In November last year I had the opportunity to go to the AHDB Potatoes Seed Industry Event. Aberystwyth to St Andrews is a fair old haul, but was it worth it? You bet your life it was!
The technical information available was first class and will enable me to make huge improvements in my performance next year, both in the field and at the bank. This, though, I had anticipated – it is, after all, why we go to these things. What took me by surprise was the amount of support and good will I received from other growers. New seed producers, I’m starting to learn, are a bit of a novelty, and as a new member of the club I was warmly welcomed. My business card collection has increased by about 10 which collectively represent, I would conservatively estimate, about 250 years’ experience and expertise, right across the board, on which I can call ‘anytime!’.
The programme to my mind, split down into 4 broad areas; production, grading and storage, marketing, and strategic development (including policy and Brexit) and I’ll give you my thoughts on key areas of particular importance to the Sustainable Wales Project in separate blogs (links below)
My thanks to AHDB Potatoes who put the event on and Sarpo Potatoes Ltd and the Welsh Government who, through the Sustainable Potatoes Wales project, covered my costs, without which I would not have been able to go.
Tony Little
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