Prince Edward Island Potato harvest almost complete

A PEI Potato Board survey last week revealed there were about 1,000 acres of potatoes left to be harvested across Prince Edward Island, mostly in central and western P.E.I.



Elmsdale-based W.P. Griffin Inc. still had roughly 70 acres of spuds to harvest and Peter Griffin was prepared to let conditions dry out a bit more before sending the harvesters and the trucks back to the field. He anticipated a Monday resumption of the harvest.



“It’s been a tough fall right from the start,” Griffin said.



After not getting enough rain all summer, West Prince got flooded with approximately 150 mm of rain on Sept. 29 and 30.



Potato Board manager Greg Donald said West Prince growers took the brunt of that storm. He noted dry conditions previously allowed some of that heavy rainfall to be absorbed, “but every week we just seemed to have another rain which kept it on the heavy side.”



After real good harvesting conditions last year, Donald said conditions have reverted back to a more normal fall this year, one with a mixed bag of weather.



“In a normal year, most people like to be done by Halloween, but there’s usually some that drag into the first week of November,” he acknowledged.



“Most of the guys will finish up,” he predicted.