Investments in irrigation key for resilient carrot growers
Climate resilience is the name of the game, and you have to ready to go at a moment's notice.
Those were the big takeaways when Agriland caught up with organic carrot grower Philip Draper recently.
He said: "It takes huge investment to build a resilience into your business that it's able to withstand climate change."
Hailing from Birr, Co. Offaly, Draper is well qualified to comment on the sector; he has been growing carrots for over 30 years.
The harvesting of carrots is very different to that of grass or grain; fields of carrots are harvested according to supermarket demand.
Harvesters, toppers and associated tractors are often left in fields for months on end so they are ready to go at short notice.
"You need to have good machinery that's able to get over the ground quickly when you do get a weather window," Draper said.
"When an order comes in, you have to be able to fulfil it."
To ensure he can fill orders, even through spells of bad weather, Draper has invested in short-term storage.
"We have the capacity to store carrots when the time comes, when things start to get tight.
"But so far so good, for this year's harvest," he added.
Staff
With the harvesting season lasting from September to March, businesses like Draper's Coolnagrower Agri have to keep on full-time staff all-year round.
However, finding skilled staff who can operate the expensive machines in difficult conditions is not easy.
Indeed, Draper admits that he has heard some "horror stories" from the sector when it comes to staffing issues.
Climate resilience
Carrot growers have always had to deal with saturated ground conditions in winter months, but the droughts of recent summers have brought new challenges.
"To guarantee a quality product, we've invested in everything that's available to get around the weather problems," he said.
This year, irrigation proved key for Draper: "The harvest only started on time because we were able to get enough water onto the crops.
"Without irrigation, the growth would have been delayed and the quality would suffer.
"The skin of the carrot wrinkles during prolonged periods of drought.
"It's not as straightforward as it was years ago and it costs a lot more to produce crops now," he added.
Price
There are currently only nine commercial carrot growers left in Ireland.
"All anyone wants is to be able to make a living and be able to pay your staff a proper wage," Draper said.
"At the end of the day, it all boils down to the price we're getting.
"They're all trying to be cheaper than the other, and that downward pressure on retail prices has eroded the price of carrots.
"The cake in Ireland is only so big, and they all wanted a slice of it."
He says that supermarkets started selling vegetables as a "loss leader" to get more customers into their shops.
Recognition
Draper is part of The Irish Carrot Growers (Working) Group, which represents 95% of the Irish retail carrot supply.
Established in 2025, the group communicates the key challenges facing the Irish carrot sector and works with policymakers and stakeholders on solutions.
Draper says that people are "starting to recognise that growers won't be there in the future unless they're allowed to make money.
"The growers that are left need to be rewarded for what they are doing, because the risks that are involved are huge," he added.
It remains to be seen whether 2026 will go down as a profitable year to grow carrots, but so far conditions have been favourable for harvesting.
