Potato producers made progress during a meeting in Ottawa last week in their efforts to bring potato supplies in line with demand.
Potato grower groups from several provinces are interested in forming a national association to lead the effort to manage supply. They agreed in Ottawa to hire a lawyer to draft the framework for such an association.
“We’ve become very efficient producers and unless the markets are going to increase in volume then we can overproduce and that seems to be what’s happening,” said Garry Sloik, secretary manager of Keystone Vegetable Producers in Manitoba.
Read Also
Prairies have variable soil moisture conditions
The dry weather in the west was welcome for preserving grain quality and advancing harvest, but it has resulted in very dry soil moisture conditions.
“Other parts of the world have also increased their production capacities and we’re just able to oversupply.”
Sloik said the national association will likely consist of provincial associations. The meeting in Ottawa included representation from Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, provinces that account for the bulk of Canada’s potato production.
There were also representatives from United Potato Growers of America, which is working to manage potato supplies on behalf of growers in the United States. Canadian and American potato growers believe collaboration across the border is needed if their efforts are going to
succeed.
“It is something that we need to do co-operatively,” Sloik said. “I think there is understanding or a growing understanding that you need to be in control to some extent of what your pricing and that is.”
Potato growers say prices for their crop have not kept pace with rapidly rising input costs. They see a dim future for their industry unless changes can be made.
Canada’s dairy and poultry producers have succeeded partly because supply management has long been a part of their industries. However, their system of managing supply has come under attack in the international trade arena from countries wanting greater access to Canadian dairy, poultry and egg markets.
Sloik said a difference with the potato grower effort is that it will not be legislated. It will instead be based on the co-operation and commitment of growers to keep potato supplies in line with anticipated market demand.
“I don’t know whether you would call it supply management,” he said.
“Is it supply management when Ford, GM and all of them produce just the number of vehicles that they’re going to sell?”
