Prince Edward Island could see a bit of a mixed crop this year. "There could be some fields where the sizing and yield are going to be terrific and there are going to be other regions where they didn't get rain and the yield could be less than average," says Dwayne Coffin of Vanco Produce Ltd. "However, I still think that overall PEI should have an average crop."
Coffin says all summer long, the field never looked better to him. "They were lush and green and full. The crop went in a little bit earlier this year compared to all the other years so it got off to a great start," he says.
However, in the later part of August, PEI saw hot weather conditions that stayed on the dryer side, though Coffin notes that in early September, the province received .5-1 inch of rain. "It did help but unfortunately a lot of the fields had started to die down already by the time the rain came. Regardless, it still helps with harvesting in terms of bruising and that sort of thing. It has been ideal weather for harvesting," he says, adding that the province's red and yellow potatoes should have received enough moisture to produce an average crop with some good sizing.
End of October finish
In terms of timing, right now many PEI growers are in their second week of harvest, though those in the Eastern part of the province tend to be slightly earlier. Most growers tend to wrap up harvest by the end of October.
As for demand? "Both of our packing sheds are running, one a little more sporadic than the other. It is a different start to a season and I think a big part of that is that the pipeline is still full of old-crop potatoes. Those are especially from the U.S.--the Western Russets," says Coffin.
In turn, that fuller-then-preferred pipeline has lowered prices below what pricing generally looks like at this time of year. "Demand is average so far. You want to move a portion of your crop early but it gets to a point that if prices are lower than what you would like them to be, a lot of growers will focus on finishing the harvest and then see where market prices are," says Coffin. "Unfortunately a lot of regions have potatoes available right now and I think in the short term, pricing will probably be unstable into the new year. Hopefully, in 2025, prices will stabilize or even rebound a bit by then."
For more information:
Dwayne Coffin
Vanco Produce Ltd.
Tel: +1 (902) 651-2005
[email protected]
www.vancofarms.com