According to Terence Hochstein, executive director of Potato Growers of Alberta there is not much positive news from his own jurisdictions, and relayed similarly unfortunate news from his other provincial counterparts.
Hochstein: “Other than a few thunderstorms and hailstorms that have gone through the south, [2018] was the last time that we received a good old fashioned rain event. Even with adequate irrigation it is becoming more and more challenging to produce a good potato crop without some help from Mother Nature. With the cold, dry start to the 2022 season, it appears that the crop is about [seven to 10] days behind where we would normally like to see it.”
He says the lack of traditional mid-season rainfall could pose trouble for the upcoming growing season. “The seed industry relies on the skies opening up every few weeks,” he stated.
Other provinces are facing similar or even worse struggles. BC’s early crop has, for the most part, been “drowned out and is all but a complete loss.” Manitoba is, at best, 20 per cent completed due to excess moisture – a similar issue that is keeping crop planting far behind the province’s five-year average. New Brunswick is between 25 to 30 per cent planted, considered one week behind, while P.E.I. growers are approaching the 50 per cent level. Ontario and Quebec, says Hochstein, are “all over the map.”
Source: potatoesincanada.com