Alberta vegetable and potato growers continue to negotiate processing contracts just weeks before seeding needs to start.
Potato growers have signed chip contracts with five major processors in southern Alberta, but french fry deals with Lamb Weston, McCain and Maple Leaf Foods remain elusive, said Greg Nakamura, a Taber farmer and member of the Potato Growers of Alberta.
Part of the holdup is that grower contracts already signed in the United States are being rewritten because of the recession.
“In the States they had negotiated a price earlier in the year when the economy was taking off and then everything changed,” Nakamura said.
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Contracts have since been signed in the U.S. so he expects the Canadians to reach an agreement soon.
“We have planted some years without a contract,” he added.
Alberta grows about 50,000 acres of potatoes with most destined for the processing industry, where they are turned into snack food, french fries and other products such as shredded potato patties.
Alberta Vegetable Growers (Processing) is also negotiating with processors to settle contracts for peas and corn.
As much as 5,000 acres of peas and 2,000 acres of corn are grown in southern Alberta for the frozen vegetable market, said board chair Ian Harris.
Farmers are looking for a better price because input costs and other expenses have increased in recent years, he said. They also want parity with what growers in other areas receive for a tonne of production, although Harris could not go into specific contract details.
Contracts are normally signed in time for the start of pea seeding in mid-April. Corn goes into warmer soil around the first of May.
“As of this moment we should have something in place by April 17,” he said March 26.
