Cole crops are doing very well despite high disease pressure. Prices for cabbage have remained poor to fair. Cool night-time temperatures were still affecting the development of all crops. An almost 2 week break from the rain actually had some growers irrigating for the first time this year. Subsequent warm temperatures did help crop growth in some areas, however heavy rains and high humidity have increased disease pressure in all areas.
Defoliation is very heavy, especially on early maturing varieties.
The heavy rainfall is compounding the problem by promoting extremely rapid disease spread. Significant yield and quality loss is expected. Late blight has been confirmed at two locations in north Kent. This occurrence is extremely rare in processing tomatoes. The industry has been alerted.