PEI potatoes - disaster assistance coming

Prince Edward Island potato growers have disaster assistance coming; from a recent USDA FAS report.

C$12.4 MILLION IN DISASTER ASSISTANCE FOR P.E.I. POTATO GROWERS: Potato growers on Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) affected by extreme wet weather during the 2008 growing season are being offered up to C$12.4 million in federal/provincial financial aid to offset losses. Provincial potato specialist fear that placing potatoes in storage that have a high incidence of rot due to the excessively wet conditions could place all storage potatoes at risk, the province said. To reduce the risk to stored potatoes, AgriRecovery aid will be provided to encourage producers to destroy affected areas of their fields. The AgriRecovery program is part of the suite of Business Risk Management programs offered by the federal, provincial and territorial governments designed to provide producers protection in dealing
with the financial risks associated with farming, including weather related disasters. It is cost-shared on a 60-40 basis between the federal and provincial governments. More than 60% of the province’s potato growers have crop insurance and these producers will also be eligible for disaster asistance based on a formula that takes into account their chosen level of crop insurance protection and individual historic average yields. Comment: P.E.I. is Canada’s top producing potato province accounting for about 25% of total Canadian potato production. P.E.I. potato plantings in 2008 are estimated at 93,000 acres, 3.1% lower than last year. The extent of crop loss due to persistent wet weather throughout August and September is not yet known but concerns are rising among industry officials that the economic impact may be significant because the number of acres being abandon is rising as the harvest continues.