Armagh food producers feeling the heat as crops struggle under summer sun

As many of us have been enjoying the early summer sun, farmers and food producers have been feeling a different kind of heat.

The rise in temperatures over the last ten days has put crops under threat and that could come at a cost to local farms and businesses.

Daytime temperatures have rarely fallen below 20°C for more than a week, including in Northern Ireland's premier region for growing apples - Co Armagh.

David Kane grows apples on a 60 acre site on his family farm just outside Loughgall. Kane Bros supply the fruit to major supermarkets as well as popular cider brands in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Across the 60 acres live trees as old as 25 and as young as a month.

He told UTV that the younger trees, planted in May this year, are now beginning to struggle.

"Their roots were so small going into the ground - they did have moisture when they were planted but now the ground has dried out," he said.

"We have watered them a few times but it's not effective enough. The ground is so dry that even though we put the water on after dark, the heat of the ground is evaporating it. This week we're going to have to concentrate again on watering.

"If the tree gets stress now, that will affect it for its entire life."

Walking on the soil the trees are planted on painted a bleak picture. Large cracks created a joining line between some trees. The weather has has a serious impact on getting new trees the moisture they need.

"The weeds will come," said David. "They seem to survive no matter what, but the grass - we're not getting a good coverage here because the ground is so dry."

The change in weather comes at a cost.

"Each one (tree) is costing £10 roughly," David said, "then our ground is out of production for three to four years before we get a return on our land so we can't use our ground for any other crop, so we have to take that into consideration as well.

Apples aren't alone in facing a threat because of the heat.

In 2022, there was a dramatic downturn in overall potato output across Europe due to the intense heat which swept across the continent last summer.

According to Wilson's Country, one of Northern Ireland's largest potato food suppliers, the harvest was down around two million tonnes to what should be expected.

It led to an increase in prices which has then been passed on down the chain to other businesses and customers.

The recent dry spell is suggesting a case of déjà vu for growers here.

"It's not very good for the crops that are planted," Lewis Cunningham of Wilson's Country told UTV.

"They're now under water stress or moisture stress, but even more concerning is if we look back to March, we had one of the wettest March's on record so that really delayed our planting."

The Managing Director said there's now a 6-week delay compared to the stage farmers should be at during the season.

It is normally accepted that potato crops will reach full ground by 21 June each year - the longest day of the year - but that target is looking likely to be missed in 2023 with a knock-on effect expected into 2024.

That in turn creates a shortfall as demand for potatoes continues to remain steady.

Mr Cunningham added that Wilson's Country will, for the first time in years, be sourcing crop from other countries including Cyprus.

The cost of that produce is yet to be determined by he told UTV he expects it to be high.

As temperatures and prices rise, the battle is on to save crops and make profit.

There's now a growing thirst for rainfall as the sun continues to split the trees.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.