Biggest question mark facing province’s growers is whether they will be able to access soaked fields in time for harvest
Potatoes in Prince Edward Island have so far been spared from damage following the recent storm Fiona, but that could change if fields don’t dry up enough for harvest and the transportation network isn’t re-established soon.
Victoria Stamper, United Potato Growers of Canada general manager, said the situation facing P.E.I. potato producers is tough.
“At first, their biggest thing was power and getting it restored,” said Stamper, who said a little more than half the province had electricity a week after the storm hit.
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Temporary measures such as distributing large generators is helping but access to fuel has also been difficult.
With electricity and fuel shortages starting to be addressed, farmers are now challenged with accessing their fields.
“On the small side roads and on the farms, it is just unbelievable,” said Stamper about the downed trees that are blocking farmers from getting onto their fields. “Entire rows of these trees are down.”
The timing of the storm that lashed the island came just as potato farmers were beginning harvest for storage potatoes.
“There is a time constraint. You only have so long to get them out of the field and into storage before the first frost,” said Stamper. “But it’s taking a whole day just to get to their field.”
In the eastern portion of the province, which has been drier this season, farmers are facing challenges such as harvesting the centre of their fields first so there is somewhere to put all the dead trees.
The amount of rain brought with the storm has exacerbated the already existing problem of excess moisture in the western portion of the province.
“It’s just too wet to get in to harvest so that’s delaying them more,” said Stamper.
Even if farmers can harvest, three storage warehouses have either been damaged or destroyed in the province on top of delays in inspections from Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials and the ability to navigate roads.
Canadian Forces personnel are assisting in getting roadways open and spuds moving but the damage is vast, said Stamper.
“It’s not a panic yet but time is ticking,” she said. “I think it’s going to take another week or two before we can evaluate the impact on the potato fields.”
As for the best-case scenario for this year’s P.E.I. potato harvest, Stamper said, “no more rain and some decent temperatures.”
The Cavendish Farms facility is back up and running, which should help, she added.
Fiona brought winds of up to 150 km-h to the island, with some areas reporting more than 100 millimetres of rain in the first 24 hours of the storm.
