Poorer than average potato yields in Western Canada as well as in Idaho and the Columbia Basin in the U.S has created contracting headaches and supply issues for the processing sector. The tight supplies are having big impacts on the retail channel, as well. Potato production isn’t like any other commodity, where the processor can… Read More
Potato harvest is well underway in Canada, with varying results from a near-record harvest to too-short in supply. “Moving from east to west, the season is always later. We have more time in the east to allow the crop to get harvested before winter sets in, in a normal year,” says Kevin MacIsaac, of United… Read More
BASF Canada has received registration approval from the Pest Management Regulatory Agency for Veltyma fungicide. Veltyma provides broad spectrum control against key leaf diseases on multiple crops including corn, potatoes, wheat, and soybeans, including Group 3 resistant biotypes, says the company. The product is registered for broad spectrum control against northern corn leaf blight, tar… Read More
Everyone enjoys a good spirit or two, and many Canadians, when looking for a bottle of their favourite spirit, will check to see if it’s been produced from Canadian grains. A recent policy change in Alberta could lead to fewer markets for Alberta cereals and more imports of the raw materials from elsewhere. Jan Westcott… Read More
How does a dairy farmer’s kid end up advising Prince Edward Island potato farmers on how best to grow spuds? If you’re Ryan Barrett, you get there by being curious, intelligent, adaptable, and an excellent communicator. Barrett now leads research and agronomy for the PEI Potato Board, and spends much of his time fostering cooperation and… Read More
You can bake them, fry them, roast them, or boil them, sure, but before potatoes make it to your table, this crop requires some serious agronomic knowledge to grow. For this episode of RealAg’s LIVE! stand-in host Kara Oosterhuis is joined by agronomist Ryan Barrett, with the PEI Potato Board. From disease risk, to acidic… Read More
Lately, a lot of attention has been paid to the beef aspect of your mainstay steak entree, however, we’re now turning our attention to potatoes. Late last year we saw a shortage of potatoes due to a late, wet harvest. As of May 2020, the situation is quite the opposite, as the repercussions of COVID-19… Read More
Cool, below normal temperatures in Prince Edward Island have set back the potato harvest for some producers. Ryan Barrett, lead agronomist with the PEI Potato Board says as of Friday, May 25, roughly five to six per cent of the spuds were in the ground. “We are a little bit behind schedule. Normally our main… Read More
This week’s edition of Wheat Pete’s Word tackles tough questions and comments from the Maritimes, the United States, and across Ontario. In case you missed it, the east has called time-of-death on the potato harvest with a full 10% of the crop abandoned. There’s no shortage of concern for next year’s wheat crop, too, and… Read More
What do you get when you connect two ‘city kid’ filmmakers, a world-class chef, and nine farmers and their families? You get Before The Plate, a genuine behind-the-kitchen-door, on-the-farm look at how food is produced in Canada, and the passion and commitment chefs and farmers apply to their craft. The driving force behind the film… Read More
One of the largest potato processors in North America has acquired access to new gene-editing technology. J.R. Simplot company has secured a deal with Corteva Agriscience (the agriculture division of DowDuPont), the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard for the license of CRISPR-Cas9, along with other gene-editing tools. Along with potatos, Simplot produces a full… Read More
In an effort to explore additional areas of agriculture that RealAgriculture does not cover on a daily basis, RealAg Radio featured potato production in Canada in a discussion with Kevin MacIsaac, General Manager of the United Potato Growers of Canada. How would you describe the overall health of the potato industry? Overall MacIsaac described the… Read More
Soybean growers will soon have a new tool in the fight against yield-robbing soybean aphids. BASF expects to launch Sefina, a new insecticide it says will deliver control of aphids and white flies in soybean and potatoes, in 2019. BASF Canada horticulture crop manager Scott Hodgins explains that the new insecticide will deliver a unique… Read More
Simplot announced a $460 million expansion of its potato processing facility at Portage la Prairie, Man. on Wednesday. Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister and Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler were on hand with J.R. Simplot CEO Bill Whitacre to announce the investment, an expansion that will add nearly 100 jobs to the facility. “Manitoba delivers in so… Read More
Cavendish Farms has announced plans to spend at least $350 million on a new frozen potato processing facility in Lethbridge. Robert K. Irving, co-CEO of J.D. Irving Limited and president of Cavendish Farms, was in southern Alberta to make the announcement alongside Ag Minister Oneil Carlier, local MLAs Shannon Phillips and Maria Fitzpatrick, and Lethbridge… Read More