At 32.063 million hundredweight of potatoes this year, Alberta vaulted from third to first place as it improved on the previous year’s crop of 26.813 million. Manitoba moved into second spot from third with its harvest of 29.760 million cwt. following last year’s 26.139 million. Prince Edward Island saw its output reduced in 2023 to 25.813 million cwt. from 27.789 million. In 2023, the trio combined for 68 per cent of Canada’s total potato harvest of 128,801 million cwt.

Canadian potato output rises in 2023
Alberta vaults to first place in provincial potato production

Feds ask for feedback on potato wart plans
The documents will be used in a new national national management plan
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is asking for feedback on several guidance documents and recommendations related to developing a new national potato wart plan, it said Friday.

P.E.I. potato growers, CFIA to draft plan for ‘pest-free places’
Plan would support movement of seed potatoes, feds say
A system of “pest-free places of production” (PFPP) is now on the drawing board for Prince Edward Island’s potato sector, following a meeting between federal and industry officials. Federal Agriculture Minister and P.E.I. MP Lawrence MacAulay on Friday reported meeting with staff and representatives of the P.E.I. Potato Board, to discuss next steps in the […] Read more

P.E.I. names new deputy ag minister
Gordon MacFadyen replaces Brian Matheson
Prince Edward Island’s Premier Dennis King has named a new top bureaucrat for the province’s agriculture ministry and others, to manage a fresh round of post-election ministerial mandate letters. Gordon MacFadyen, most recently executive director of fiscal management and assistant secretary to Treasury Board with the provincial finance department, was announced Aug. 8 as deputy […] Read more

Thompson returns as P.E.I. ag minister
Ag and land ministry split; Compton not returning to cabinet
Prince Edward Island’s former agriculture minister is again its current ag minister, in a post-election cabinet shuffle by returning Premier Dennis King. Bloyce Thompson, MLA for the district of Stanhope-Marshfield since 2019 and ag minister from 2019 until last summer, was again appointed April 14 as King’s minister of agriculture, justice and public safety and […] Read more

P.E.I. ag minister, ag critics re-elected
Tories return with majority; Liberals regain official opposition
Prince Edward Island’s incumbent agriculture minister and opposition agriculture critics prevailed in Monday night’s provincial election, in which incumbent premier Dennis King’s Tories were returned with a majority. Darlene Compton, King’s agriculture minister since last summer and his incumbent deputy premier, won re-election Monday for the Progressive Conservatives in her district of Belfast-Murray River. Compton, […] Read more

Potato wart survey gives clean bill of health
Fields across Canada with a history of getting seed potatoes from P.E.I. tested negative
A national survey on the watch for potato wart has come back clean. On March 13, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said results from their 2022 potato wart survey had not found any cases of the soil-borne fungus. The agency had tested nearly 1,500 soil samples from fields in British Columbia, the three Prairie […] Read more

Canada’s potato crop edges up in 2022
Alberta up into top spot among potato-producing provinces
MarketsFarm — Statistics Canada (StatCan) issued its potato production report Thursday, which noted a 1.5 per cent increase in the country’s crop in 2022. Across Canada, nearly 122.9 million hundredweight (cwt) of potatoes were harvested last year, with an average national yield of 322.3 cwt/acre on 381,351 acres. Alberta rose from third into the top […] Read more

Fiona batters Eastern Canada’s farms, fishery
'You'll hear me swearing in Saskatchewan'
Winnipeg | Reuters — Powerful storm Fiona slammed into Canada’s eastern fishing and farm industries over the weekend, smashing wharves, food processing plants and barns that will take months to repair. One of the worst storms Canada has ever faced left more than one-third of customers in Nova Scotia without power, swept homes into the […] Read more

P.E.I. finance minister moves to ag file
Darlene Compton named agriculture minister in shuffle
Prince Edward Island’s deputy premier now handles the provincial agriculture file following a cabinet shuffle Friday. Premier Dennis King has named Darlene Compton, MLA for the riding of Belfast-Murray River, as minister of agriculture and land, justice and public safety minister and attorney general, replacing Stanhope-Marshfield MLA Bloyce Thompson. Thompson, who had handled the ag […] Read more