P.E.I. struggling to bring in potato crop

2005-10-17 From Canadian Press

CHARLOTTETOWN -- Heavy rains and lashing winds are hindering efforts to harvest this year's potato crop on Prince Edward Island.

Ivan Noonan of the P.E.I. Potato Board said Monday about half the crop is still in the ground as farmers struggle to complete the harvest before the first frost.

"It rained on the weekend and again today, and here it is Oct. 17, and we like to be done by the 31st at the latest,'' Noonan said.

"Overall, we're probably only about 50 per cent done.''

Noonan said it has been a tricky growing year for Island farmers.

He said dry weather in August harmed some spud varieties and now too much rain is making it difficult to get the bulk of the crop out of the ground.

"We need about two weeks of good weather to get this crop under wraps,'' Noonan said.

He said the good news is the crop is looking good. As well, a voluntary reduction in the size of the crop this year is paying off with higher prices.

"We're doing our bit to close the window between supply and demand,'' he said, noting that farmers planted 10,000 fewer acres this year than last.

"It's working. Our prices are much better than they have been for the last two or three years.''

Growers from all major producing states and provinces came together earlier this year to hammer out an agreement that would see potato acreage reduction widely adopted.

For many years, too many potatoes were saturating the market, leading to poor prices and the composting of tonnes of spuds.

Canadian growers are also working toward the establishment of a new group called the United Potato Growers of Canada that would be a parallel organization to the United Potato Growers of America that spearheaded the acreage reduction effort