British Carrots Face The Heat As Growers Explore New Varieties And Market Opportunities

British carrot growers are looking to varieties from hotter climates as they seek to strengthen supply resilience and develop new commercial opportunities in a sector worth £242 million in 2025. More than 70 carrot trial plots at the British Carrot Growers Association’s annual Demonstration Day offered a timely opportunity to compare established and emerging varieties under UK growing conditions.

More than 300 growers and industry representatives attended the event near York, following a season that put crop establishment and irrigation firmly in the spotlight. Hosted by BCGA chairman Rodger Hobson of Hobson Farming, the demonstration took place on 1 October at Crockey Hill.

Hobson reported five heatwaves with temperatures exceeding 30°C in North Yorkshire. An early hot spell in May resulted in the loss of approximately 10 per cent of emerging carrot seedlings, although irrigation helped the surviving crop recover.

Among the varieties on show were carrots commonly grown in Italy, Spain and Israel, giving British producers an opportunity to examine how material used in warmer regions performs closer to home. Their inclusion brings a practical dimension to the search for varieties suited to increasingly challenging growing seasons.

The comparisons extended beyond appearance. Hobson Farming identified root colour, shape and length, potential yield and disease resistance among the characteristics growers could assess — a combination relevant to both field performance and customer specifications.

For wholesalers, the commercial interest lies in connecting those growing characteristics with demand: dependable volumes for core lines, alongside distinctive products that give buyers more choice.

Defra’s latest horticulture statistics provide grounds for that interest. The department reports strong carrot demand, particularly for prepared products supplying retail and catering, and continued diversification into speciality lines, including multicoloured and bunched Chantenay carrots. It also describes the UK as largely self-sufficient in carrots for almost the entire year.

However, demand does not automatically translate into stronger returns. The UK carrot crop’s value fell by 2.7 per cent in 2025, while average market prices for topped and washed carrots declined by 16 per cent to £0.51 per kilogramme. Planted area increased by 11 per cent to approximately 11,000 hectares, with yields remaining stable at 83 tonnes per hectare. Defra also credits irrigation investment with helping protect crops during dry conditions.

Taken together, those figures suggest that the opportunity for growers and wholesalers involves both securing saleable output and matching it carefully to the market, from everyday washed carrots to speciality and prepared ranges.

Technology formed another part of the event’s offer. Ahead of the demonstration, Hobson Farming announced an exhibition programme featuring optical colour sorters, laser weeders, autonomous farming robots and precision seed drills, bringing machinery innovation alongside the variety comparisons.

Breeders are also widening their UK testing. In September, BASF Nunhems announced a separate Spalding demonstration featuring carrots normally suited to southern Europe, alongside Nantes hybrids, Imperator types and coloured varieties. The company reported encouraging foliage health and disease control at that site, while acknowledging that the soil was not traditionally used for carrot production.

Flavour remained firmly on the agenda in York, with FreshPlaza reporting that Nunhems’ Ambyance won the annual carrot taste competition for a third consecutive year.

As Hobson said ahead of the event, it is a place for “growers and the wider supply chain to come together to see the latest varieties in the field”. For businesses planning future carrot programmes, that connection between breeding, production and buying could prove especially valuable.