Potato growers in Canada need better market information to successfully match supply with demand, says Garry Sloik, chair of the United Potato Growers of Canada.
“We’ve found that there is a tremendous lack of market information collected in Canada.”
Sloik said that UPGC will work with Agriculture Canada to improve InfoHort, a website that provides market price information to the public.
The producer group is also talking to AC Nielsen. The marketing company has tracked retail sales information about Canadian potatoes.
“We’re in discussion with them as to what level of information we want to purchase,” Sloik said.
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November potato storage numbers have until recently been gathered by inspectors of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The CFIA is now backing away from that role, Sloik said, adding that the UPGC itself might attempt to gather that information.
“We’re working with all the provincial organizations to try and take over that function and to make it a little more accurate.”
Sloik said it would help to know what the intended use of those stored potatoes is, something the CFIA data didn’t track.
The UPGC’s overall goal is to know the market better so producers can make informed decisions when seeding time comes around.
“We want (to know) what’s produced for seed, what’s produced for table, what’s produced for processing and address each of those markets,” Sloik said.
