Weather patterns have continued to influence the outlook for the Canadian potato crop says Kevin MacIsaac, general manager, United Potato Growers of Canada. Eastern Canada, particularly Prince Edward Island, has received record amounts of rainfall from the remnants of Hurricane Ida. The province of Manitoba has also received some rainfall over the past two weeks. High temperatures have broken in Alberta, but the province still remains dry. The heat has also come down in Québec in the first week of September.
Growers are hoping that any potential early frosts hold off and allow the crop to finish up. Most areas will not see harvest reach full capacity until the third week of September 2021.
Here is how the crop looks at this time:
Prince Edward Island:
September 2 brought the remnants of Hurricane Ida to Prince Edward Island bringing record-setting daily accumulations of rain with it. Potato fields received anywhere from 80mm to 150mm during a 24-hour period. Just one day previous, the crop was beginning to look dry in some areas that had not received significant amounts of rainfall during the month of August.
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