First ever Potato Days event for farming industry success in Lincolnshire

The first ever Potato Days took place on the 20-hectare site of Dyson Farming at Nocton, one of the largest and most innovative farming companies in the UK, to showcase the best of British, organised by the DLG (German Agricultural Society) in partnership with Lincolnshire Agricultural Society.

The free to enter event included the latest in machinery demonstrations, trial plots, techniques, varieties and farm inputs. Some 100 exhibitors were there over two days on Wednesday and Thursday.

Head of research at Dyson, Richard Meredith said they grew the potato demonstration plots especially for the event. “We usually grow about 330 hectares of potatoes across our Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire farms,” he explained.

“The Lincolnshire Showground could not accommodate crops so the society suggested approaching us and we were happy to be part of it. We are excited to see if this turns into something new as there is nothing like it in the UK where you can see the equipment and crops in the open.” He said other such events are held in Europe in Holland, France and Germany.

“We want to be at the forefront of agriculture, trying new things and pioneering to do things better,” adding that all the crops on display were more efficient, requiring less input, water and reducing emissions.

Potato growing in 2024 is already requiring a particularly high degree of flexibility from farmers in this year's growing season due to profound changes in weather conditions and potato growers in the UK were seeking out the latest solutions for the future.

“These live machinery demos present to potato growers close up how to get the potatoes out of the ground efficiently and into the trailers for the loading lines,” said Greg Smith of DLG.

The event also featured an indoor marquee with companies from Lincolnshire and the UK offering solutions and services from storage to processing, plus a programme of talks and workshops on the latest techniques and methods.