Potato growers in Yorkshire are blaming climate change for the hot, wet summer that produced what they called the worst potato harvest in living memory. The farmers in north and east Yorkshire said they are being hit because the season produced smaller potatoes that are being rejected by the chipping companies.
The British Potato Council said its provisional figures show that total production has fallen by 5 percent last year after what it said was a difficult growing season because of hot weather in July and wet weather in August. A spokesman said that could force potato prices up.