The UK is at risk of running low on supplies of carrots because of torrential downpours and severe floods, it has been claimed. The British Carrot Growers Association has issued a warning that next spring the UK’s favourite vegetable – we eat 10 billion a year – will be in short supply. They say that flooding in northern England and the Midlands means producers have been unable to lay down straw to protect their crops from frost. More than half to the UK’s supplies have been affected in areas including Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Shropshire and Lancashire. Carrot growers are continuing to harvest the vegetable, but farmers are unable to use machines on their fields because the ground is so sodden. Spokesman Carol Russell said: ‘The flooding has caught a lot of growers out. It has stopped them spreading straw as they usually do at this time of year. The growers are sitting on a wing and a prayer and hoping that we get a dry weather spell to be able to put down straw to protect the crop. ‘More than 50% of the carrot growing area in the UK has been affected. The only exception being those grown in East Anglia and Scotland. If we have a frost now or more wet weather then all the carrots that are not covered with straw will get damaged and be unsuited for the market. They’ll be rotten.’ Mark Strawson, one of the UK’s biggest carrot growers, said: ‘Unlike 2018, this year has generally proved to be an excellent growing season for carrots with both quality and yields above average. ‘However, since mid-September unprecedented levels of rainfall have made field operation extremely difficult with very few entirely dry days recorded over an 8-week period. ‘The worst affected areas are the East and West Midlands and Yorkshire where soils have been at field capacity for several weeks. ‘This protracted wet period has not allowed growers to cover crops with straw, which is vital to protect them from frost over the winter. ‘With such a small area protected to date and field conditions remaining poor there is a very high risk of crop loss should the weather now turn cold. Such a situation would severely disrupt supplies to retail customers.’ Source - https://metro.co.uk/