Saskatchewan government sells three potato sheds

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Published: May 2, 2002

The Saskatchewan government is finalizing deals to sell three of its

four remaining potato storage sheds.

Crown Investments Corp. minister Maynard Sonntag said the buildings

would be sold for a price comparable to that earned for two other sheds

sold last December. That would mean the government will get just more

than half their value.

“The net result will be very close to taking $5 million back into our

income for 2002,” Sonntag said.

The sheds are owned by Saskatchewan Valley Potato Corp.

Read Also

Research Officer Tuan Ha and summer lab student Shawn Neudorf at the University of Saskatchewan's booth at Ag in Motion 2025.

Field-by-field mapping could improve yield, productivity predictions

University of Saskatchewan researchers are using field border mapping to collect data on field variability, including problematic weeds, and to predict things like yields.

Cavendish Farms of Prince Edward Island is negotiating the purchase of

two sheds at Broderick. A group of investors will purchase the facility

at Riverhurst.

That leaves one shed at Tullis.

The government announced last December it was getting out of the potato

business, after racking up a $28 million loss over five years.

It sold sheds at Broderick and Lucky Lake and announced it would plant

fewer acres of potatoes over the next two years and withdraw from

production by 2004.

Sonntag was criticized at the time for characterizing the potato

venture as a success.

Ironically, it appears the corporation will make money this year, he

said last week.

Saskatchewan Party MLA Greg Brkich said the government nearly destroyed

the industry in his riding.

“It’s only now starting to recover and some of the businesses will

never recover from the millions of dollars they lost when the NDP

potato corporation went bankrupt,” he said in the legislature.

About the author

Karen Briere

Karen Briere

Karen Briere grew up in Canora, Sask. where her family had a grain and cattle operation. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Regina and has spent more than 30 years covering agriculture from the Western Producer’s Regina bureau.

explore

Stories from our other publications