesh insect netting is the notable increase in the saleable tonnes per hectare compared to all other methods available. On average, gains of 10-15 per cent in tonnes sold can be expected, but in certain field trials, such as swede, we have recorded increases as high as 40 per cent.
Chairman Allan Fearn grows and supplies fresh swede to Morrisons. He says: “With such an increase in packout, I was able to achieve the required tonnage of finished produce using 20 per cent less area. The benefits of Wondermesh are not restricted to swede growers as we now have a complete range of net to control cabbage root fly, flea beetle, aphids and thrips to mention a few.
“This year alone we had over 60 different trials running across the UK on various conventional and organic crops such as sweetheart cabbage, savoy, radish, turnip, cauliflower, and baby leaf.
Sakata UK has been using Wondermesh insect netting during their crop research and trials. Stuart Cox, technical manager for Sakata UK, says: “Sakata UK has used Wondermesh net during 2004 at our trials and research centre near Sutterton, Lincolnshire. With Wondermesh we have achieved a 100 per cent reliable control of cabbage root-fly in crops that cannot be effectively controlled chemically. In particular Japanese radish (Mooli) gives excellent root quality and yield under Wondermesh, and turnip quality is enhanced.”
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