Canadá: Potato acreage continues prairie expansion

There was a time when Prince Edward Island was king of potato production in Canada.

But that reign is likely over as acres and production continue to expand in Western Canada.

Acreage is up 10 percent in Manitoba and 13 percent in Alberta, compared to 2020. The two prairie provinces now have more acres than Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.

In July, the United Potato Growers of Canada released acreage estimates for 2021, which showed:

Manitoba and Alberta have 146,000 acres of spuds.

P.E.I. and New Brunswick have 137,000 acres.

ADVERTISEMENT

This may be the first time that prairie acres of potatoes are higher than acres in Atlantic Canada.

Across the country, potato acres are up relative to 2020.

“The 2021 potato acreage is estimated at 378,624 acres,” the United Potato Growers said. “This is an increase of 5.3 percent above 2020…. This year’s increase, predominantly in major processing provinces, helps bring supply in the industry back to meet demand increases in the industry that began pre-COVID.”

Since 2017, acres of processing potatoes have steadily risen in Manitoba and Alberta, mostly because of plant expansions or construction of new french fry plants in the West.

Cavendish Farms opened its $430 million french fry plant in Lethbridge in 2019 and Simplot doubled the size of its Portage la Prairie, Man., plant, at a cost of nearly $500 million.

Those facilities need more spuds, which means more acres on the Prairies.

Meanwhile, acres in P.E.I. have been stuck around 85,000 and growers have struggled to boost yields. P.E.I. doesn’t have sufficient water supplies to support irrigation, so potato yields have been stuck at 300 hundredweight per acre.

ADVERTISEMENT

Thanks to better agronomy and adequate water supplies, Manitoba and Alberta yields have jumped in the last five to 10 years. Manitoba routinely reaches 350 cwt. per acre and Alberta growers now expect 400 cwt. per acre.

It’s been exceptionally hot and dry in Manitoba this spring and summer, but potato growers are coping with the drought.

“Irrigation infrastructure continues to be improved in (Manitoba),” said Dan Sawatzky, manager of the Keystone Potato Producers Association. “Compared to 2012, the last time we struggled with (water supplies), it’s looking better as far has producers having the equipment… to try and keep up with the extreme conditions.”

This year’s potato crop will probably be average in Manitoba, or below average, because of the drought.

“The crop isn’t looking too bad. We do have row closure,” Sawatzky said. “(However) we’re not expecting a big crop.”

In Alberta, potatoes are faring better than other crops. As of mid-July, 73 percent of the potato crop in the province was rated as good to excellent condition.

Most farmers who grow potatoes for the french fry companies have irrigation, but some producers who grow table potatoes do not.

In Manitoba, those growers are concentrated around Winkler, near the United States border, Sawatzky said. Consequently, the province’s table potato crop will be poor, with yields around 50 percent of normal.