With continued rationalisation of the supply chain and seed sales increasingly tied in to production contracts you might wonder whether there is a place for a supplier such as Nickerson Direct. While still a major plant breeder through its association with parent company Limagrain UK Ltd, the company no longer has any direct input on the development of new potato varieties but that has not stopped Jon Aspinwall from maintaining a keen interest in the crop and doing business with those who produce it. He says the fact that he can talk to growers about cereal seed as well as other arable crops means that they are willing to listen to his views on potatoes.

More to the point, he explains, he is not obliged to promote the output of any one breeder.
‘I joined Nickerson in 1988. Then and now they were the only plant breeding company with on-farm representation. Most seed potatoes were sold through the wholesale trade but we began supplying small samples of new varieties which we gave to farmers so that they could compare them with what they were already producing.

‘I have always been a bit of a cynic and I don’t necessarily believe what the marketing boys tell me,’ he observes. ‘I like to put varieties out on farms and see how they grow. It also gives me experience of such things as planting distances, tuber numbers and maturity and how new varieties perform on different soil types. You need to be able to see the effect of drought or scab and the farm trials have allowed me to do just that. Potato growers are also interesting people and when they find someone who talks their language they will listen.

In July 1998, Agrico moved to Scotland and bought the Nickerson production plant, store and grading facility at Castleton.
‘Nickerson still has a very close relationship with Agrico – some of the original staff are still there – but we are able to source seed from any of the breeders instead of competing with them. And potatoes are still an important part of the overall business – this year I have been looking at 32 varieties from six different breeders, some of them existing varieties, some new seedlings. Knowledge is power and it’s all about gaining experience of varieties.’

Who are Jon Aspinwall’s customers? ‘We have most success with the medium to small grower who isn’t into large-scale contracts. He is looking for seed but he is also seeking information and the big boys don’t bother with him. There are still small family farms growing 30–50 acres of potatoes for the bag trade.

‘Those growers are prepared to bag up a couple of tonnes a day for a customer, they welcome advice on varieties and they also buy seed. The smaller boys with farm shops are looking for a potato which cooks well and when they find it they’ll come back and buy more.’

Mr Aspinwall admits that the industry has changed since he established his first trials. ‘There is much more seed sold on buy-back contracts. Crisping and chipping customers have always supplied seed as part of the deal but while some farmers still like to buy at least some of their stocks elsewhere it is getting harder to sell to them. Now the first question is who is going to buy the crop and breeders face a big challenge getting a new variety into the trade.’

That has not stopped him looking for replacements for old standards such as Maris Bard, Marfona, Estima, Desirée and Maris Piper, all of which, he says, are ‘to a degree agronomically challenged’ and have some faults.

‘Casablanca may be the one to replace Bard because it chips as well so it will serve two markets. For bakers I had a variety in this year’s trials called Sifra which is looking good. Several of the newer baker varieties have long tubers but what you really want is something that is white and round, varieties such as Electra and Compass.

‘For the red market there are two that could possibly take the Desirée business. One is Mozart which is already out there, the other one is Manitou which also looks good and eats well. The red market is still declining, it’s now down to 10–11%, and I honestly don’t know why that is.’ Rooster provides the exception, he agrees, though he is dismissive of its quality and agronomic characteristics and believes that its success is largely down to strong marketing .

‘For the Piper market there have been many pretenders. Markies is already there because it has low sugars, it’s a late season variety and McCains like it. Another one that I like the look of for early chipping is Sagitta. Agronomically, both of these varieties are better than Piper.’