A weak loonie and shipping disruptions at the Port of Seattle could in-crease demand for Canadian potatoes in 2015, says a spokesperson for the United Potato Growers of Canada.
Potato acres have fallen by 25,000, or 6.7 percent, during the last three years as processing companies such as McCain’s and Simplot shifted production to lower cost regions such as the Pacific Northwest.
Potato growers in Washington state often average more than 600 hundredweight per acre, which is double the average yield in Manitoba.
Kevin MacIsaac, United Potato Growers of Canada general manager, said processors may rethink the production shift to the Pacific Northwest after a work slowdown at the Port of Seattle obstructed exports this winter.
Read Also
Canada-U.S. trade relationship called complex
Trade issues existed long before U.S. president Donald Trump and his on-again, off-again tariffs came along, said panelists at a policy summit last month.
Unable to get french fries to customers in Asia, the companies in-creased production in Canadian processing plants, MacIsaac said.
“Plants in Canada have run hard this winter because of the slowdown in Seattle,” he said. “They (may) have realized this year that they need to have an area other than the Pacific Northwest or the Columbia Basin where they can process potatoes.”
MacIsaac said the processing companies had “all kinds of product” in Washington state but couldn’t ship it to customers. As a result, they lost business to European competitors.
“There were all kinds of container ships waiting out in the water (in Seattle),” he said.
“In the Pacific Northwest … a big portion of their crop is exported. Something like 90 percent. They need to get those fries exported to Japan.”
Manitoba has three potato processing plants: Simplot in Portage la Prairie and McCain’s in Carberry and Portage.
Gary Sawatzky, Keystone Potato Producers manager, said it’s uncertain if the export disarray in Seattle will encourage more potato processing in Manitoba.
“Whether that will shift out here or not … it’s too early (to tell).”
MacIsaac said the 80 cent dollar could persuade McCain’s and others to contract more acres in Canada.
“Definitely the big story this year will be the dollar…. That’s something that wasn’t (here) a year ago.”
Sawatzky said the fragile loonie should be positive for Canadian potato production, but Manitoba potato producers are in negotiations with processors and it’s imprudent to comment on those discussions.
“It’s premature to say a whole lot at this point.”
