Potato growers in Alberta are looking forward to a good harvest this year while those in Manitoba are anticipating a slump in production.
Alberta and Manitoba are the leading growers of processing potatoes in Western Canada. Both provinces experienced challenges with weather earlier in the growing season.
Despite cool weather in May and excess moisture in June, the Alberta crop has recovered well and average yields are expected, said Vern Warkentin, executive director for Potato Growers of Alberta.
“Generally, it’s in good condition,” Warkentin said.
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“The guys are fairly optimistic about it right now.”
Harvesting of the early potato varieties has started and yields so far have been average with fairly good quality reported, he said.
In Manitoba, potato crops in western areas have fared well but excess moisture has robbed growers of yield around Portage la Prairie, Carman and Winkler.
“Manitoba has been hurt by the excess moisture we had at the end of June and in early July,” said Garry Sloik, secretary manager of the Keystone Vegetable Producers’ Association.
“There will be a significant reduction in volume. It’s still too early to tell how much there is going to be.”
Sloik knows of at least one Manitoba grower who lost his entire potato crop because of excess moisture. In the Portage la Prairie area, 25 growers disced down an average of 30 percent of their potatoes.
Further west, crops look promising. The area planted to potatoes dropped 8,000 acres in Manitoba this year. Processors cut the number of acres contracted with growers.
While some people have blamed low-carb diets for the cutbacks, Sloik said that was only part of the reason.
A bigger factor was a decision by restaurants to serve smaller food portion sizes, a move that reduced the demand for french fries and other potato dishes, he said.
There were 51,606 acres of potatoes planted in Alberta this year, with 38,500 of those devoted to processing potatoes.
