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It is an essential part of the annual Christmas dinner, if also one of Britons' least favourite vegetables. But the much-maligned sprout is under surprise attack this year on the eve of the festive season – from hordes of hungry wood pigeons.
Last year the British-grown sprout fell victim to floods and a sustained cold and wet summer, which wreaked havoc on crops and reduced planned volumes by at least a fifth.
This year growing conditions have been better, sprout quality is said to be very good and the yield is expected to be up 10-15%. But sprout farmers are facing an increasing threat to their livelihoods from starving wood pigeons.
The birds' appetite for Christmas sprouts has become so keen that growers calculate the annual cost to them could run into millions of pounds. Farmers are so worried about the problem that they are due to discuss it at the annual Brassica Growers' Association conference next month.
The Royal Horticultural Society said: "Wood pigeons are often the worst bird pest in gardens and on allotments. They peck at leaves, tearing them, often just leaving the stalks larger leaf veins behind. Pigeons attack many plants, but particularly brassicas and peas."
Many growers have bought netting to safeguard their crops. The nets are put up when the crop is small, but they need to be removed this month when the bulk of the UK's sprouts are ready to be picked for the festive season – which is when the wood pigeons typically pounce. The runup to Christmas accounts for as much as 80% of sprout sales, and farmers run 10 times as many harvesters and work from dawn until dusk to meet the demand.
Tesco's sprout buyer Lance Canavan said: "It's December when the sprouts are most at risk, when the nets come off ready for picking. Growers have tried all manner of deterrents from small gas bangers to kites in the shape of hawks and flags that rustle in the wind. But after a while the birds get used to them and they become less effective. This week we went down with some Santa scarecrows to see if they could protect our customers' Christmas sprouts and so far so good."
Dan Ritchie, of Morrisons, said sprout volumes across UK growers were up by 20% compared with last year because farmers had had the right weather at the right times. "A cold, dry spring gave us great soil conditions for planting, sunshine and heat in the summer helped the plants to grow and then the rain came to give the plants a drink," he said. "The good news for customers is that all of this means there are bigger plants out in the fields with more great quality sprouts on them."
Richard Mowbray, of the vegetable company TH Clements, said: "We are seeing more birds in the fields because of the rise in countryside environmental schemes with farmers encouraged to create grassland, plant trees, create hedgerows in order to boost wildlife. While it's great to create a habitat for wildlife the downside is we have to keep a closer eye on our crops."
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