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Potatoes

Crops, Potatoes

P.E.I. seed potato growers backed for lost sales, costs

Pandemic compensation plan to take applications until mid-January

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Seed potato growers on Prince Edward Island who lost sales this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, or have had to store or throw out stock, can soon apply for provincial compensation. The provincial government on Monday announced $1.19 million for a new Seed Potato Recovery Program, for seed growers “who can demonstrate that they […] Read more
Crops, Markets, Potatoes

Plummeting french fry sales have potato growers re-evaluating

Restaurant closures slash demand, though 'chip sales have been great'

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French fry sales are down across North America as tens of thousands of restaurants have closed during COVID-19, meaning the potato industry has to adapt quickly. Companies that turn potatoes into french fries, wedges and hash browns are slowing down, because there isn’t enough space to store all the frozen product. In Alberta and Manitoba, […] Read more
Crops, Potatoes

McCain to dial up fry production in New Brunswick

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The company behind about a quarter of the world’s frozen French fries plans to ramp up demand from New Brunswick potato growers with a line capacity upgrade at its recently expanded plant there. McCain Foods announced Aug. 27 it will put up another $12 million to add capacity to its Florenceville, N.B. plant’s French fry […] Read more
Jill Ebbett and Robert Anderson, OYF Atlantic Canada regional finalists, produce quality seed potatoes.
Crops, News, Potatoes

Canada’s OYF: Atlantic nominees

Robert Anderson and Jill Ebbett rely on technology to produce quality seed potatoes

By
Since taking over the fifth-generation New Brunswick family farm from his parents in 2000, Robert Anderson and his wife, Jill Ebbett, have focused on technological advancements to help them improve the quality of seed potatoes and other crops, increase productivity and improve soil health. These investments have helped them gain recognition as innovators in their […] Read more
Small numbers of potato psyllids were found in Alberta between 2015 and 2017. The insect was found in Saskatchewan and Manitoba in 2016.
Crops, Features, Potatoes

Zebra chip pathogen found in Alberta

This colour-changing disease is making 
its way to western Canadian potato fields

By
Zebra chip” is a fun, jaunty name for a potato disease that has nobody in the industry laughing. The disease, which causes harmless but unsightly stripes in potato chips, costs producers millions of dollars annually in New Zealand and the United States. Now the zebra chip pathogen has been found for the first time in […] Read more
The Colorado potato beetle is considered a major economic pest of potato.
Crops, Features, Potatoes

Beetle-resistant potato varieties

Potato growers could soon be growing Colorado potato beetle-resistant plants

By
New potato varieties that are naturally resistant to Colorado potato beetle could be on the market in five years, according to Helen Tai, a potato breeder at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Potato Research Centre in Fredericton. Tai is the lead on the breeding project, which has been underway for 30 years, she says, since AAFC […] Read more
Crops, Potatoes

Simplot to supersize Portage la Prairie fry plant

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U.S. agrifood giant J.R. Simplot plans to bulk up its potato processing footprint in southern Manitoba with a $460 million plant expansion. The company and the provincial government on Wednesday announced construction will begin this spring on a 280,000-square foot expansion at its 180,000-square foot french fry processing plant at Portage la Prairie. The expansion, […] Read more

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