Canadian Potato Growers on Their “Last Big Push”
The only crop that is “significantly behind” in terms of harvest progress is the Canadian potato crop, according to the Alberta crop report for the two weeks ending September 20. In the province, 29.8% of the potatoes have been gathered. While they have all been collected in the northeast, just 27.9% have been harvested in the south, 20% have been harvested in the center, and 61.2% have been harvested in the northwest.
The week of September 26 to 30 “will be the last big push” for producers in the northern Alberta seed region to get potatoes into the shed, according to the Alberta Potato Growers, reported by Potatoes in Canada.
Manitoba Harvest “Could Be” at Around 35%
Manitoba has experienced sporadic problems with too much precipitation throughout the planting, growing, and harvesting seasons. After almost two weeks without any rain, many locations had heavy rainfall for the week ending September 19.
According to the most recent report by Manitoba Agriculture plant pathologist Vikram Bisht, the week's rainfall in various potato locations usually varied from 11.5 to 72.6 mm. While some sites are still at levels above 140% of the 30-year average, the total rainfall at many more places is currently closer to 100% normal. According to Bisht, the province's harvest is somewhere between less than 5% and 75% complete. According to him, the province's harvest "may be" at approximately 35%.
“Storms” Ahead
The potato harvest in Ontario is finished, according to Eugenia Banks of the Ontario Potato Board's most recent report. About 60% of the processing crop has been dug, according to Mark VanOostrum, supply manager at WD Potato, who was cited by the same source noted above. A representative at the Ontario Potato Board named Kevin Brubacher said that around 75% of the fresh-market crop in the province had been sown. Both potatoes for chipping and potatoes for the fresh market are regarded as having outstanding quality.
Fiona, the post-tropical storm with hurricane-strength winds, damaged many farming operations, including livestock and potato farms, in Prince Edward Island.
This planting season, potato farmers seeded 155,856 hectares of potatoes in 2022, according to StatsCan. That’s up 0.1% from 2021. P.E.I. led the charge with the largest seeded area.
