Canada Harvests Second in a Row Largest Potato Crop

Canadian potato growers have for the second time in a row harvested a record crop, the Canadian potato production for October 2022 release from Statistics Canada said.

National potato production rose 0.8 per cent to 123 million hundredweight, the release said. This was due in part to increases in both seeded area and yield. Alberta reported record production notching a 8.9 per cent increase to 26.8 million hundredweight. Manitoba also saw record production, with a 4.9 per cent increase to 26.1 million hundredweight.

The release noted Alberta was the top potato producing province for 2022, coming in at 21.8 per cent of national production. Prince Edward Island followed behind at 21. 6 per cent and Manitoba at 21.3 per cent.

Overall seeded area rose 0.9 per cent to 386,591 acres nationally, the release noted this is a result of continued demand for processing potatoes. Seeded area increases were recorded in Alberta with an increase of 6.8 per cent, Quebec at 5.5 per cent and Manitoba at 3.2 per cent, which offset decrease in P.E.I. where they planted 2.7 per cent less spuds, British Columbia at 20 per cent less and Ontario at three per cent less.

“Favourable weather conditions during the harvest season allowed Canadian producers to harvest the vast majority (98.7 per cent) of the total seeded area. Compared with 2021, harvested area was up 0.5 per cent to 381,451 acres, a reflection of the increase in seeded area,” the release said.

There was also an increase noted for yield nationally. The average Canadian potato yield for 2022 was 322.4 hundredweight per acre, up 0.2 per cent from 2021.

“Despite unfavourable growing conditions at times, the average yield was up in Western Canada, as well as Prince Edward Island,” the release said.

The release noted Alberta reported the highest average yield at 375.9 hundredweight per acre, followed by Manitoba at 329.8 hundredweight per acre and New Brunswick at 329.5 hundredweight per acre. P.E.I. recorded their largest ever yield at 324.8 hundredweight per acre.

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