David De Koeyer spent three years doing research work in Africa which gave him a fresh perspective on plant breeding and is helping him with his current work as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s potato breeder. Two years ago, David De Koeyer was named the lead potato breeder for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). Under his direction, the national potato breeding program has shifted slightly to become more responsive to the needs and…
Deb Hart is preparing to retire after spending almost two decades helping and advocating for the Alberta and Canadian seed potato industries. Deb Hart had planned to ease into retirement. She would spend most of 2020 working closely with her replacement to train her, easing herself out of the job. But then the global pandemic hit, and plans changed. The pandemic “is bringing back unpleasant memories, but we’re getting through it the…
PEOPLE NEWS McCain Foods Announces 2018 Top Potato Growers at Manitoba Awards Banquet McCain Foods (Canada) announced A&M Farm Ventures Ltd. as the 2018 Crop Year Champion Potato Grower for Manitoba at the annual McCain Manitoba Growers’ Appreciation Banquet held last December, an annual tradition made even more special during the 40th anniversary of the Portage la Prairie facility in 2019. Approximately 150 guests, including executives from McCain Foods, gathered to celebrate…
PEOPLE NEWS Ivan Noonan Receives Certificate of Appreciation from UPGC Ivan Noonan was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation as a founding co-chair of the United Potato Growers of Canada (UPGC), which was formed in 2006. He was presented with the certificate of appreciation by UPGC chairman, Ray Keenan, in Charlottetown in August. Before his retirement, Noonan was the general manager of the P.E.I. Potato Board from 1994 to 2008 and then…
World Potato Congress president, Romain Cools, is pleased to announce Greg Donald has joined its board of directors. Greg Donald has been the general manager of the P.E.I. Potato Board since 2009. The P.E.I. Potato Board represents P.E.I. potato producers working together to ensure long-term profitability and sustainability through marketing, advocating, negotiation and activities that support quality potato production. Donald has a BSc in agriculture with a major in plant protection from Dalhousie…
Ontario potato farmers Ken and Liz Beattie got into the craft distillery business back in 2016, using surplus, non-saleable spuds otherwise destined for cattle feed to make potato vodka. Their fledgling company called Beattie’s Distillers has certainly come a long way since then. Proof of that came at the 2018 World Beverage Competition,a major event for the beer, wine and spirits industries. At that event—the first international competition for the Beatties —…
Yesterday, the Alliston area was buzzing with diggers and windrowers in action. Potato trucks were continuously on the roads carrying the crop to their storage destinations. I saw very good Lamokas being stored at HJ VanderZaag Farms. WD Potato was also very busy receiving potato trucks and filling storages. Potato quality there was also very good. In general, the size profile is better than expected. I did not see any tuber health…
Bayer presented challenges and best practice experiences with the implementation of its Root2Successs™ concept on the continent, during the African Potato Association congress in Kigali, Rwanda. This holistic concept supports sustainable production systems covering crop rotation, soil preparation, catch and cover crops and the use of the innovative crop protection products Emesto™, Velum™ and Serenade™. The 4-year experience with Bayer’s smallholder project in Kenya underpinned the success of the Root2Success concept: farmer…
During his presentation at the official opening of the 11th African Potato Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, World Potato Congress President, Romain Cools, announced the continuous effort of his organization to be a partner of the African potato sector. President Cools illustrated this statement by referring to the active role of African potato specialists in WPC’s global organization: Dr. A. Jooste of South Africa and B. Lemaga of CIP who are both members…
FLORENCEVILLE-BRISTOL, N.B., Sept 3, 2019 — Guest Farms Ltd. of Holmesville was named the 2018-2019 McCain Champion Potato Grower for Florenceville-Bristol during the 46th Annual McCain Growers’ Banquet held August 22. This year, approximately 200 guests gathered at Northern Carleton Civic Center in Florenceville-Bristol to celebrate the top growers and to recognize their hard work over the past year. Allison McCain, Chairman of McCain Foods Limited, Dale McCarthy, VP Integrated Supply Chain NA…