Shropshire asparagus harvest hit hard by weather

Although asparagus is seen as a typically British vegetable, buying local spears could become impossible this year.

The asparagus season usually runs from April 23 to Midsummer's Day, June 24, and was worth £22 million to growers in Britain last year.

But county farmers are now finding themselves about a month behind schedule.

Caroline Hulland, who runs Lodge Farm, in Quatt, in partnership with her father, said that their outdoor asparagus harvest had not even started.

She said: "Normally our outdoor harvest would have begun a month ago

"Last year we were in full cutting by now but this year we have only been able to harvest the protected asparagus that has been under the mini plastic tunnels.

"We have had nothing outdoors – so far there is just one spear."

The farm has been producing asparagus for thirty years, but growing has increased over the past ten years as the Hullands started distributing to farm shops and Waitrose.

They say the cold weather and the knock-on effects of heavy rainfall has affected this year's yield.

The vegetable only grows when soil temperatures reach eight degrees.

Normally at this time of year, soil temperatures would be rising rapidly, but as they are not, the crops are not growing.

"Basically we've lost four weeks of our season which will have a significant financial impact," said Ms Hulland.

"We cannot get those four weeks back.

"Cutting finishes on June 21 and will still finish on that date because we need the energy for next season.

"We still need the sunlight hours for the following year's crop."

Helen Furnival, of Hungersheath Farm shop and tearoom in Ashley, near Market Drayton, said that it turned out to be a particularly bad year.

She said: "The weather hasn't warmed up enough, it is just starting to peek through now.

"We were hoping to have some by Monday but that is doubtful now.

"If the weather just warms up it will allow the ground to warm and we could probably get some by the end of next week.

"I can't recall a year where it has been this late.

"We track it every year and it is usually a fortnight after the arrival of the swallows, but they have been here since about April 12.

"We have known it ridiculously early like the beginning of April – but it's never been this late," said Helen.

"The phone is always ringing and people are asking for it, but there is just nothing yet.

"We just want to see the first signs of summer now," she added.

Shops across the county are finding difficulty in sourcing local asparagus.

Charlotte Hollins, manager at Fordhall Organic Farm, said: "We have got no asparagus on the shelves in our farm shop at the moment. We don't want to import it so we have none in store at all."

Olly Cartwright, a spokesman for the National Farmers Union, said: "It's not so much the rain that is the problem, more like the temperature.

"When it hits double figures, we will probably see them shoot up."

He said asparagus was a particularly important crop in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.