Potato Review

GROWER PROFILE A natural balance S ince 2009 Suffolk farmer James Foskett has converted three blocks of sand land (500 acres in all) at Kirton, Martlesham and Bromeswell near Woodbridge for organic production. He now grows onions for G’s Fresh Veg which are packed at Ramsay in Cambridgeshire, carrots for RB Organics at Yaxley near Peterborough, and beet root ( for G’s Growers). Green beans, sweet corn, and butternut squash are marketed through organic box schemes and a recent addition to the list has been sweet potatoes which are destined to be lifted and sold in October. Organic potatoes (Athlete, Maris Peer and Bambino) are sold off the field as loose-skin earlies or set-skinned salads, all marketed through East Suffolk Produce for packers including Manor fresh at Holbeach and Produce World (Sutton Bridge) as well as Abel & Cole for home delivery. What was behind the move to organic cropping when he was already running a very successful conventional business? “We were asked to go into organics in 2006 by Greenvale who wanted organic spuds and by G’s who wanted onions. We found a 200-acre block You can’t produce organic crops on a whim, says James Foskett , but if you can get the rotations and the management right, the job can be rewarding. of land that hadn’t grown a lot of vegetables, it had a good irrigation system and we could ensure good long-term control over it. That was essential when it came to pressing the button to start organic production. “We went through the two years of conversion with Organic Farmers and Growers Ltd and then the bottom dropped out of the market – big time. We sat down and wondered whether to continue or jack it in before it was too late but we took the decision that we had come so far that we were going to have a crack at it. “When we started growing our first organic crops the biggest hurdle was getting the marketing and the volumes right,’ he recalls. “Then there was the issue of having the right kit to do the job – some of the things we use here you simply can’t buy off the shelf so we made them ourselves in the workshop. And we couldn’t just grow organic spuds and onions – we also had to have a complete rotation so we could plant our organic potatoes once in seven years. “I do remember that in the first season we started growing for Greenvale they had something like 15 organic suppliers but some of them were very small. By the second year we were kitted up mechanically and that situation quickly changed and we became one of three or four suppliers. We now grow 10 different organic crops to keep the rotation right and there’s an element of fertility building within that rotation. “We’ve stuck with organic production and we’ve got better at it,’ James continued. “I have a fantastic management team and great operatives on the farm. I also have good team of eastern Europeans who do the donkey work. It works well at the moment though we nearly lost our hats once or twice. You can spend a fortune getting everything just right and then you get potato blight over which you have no control and you can lose the crop. It’s the same with downy mildew in onions or virus on carrots – you could spend £5,000 an acre on hand weeding and you lose it all.” The loss of copper sulphate this season – his only treatment option for the control of potato blight, has not helped but, says James: “We’ve learned more about best practice and how to get over some of these problems. We try to grow early salad-type organic varieties and we 36 POTATO REVIEW SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 James Foskett watches a crop of Athlete being unloaded from a self-propelled Grimme Varitron harvester at Low Farm, Bromeswell. He has built a reputation for producing high-grade seed and conventional ware crops but the inclusion of organic veg in the mix means that he is now dealing with a wider range of customers. ➜