Manitoba potato producers are in an optimistic mood after getting an early start on seeding this spring.
“We’re off to a good, early start,” said Gary Sloik, manager of the Keystone Potato Producers Association.
Sloik, who is also chair of the United Potato Growers of Canada, said producers seeded about 90,000 acres this year, up from an estimated 83,500 acres last year.
Of this year’s acres, 70,000 are being produced under contracts with processors, while the table and seed markets account for another 10,000 acres each.
“Contract volumes with processors have gone up substantially,” Sloik said, adding the volume is similar to that seen in 2003.
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Waning interest in the high protein Atkins diet and the resolution of other limiting factors for potato consumption have helped reduce world potato stockpiles, as did last year’s potato crop failures in Europe and lower volumes in Washington state.
“There hasn’t been a lot of overproduction and we aren’t going into the year with a lot of carryover of french fry stocks,” he said.
Increased exports to Europe have taken the pressure off North America, especially with dehydrated potatoes and french fries.
The ongoing campaign to reduce noncontracted acres has been successful in Canada, Sloik said. Statistics Canada numbers show Canadian seeded acreage dropped to 397,100 acres in 2006 from 403,100 in 2005.
Statistics Canada found that acreage in Manitoba dropped to 81,500 last year, well down from the peak of 103,000 in 2003 but still higher than 77,586 acres in 2001.
“We think that is an indication that people are contracting for a higher level of production per acre,” Sloik said. “Consequently, there are less open acres.”
Tom Gonsalves, a business development specialist for potatoes with Manitoba Agriculture, said most producers in the province were able to seed their potatoes ahead of schedule or on time.
In the sandier soil near Shilo, some producers started seeding as early as April 20. Ninety-five percent of the crop was in the ground by the end of May.
However, rain in early May might have affected some seeding and increased the risk of seed piece decay as cool, overcast weather slowed the growth of emerging plants. Unless the weather clears and the sun comes out, delays in hilling and weed control may begin to cause problems, he added.
Gonsalves said the provincial government has scheduled a series of potato agronomy meetings during the growing season.
The two-hour meetings, scheduled around the emergence, tuber initiation, vegetative growth and tuber bulking stages, will be held at Canada-Manitoba Crop Diversification Centres in Carberry, Winkler and Portage la Prairie.
