Year Round Cauliflower Production in Lincolnshire
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Agricultural Enterprise Studies in England and Wales Economic Report No. 5 UNIVERSITY OF EXETER YEAR ROUND CAULIFLOWER PRODUCTION IN LINCOLNSHIRE, KENT AND CORNWALL 1969/70 Including Trends in Production, Imports, Prices, Complementary and Competing Brassica Supplies Helen M. Cole Published by the Agricultural Economics Unit October 1971 University of Exeter Price 50p Agricultural Enterprise Studies in England and Wales Economic Report No.5 YEAR ROUND CAULIFLOWER PRODUCTION IN LINCOLNSHIRE, KENT AND CORNWALL 1969-70 Including Trends in Production, Imports, Prices, Competing and Complementary Brassica Supplies Helen M. Cole Published by the University of Exeter, Agricultural Economics Unit, Lafrowda, St. German's Road, Exeter, EX4 6TL. October, 1971 Price 50p FOREWORD . University departments of agricultural economics in England and Wales, which formed the Provincial Agricultural Economics Service, have for many years conducted studies of farm and horticultural enterprises. Such studies are now, being undertaken as a co-ordinated programme of investigations commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The reports of these studies will be published in a new national series entitled "Agricultural Enterprise Studies in England and Wales" of which the present report is the fifth. The studies are designed to assist farmers, growers, advisers and administrators by investigating problems and obtaining economic data to help in decision-making and planning. It is hoped that they will also be useful in teaching and research. The responsibility for formulating the programme of studies rests with the Enterprise Studies Sub-Committee, on which the Universities and the Ministry (including the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service) are represented. Copies of the reports may be obtained from the University departments concerned. Details of preceding reports and the addresses of the departments are given at the end of this report. ‘. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS • The field work connected with the survey was carried out in Lincolnshire by Tony Dye and Peter Bowbrick, in Kent by Peter Rogers and in Cornwall by the author of this report. Very sincere thanks are due to co-operating growers who supplied details of their holdings and cauliflower crops in all three counties and especially where cutting and packing records were faithfully kept. The author would also like to thank individuals in the Ministry of Agriculture; Fisheries and Food, in A.D.A.S., and in the N.F.U. who helped with advice and supplied facts and figures incorporated in the report. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Page I YEAR ROUND CAULIFLOWER AND OTHER BRASSICA SUPPLIES 1 The three cauliflower crops in England and Wales 1 Major production areas in England and Wales 2 Seasonal distribution of supplies from main producing counties 3 Seasonal distribution of Channel Islaal and imported cauliflower supplies from all sources 4 Complementary and competing brassica supplies 5 Cauliflower prices 7 II TRENDS IN CAULIFLOWER AND OTHER BRASSICA SUPPLIES 9 Trends in total home supplies 9 Trends in imported and Channel Island supplies 11 Trends in the consumption of brassicas 12 Factors influencing cauliflower prices 13 Early summer cauliflower 14 Summer and autumn cauliflower 15 Winter cauliflower 16 III THE 1969-70 CAULIFLOWER SURVEY 20 The 1969-70 season 20 The county samples 22 Financial results 25 Selling methods and output analysis by county 26 Yields and recorded losses 29 Unit returns - gross in the market 32 Unit returns - net of all marketing costs 33 Costs and input analysis by county 34 Variable costs 34 Fixed costs (regular labour and machinery) 36 Cutting, grading and packing methods and speeds 37 Machinery used 39 Marketing costs 40 IV SUMMARY AND CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS 42 Page APPENDIX Table 1 Seasonal distribution of cauliflower supplies by type and by producing source: percentages 47 Table 2 Monthly supplies per head of cauliflower and other brassicas and cauliflower prices 1969-70 and seven year average 1963-70 48 Tables and Figures Table 1 Seasonal distribution of the three main cauliflower types Table 2 Major county supplies of each cauliflower type 3 Table 3 Seasonal distribution of cauliflower supplies by type and by producing source 4 Table 4 Seasonal distribution of imported and Channel Island cauliflower supplies and as a percentage of total cauliflower supplies 5 Table 5 Seasonal distribution of total cauliflower and Brussels sprout supplies 6 Table 6 Seasonal distribution of cabbage, total cauliflower, Brussels sprout and total brassica supplies Table 7 Seasonal supplies of total cauliflower and total brassicas with corresponding cauliflower prices 8 Figure 1 Annual cauliflower supplies 1960-61 to 1969-70 by type and by county 10 Table 8 Annual consumption of the three types of brassica crops: five yearly periods 1955-1970 12 Table 9 Seasonal consumption of the three types of brassica crops: five yearly periods 1955-1970 13 Table 10 Early summer cauliflower: June prices and supplies per head 14 Table 11 Summer and autumn cauliflower: July to October prices and supplies per head 15 Table 12 Winter cauliflower and Brussels sprouts: November and December prices and supplies per head 17 Page Table 13 Winter cauliflower: January to March prices and supplies per head 18 Table 14 Winter cauliflower: April and May prices and supplies per head 19 Figure 2 Monthly supplies per head of cauliflower and other brassicas and cauliflower prices 1969-70 20 Figure 3 Monthly supplies per head of cauliflower and other brassicas and cauliflower prices, seven year average 1963-70 21 Table 15 General holding data by county 22 Table 16 Holdings surveyed by cauliflower acreage size groups and by county 23 Table 17 Cauliflower crop records by type and by county 24 Table 18 Summary of cauliflower crop margins per acre by county 26 Table 19 Summary of cauliflower crop margins per acre by type and by county 27 Table 20 Methods of cauliflower crop disposal in Lincolnshire 28 Table 21 Crop losses, reasons and estimated acreages by county and by cauliflower type 30 Table 22 Cauliflower crop yields, plant populations and proportions marketed by county and by cauliflower type 31 Table 23 Differences between highest and lowest gross market cauliflower prices per month per crate of 24's in West Cornwall 32 Table 24 Comparative seasonal net returns per dozen cauliflower heads by county 34 Table 25 Variable costs per acre by cauliflower type and by county 36 Table 26 Regular labour and machinery costs per acre by cauliflower type and by county 37 Table 27 Total labour costs per acre by cauliflower type and by county 38 Table 28 Average marketing costs per dozen cauliflower heads with gross and net returns in Kent and Cornwall 41 INTRODUCTION In terms of value, the main brassica crops, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts together, accounted for 35% to 40% of the total outdoor vegetable output in England and Wales from 1963-70. Cauliflower, at 15%, was the highest of the three until 1968-69, when it was overtaken by cabbage. In area occupied brassicas as a whole remained relatively constant and became a slightly smaller proportion of total outdoor vegetables in 1968-69 and in 1969-70. This was due to increases in the national acreage of carrots, of French and runner beans, also of peas for processing and thus of the total area of outdoor vegetables. While average annual yields of cauliflower fluctuated over the same seven years those of cabbage showed what appeared to be an established increase of about half to one ton per acre. However, analysis of the previous seven years reveals an increase of around half a ton per acre in Brussels sprouts and one to one and a half tons in cauliflower. The fruits of recent breeding work and new varieties can be detected in each of the major brassica crops although they occurred at different times. Prior to analysing in some detail the survey data collected in the three counties, this report sets out to show the distribution of the major cauli- flower crops over the year, of complementary and competing brassica crops and of Channel Island and imported supplies. It looks at recent trends in the level of supplies and relates them to the population increase. It also attempts some explanation of market price variations for cauliflower from season to season. - 1 - YEAR ROUND CAULIFLOWER AND OTHER BRASSICA SUPPLIES Based on a seven year analysis of statistical data 1963-70 The three cauliflower crops in England and Wales Although marketed in every month of the year home grown cauliflower is produced from three quite separate crops*, early summer, summer and autumn and winter heading. Early summer cauliflowers, autumn sown in frames, or January sown under heated glass, overwintered and planted out in spring, have upright but very brittle foliage. Because they are more costly to grow than later varieties and liable to button they can be a risky crop. They are marketed from the latter part of May to July, or even August in a late season. Summer crops for selling in July and August may be frame sown in March and transplanted in May or direct drilled at the end of April or early May. Late summer and autumn crops are sown mid May and transplanted in late June. They mature from the end of July to November in Lincolnshire, to December and sometimes early January in sheltered parts of Kent. Winter heading cauliflower, also known as broccoli, is a hardier plant with a number of leaves folding over the curd to protect it from frost and weather damage. It comes on the market during the rest of the year from late November or December to the following June, when it overlaps with the early summer crop. In the exceptionally severe winter of 1962-63 a large part of the crop was destroyed. Frost damage of varying proportions is a hazard in every winter.