Whittern Farms’ Grape Yield Plummets by 85% Due to Heavy Rain

James Wright, who manages Whittern Farms in Herefordshire, has reported an 85% decrease in one of their harvest yields this year. He attributed this reduction to significant rainfall and insufficient sunlight. Whittern Farms cultivates berries, grapes, and cider apples. Mr. Wright indicated that he had to continuously adjust harvesting techniques throughout the year to manage the fluctuating weather patterns, noting that heavy rain particularly impacted the grape crop. He commented, “The loss in value runs into a few thousand pounds, we’re looking at about a yield of 15% of what we harvested last year, and that was a bumper of a year, but this year not so much.” Data released by the BBC last month indicated an approximate 5% decline in fruit and vegetable yields nationwide across the UK. Mr. Wright mentioned that he had investigated various approaches, including utilizing a harvesting machine for small fruits to collect crops and reduce costs; however, the inconsistent weather continued to affect the quality of the produce. He further elaborated, “We had a miserable spring which delayed flowering and in the run up to harvest it did not stop raining. “If we had a few weeks of [sunshine] it would have been lovely but instead we had that horrible long spell of damp weather, torrential rain meaning we couldn’t even travel on the fields.” Mr. Wright added, “We’ve got about 30 acres altogether and we’ve picked over half of it with the machine but the latter half, sadly, it’s not going to be of quality.” Mr. Wright indicated that he monitors weather forecasts in an effort to strategize farming activities. He concluded by stating, “It’s something you can’t predict, the forecast is ever changing and these extremes are becoming more extreme which is a challenge we didn’t foresee.” For updates, follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X, and Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC disclaims responsibility for the content of external websites. Information regarding their external linking policy is available.