The potato acreage in Canada shows hardly any movement this year. This does not mean that there are no changes. This must mainly be found in the shift per province and also between the different segments. There are changes, especially for chips potatoes, that have an impact on the final harvest.
Statistics agency Stats Canada has published figures for the potato area for 2022. According to the government service, this amounts to 385.128 acres, equivalent to 155.859 hectares. A minimum difference of 0,1% compared to last year. Differences can be discovered between the provinces. The acreage is declining on Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Ontario, among other places. This is made up for by an increase in cultivation in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec.
Biggest drop on Prince Edward Island
The largest decline in production is visible on Prince Edward Island (PEI), where 2.225 hectares fewer potatoes are being grown this year. With 32.500 hectares, it remains the largest Canadian province in terms of potatoes, but it does feel the hot breath of Manitoba on its neck. This prairie province is doing it this year with more than 32.000 hectares and an increase of 2%. Growers on PEI have had a difficult season after potato exports shut down by the discovery of wart disease. This made exporting to the United States impossible and that is difficult for the sector.
The decrease in acreage on PEI can mainly be attributed to fewer seed potatoes, insiders believe. Seed potato growers have probably partly switched to table or chip potatoes. Conditions have been very good so far this year, with sufficient precipitation and temperatures.
Fewer potatoes due to precipitation
In Manitoba, growth is also due to more chip potato cultivation. More demand for potatoes from potato processors has ensured this. The growing season has been very difficult - unlike on PEI. The spring was wet and cold and last week more than 100 millimeters of precipitation fell locally, making rot a problem. It is estimated that several hundred hectares have been lost. Due to the difficult growing season, the early potato harvest is also difficult to get started. Factories have to run on the last remnants of the old harvest and that is not easy. Insiders report that at least one factory is therefore completely shut down.
In Alberta, the number three in terms of potato cultivation, production is increasing by 5,6% this year, which is good for 1.500 hectares more potatoes. A total area of 29.260 hectares is a record for the province. Here too, growers have planted more because the processing industry is asking for potatoes to cut into chips. There is also slightly more demand for seed potatoes and table potatoes. The weather problems are slightly less serious than in Manitoba, but it still has an effect. A cold and wet spring in particular causes the early harvest to be delayed by about a week to ten days.
Harvest may be smaller
Assuming an average multi-year yield of 40,5 tonnes per hectare, the Canadian potato harvest could total 6,15 million tonnes, insiders believe. That figure is based on the net harvested area, because a small part of the area in Canada is usually not harvested due to frost damage or extreme precipitation during the growing season. If this figure comes true, the harvest volume will be 96.500 tons smaller than in 2021.
Due to more chip potatoes on contract, processors in Canada - unlike factories in the US - do not have to worry about their raw material. Insiders estimate that processors in Canada can utilize 90% to 95% of their total processing capacity. Given the very good demand for fries, this means that factories have to go to the open market to purchase potatoes. Looking at North America as a whole, the potato area will shrink 2,5% this year. Especially because fewer potatoes are being grown this season in the major American potato states of Idaho and Washington.