Cavendish Farms announced Thursday it was planning to stop processing for one week in November and again for about 10 days in December because of the downturn in the U.S. economy.
But scheduled downtimes may have to be extended beyond that, spokeswoman Mary Keith said Friday.
"If we don't see a change in the current economic situation, we are forecasting one week of downtime for every two months worked at the plant,"she said.
As it stands, Cavendish plans to shut down its two processing plants in New Annan and a third in North Dakota between Nov. 20 and Nov. 27, and again between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2.
Most employees will be temporarily laid off during those periods, company officials have said.
Processing growers knew in the spring that Cavendish Farms' export markets were dropping, said Boyd Rose, chair of the P.E.I. Potato Marketing Board. The company cut processing contracts by an average of 15 per cent.
Lamb Weston has scheduled similar shut downs for its plant in Taber Alberta.
Marti Demoss, a communications official for the Con Agra potato division plant who works near Boise, Idaho, said earlier the company will be shut down for two-week periods in early November and close to Christmas.
She said the periodic shutdowns [at Taber] are prompted by reduced raw product supplies from southern Alberta farmers to Lamb Weston.
Lamb Weston also scheduled more downtime for some of its US plants.
