PSI Bulletin: October 2025
- Adrian Cunnington
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
Updated: 2 hours ago
No. 10/25 'OPEN' EDITION
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Dear Reader,
Welcome to this, the latest 'open' version of our Synopsis bulletin for October from Potato Storage Insight. This month's edition is free access for all our readers including our regular subscribers.
In this month's edition, we have included:
Tips for late season loading plus 'watch outs' for pre-Christmas storage best practice
Technical insight on storage developments in the USA and elsewhere
More news about our Strategic Potato Storage Day in 2026
News snippets from around the world of potatoes
Best practice
Harvest and store loading has proceeded remarkably smoothly in many parts of the country over the last month, with warm, dry conditions prevailing for many. Most crops have gone into store well apart from a few issues:
Bruising has been a problem in some areas where irrigation has not been available to mitigate it.
Skin set has been difficult to achieve in some later crops. Linked to this, stem retention is reported quite widely especially on less determinate varieties like Royal and Markies. This also results in bruising where retained stems are pulled through the haulm roller; this also can lead to the stems being pulled out of the end of the tuber as a plug if they remain too well attached.
Some in-field sprouting also continues to be reported and is resulting in multiple treatments even at this early stage of the season.
Generally sprout suppressants are being required around a month earlier this year, with many processing crops already receiving their first or, in some cases, two applications.
Keep a continued watch for changing storage conditions, especially with a heightened risk of condensation given the diurnal variation between daytime and nighttime temperatures at the moment.
Late season loading
We've seen some wetter and cooler conditions developing for the end of harvest with many parts of the UK experiencing heavy showers or longer spells of rain or drizzle. Temperatures have also started to drop significantly, so some useful cooling air is likely to be available at night for pull-down in ambient stores. Always use automatic control to make best use of this; set the crop/ambient differential at c. 2°C. This will encourage effective cooling. If the differential is set too tight (i.e. less than 2°C), the fans may run but the ventilation is not going to be effective in reducing the crop temperature.
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Fundamentally, we need to keep crops dry and temperatures as even as possible. Failure to do so will encourage condensation but for good, successful storage, avoiding free moisture is critical. The focus needs to be on ventilation and good air distribution to dry the crop and optimise the storage condition.
If conditions continue to cool down and turn wetter, then any late lifted crops are going to need careful curing to minimise the risk of disease. Longer curing (10-12 days at 8-10°C) is needed if crop temperatures fall below 10°C.
Be careful when managing crops harvested in showery weather. Have a sheet available to protect any crop in trailers. The basic rule is: do not store rained-on potatoes.
For specific advice, call Adrian on 07970 072260.
Disease
Reports have continue to received of rubbery rot outbreaks as reported in last month's Synopsis.
There are also instances of watery wound rot {below} being reported caused by Pythium fungus.
The AHDB archive states that: watery wound rot [known as leak in the US] is a vigorous rot of harvested tubers caused by the fungus-like water mould Pythium ultimum. It is widespread and common but only occasionally serious in a crop.
Symptoms
Affected flesh can be discoloured grey through to brown with a dark margin. It is moist and quickly liquefies. A fresh cut can smell alcoholic or, if more advanced, fishy. Tubers can end up entirely liquefied in a bag of skin but, sometimes, an inner rot does not spread outward beyond the vascular ring leaving hollowed remnants of cortex. Pythium mycelia are not seen by the naked eye. Secondary infections are extremely likely and can confound diagnosis.
Conditions
The pathogen is common in soil but requires damage to allow it to gain entry. Warm harvests, as we have experienced in 2025, are known to exacerbate the problem.
Control
Serious outbreaks are hard to predict but certainly try to avoid fields with a history of the disease. Ensure a good skin set and avoid harvesting in wet conditions, especially if it is also warm. Minimise harvest damage. Drying/curing, positive ventilation and immediate temperature pull down inhibit the spread of disease.
BP2025 exhibition, Harrogate, 19/20 November
Air distribution will be the focus of the PSI exhibit at the forthcoming BP2025 event being held on 19/20 November at Harrogate. Do come along and visit us and to collect your copy of the new Potato Storage Handbook being released at the Show as a result of a new partnership between PSI and Warners Group.
Look out for the balloons and come along for some simple - but effective - demonstrations of how you can enhance the airflow in your store! We look forward to seeing you on Stand 135.
It's also a great opportunity to sign up for a Synopsis subscription. Our monthly bulletin is available at just £114 per year + VAT.
As ever, there's a huge amount to see at the Show. Full event details are on the event website at: bpinfo@warnersgroup.co.uk
SDF/PSI Strategic Potato Day 2026
The SDF Agriculture and Potato Storage Insight Strategic Potato Storage Day for 2026, continues to evolve.
We are delighted to announce that both of our lead sponsors from the Holbeach event held last May have agreed to continue their support at next year's event:
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Farm Electronics will be well known business to many as a major supplier of all types of storage hardware, part of the Tolsma group of companies.
UPL is also a well-respected manufacturer in the agchem sector, known for its Fazor and Argos products used for controlling sprouting in storage.
A reminder that the event date is Wednesday 20th May. It will be kindly hosted by Dyson farming at its Leadenhall Farm site at Holbeach St Marks in south Lincolnshire.
Further information for potential exhibitors and visitors will be released shortly.
Meanwhile, some trials work has been progressing for the event with variety trials that will be stored until May being graded (right) and loaded into fresh market and processing stores within the last week.
Samples have also gone into store at Leadenhall (left) for the respiration and weight loss analysis being carried out in conjunction with Greenwich University.
Technical insight
AI in the potato cellar: Predicting pressure bruise, sugar ends, sprout breaks and more before they happen – Potato News Today
The above link takes you to an article from the PNT team in North America and makes for interesting reading in that, if for no other reason, it helps explain some of the many facets of potato storage on which there is still a lot of scope for research globally and, therefore, future refinements in the way we store the crop. Driving efficiency and quality improvements or controlling costs are the main foci of a lot of the work.
There is a long reference list that covers a lot of the trials referred to, some of which links back to earlier work in the UK carried out at the now defunct Sutton Bridge facility and elsewhere.
Just to assist with some of the terminology, in case you are not familiar with it:
Cellar = store
Shrink = weight loss/dehydration
Pressure bruise = compression damage
Sprout break = dormancy break
3-decen-2-one is a sprout suppressant that is not available in the UK or mainland Europe.
Snippets
Produce Investments acquires Biofresh Safestore
Potato News Today has reported that Produce Investments (PI), the parent firm of Restrain, has acquired its principal competitor Biofresh Safestore.
Coming hard on the heels of registration issues facing cylinder ethylene reported in last month's Synopsis, the purchase brings all of the ethylene sprout suppression options available to potato growers under the same group ownership.
PI says "This merger aims to unify and expand offerings in sprout suppression, providing broader options for customers while advancing crop storage innovations for sustainable growth in Europe and globally".
More here
HZPC group takes over IPM
Potato News Today also reported earlier that the Royal HZPC Group intends to acquire the Ireland-based IPM Potato Group. With this strategic move, HZPC says it is strengthening its position in the global seed potato sector on multiple fronts.
More details here.
Burgess Farms sold
Fresh Produce Journal reports that Burgess Farms has been sold in a management buyout that sees brothers William, Jason and Andrew Burgess exiting the business.
The company, which supplies all major UK supermarkets across its portfolio of fresh produce, has been under the stewardship of the Burgess family since 1898.
The management team, led by chief executive James Barker, will continue to run the firm across its sits which include Isleham, Cambs; Sutton Bridge in Lincs; Houghton Estate in Norfolk and Dalcross near Inverness. Full story here
Joint EAPR sections meeting Agronomy & Physiology and Post-Harvest announced for 2026
Meeting will be held in Warsaw, Poland from Tuesday 16th - Friday 19th June.
The 2026 EAPR joint section meeting provides a forum for the exchange of knowledge on the cultivated potato from agronomy, precision agriculture, biochemistry, physiology, and postharvest assessment, to issues related to potato storage and potato processing.
The event will feature lectures by internationally renowned scientists, research papers and posters, and a planned field trip. The conference offers those interested in potato issues the opportunity to meet with colleagues from around the world.
EAPR looks forward to seeing you in Warsaw! More details will be available soon.
Please save the date for this event.
Forthcoming events
If you are hosting a potato or agricultural industry event, please send details to admin@potatostorageinsight.com. Key dates for your diary with relevance to the potato sector in the coming months in UK and Europe include:
November
Sun 9 - Sat 15 Agritechnica - major agricultural machinery exhibition in Hannover, Germany https://www.agritechnica.com
Wed 19 - Thu 20 BP2025 - the British Potato Event, Yorkshire Event Centre, Harrogate
Exhibition, seminars and industry awards dinner on the Wednesday evening. Please visit PSI on Stand 135.
Event details from: bpinfo@warnersgroup.co.uk
December
Tue 9 - Wed 10 36th Annual CUPGRA Conference, Cambridge
June 2026
Tue 16- Fri 19 European Association for Potato Research: Joint Section Meeting - Agronomy and Post-Harvest - see above
Further storage training opportunities for early 2026 coming soon: please contact Adrian at PSI on 07970 072260 for details.
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