Alex Docherty and his son watch spuds being dumped on their PEI farm.

On February 14, there’s little heart for disposing PEI potatoes that have no home due to the ongoing export ban to the United States. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered the ban on November 21, 2022 after confirming potato wart in two fields.

In order for growers to qualify for federal compensation of up to 8.5 cents/lb, the surplus must be chopped by snowblowers onto frozen ground. The deadline is February 28. 

“Eighty-seven per cent of the island’s potato growers have crop insurance,” explains Greg Donald, general manager, PEI Potato Board. “Crop insurance adjusters will measure bins and audit the disposal. These are public funds and there must be a paper trail.” 

Growers have applied to dispose up to 300 million pounds, but growers are still weighing whether to wait on the slim chance that the U.S. mainland market might open. They are encouraged that potatoes are now allowed into Puerto Rico. The first shipload left Halifax harbour on February 14, after growers met labelling requirements that the potatoes are for local consumption. It was a huge effort to affix stickers on every three- or five-pound polybag.

Stateside, the National Potato Council is digging in on its position as the Puerto Rico market opens. It is waiting for ag minister Marie-Claude Bibeau to report on progress of testing 35,000 soil samples before the mainland opens for trade with PEI.

The PEI Potato Board’s Greg Donald sats that the long-term potato wart management plan is working and that potato fields are not “infested’ as the CFIA originally communicated to its American counterparts. Donald authored an opinion editorial that was published in the Toronto Star on February 9.  Titled “PEI potatoes in the eye of an unfair trade war with U.S., he recommended that the Canadian government consider:

-  Immediately rescinding the ministerial order of November 21 or at least restrict it to the regulated fields where the crop pest was discovered and contained.  Correct the original error.

-  Removing all restrictions on the shipment of PEI potatoes within Canada. Leaving them in place simply gives the U.S. government something to point at.

-  Holding U.S. secretary of agriculture Tom Vilsack to his commitment of a determination, by early March, on the admissibility of PEI potatoes in light of scientific data. If the ban remains in force, it will be utterly clear it is nothing more than an unfair advantage for American potato producers

-  Retaliating

Source:  National Potato Council February 8, 2022 news release/Interview with Greg Donald, PEI Potato Board, February 11, 2022