Issues surrounding potato storage such as efficiency will be one of the many topics on the agenda at the Storage Event to be held at Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research in Lincolnshire on 2 September.
Professor Gareth Edwards-Jones from Bangor University will be reviewing the impact of climate change on potato storage and Jay Wootton from The Farm Business Consultants will discuss storage costs and how to optimise them. Nobody in the potato industry will want to miss Pepsico’s Mark Pettigrew who will be speaking about sustainability in the supply chain.
In the afternoon, delegates will select four workshops to attend with experts such as Tim Pratt from Farm Energy on the latest energy auditing and surveillance techniques and seed storage with Dr Stuart Wale from SAC.
In addition, Potato Council specialists will be offering insights on topics such as CIPC stewardship with head of R&D Dr Mike Storey, alternative sprout suppressants with Adrian Briddon and disease risk management in storage with Dr Glyn Harper.
"Electricity contributes around 60% of variable storage costs," says Adrian Cunnington, head of Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research. "It is vital to know how efficient your storage is and ways of enhancing performance. Potatoes stored under optimum conditions retain their quality – and value – for longer.
"Sustainability is key to the future and improvements can offer substantial benefits, often after as little as two years. However, growers should also be looking at their long term strategy for their storage and contemplating investments to provide for the next ten to twenty years."
Delegates will get the opportunity to view the new research stores that will make SBCSR one of the largest dedicated crop research centres in the world. The stores will be officially opened at this important event.
