// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Why hotter summers are making British potatoes smaller
Tim Rooke, farms near Helmsley in North Yorkshire, says growers may leave the potato industry because of the changing climate
As the roller shutter door opens to reveal one of Tim Rooke's potato stores, the harvest looks impressive. Seven hundred tonnes are kept in this building alone, ready to be turned into crisps.
Yet North Yorkshire farmer Rooke is far from happy. He plucks a large potato from the pile and in his other hand, places two much smaller ones.
"We've probably lost two tonnes on every fifty tonnes in here, potatoes that have just fallen through the graders because they are far too small."
The prolonged dry spell this summer meant his crop was beginning to die. He was forced to harvest early, but that meant his potatoes hadn't grown to the size his customers want.
Tim Rooke's harvest has many more smaller potatoes than he would like
"There will be fewer potatoes grown going forward. They are a very expensive crop to grow," says Tim when the BBC visits his farm near Helmsley.
"There's less enthusiasm to have the expense of growing that crop when we have some sort of climate change hitting us year after year after year. We're nearly getting to the stage where enough is enough.
"Most potatoes require 200ml of rain or other water and this year they've had about 35ml. It's also been incredibly warm. Potatoes don't bulk up above 28°C. I think we've had 40 days above that."
It's a similar story of falling crop yields near Selby, where farmer Richard Bramley would like the government to provide interest-free loans to farmers so they can invest.