NFU members Jonny and Chris Hewitt, of Boundary Farm, Dunham Massey, Cheshire took quick action to diversify this autumn after their pumpkin crops failed but they have decided instead to let people pick straight from their orchard.
The third-generation farmers have opened their doors to the public over the last 10 years offering Dunham Massey Pumpkins with people travelling from across the North West to celebrate seasonal vegetables picking their own pumpkins.
Months of wet weather had a huge impact on the 40,000 pumpkin seeds they planted forcing the brothers to make the difficult decision to make a loss on the crop and look for alternative ways to diversify and attract people to the farm.
The wet summer has had an impact on planting and harvesting for growers across Britain and particularly the North of England.
Offering an alternative
Jonny said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e grown pumpkins on farm for a long time but the cold and wet weather in May and June meant our crop didn't germinate properly and from 40,000 seeds that were sown, we only had about 10% germination.
鈥淔rom that 10% not many had grown so we had to think about how to offer an alternative and generate some income back.
鈥淲e make our own apple juice and cider here and still wanted to connect better with the public and for people to learn where their food comes from, so we decided to offer apple picking instead.鈥�
65 varieties of apples are grown in the 20-acre orchard at Boundary Farm, some types are for making cider and others for apple pressing. The family sell the produce direct to the public and also in local cafes and restaurants.
More than just an event聽
He added: 鈥淲e are looking forward to welcoming people on farm to experience harvest, handpicking the freshest apples straight from the branch and they will also be able to participate in our hands-on apple pressing sessions.
鈥淭he festival is more than just an event it will be a real experience that will hopefully capture the magic of autumn.
鈥淲e鈥檙e already planning for the future with the increasing extreme weather, and we hope the government will support British farmers at this difficult time.鈥�
NFU Cheshire County Adviser Helen Wainwright added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 great the family farm business is still going strong, and they鈥檝e been able to diversify and offer apple picking.
鈥淚t does highlight though how the weather and other influences like fuel prices and production costs are having a real effect on farm business.
鈥溁始一薸s working hard to press Government for a firm commitment on the agriculture budget, so our family farms have the confidence to invest, continue to produce home grown food for the nation and support the environment.鈥�