News on The Potato Supply Chain from Canada

The P.E.I. Potato Board is wooing an old friend in an effort to create new business opportunities for Island farmers.The board is hosting a delegation of industry leaders from Algeria.The Algerian delegation is in the province now. They are planning to...

A hearing over how Cavendish Farms negotiates potato contracts with P.E.I. growers wrapped up Thursday.Cavendish Farms, an Irving-owned company, appealed a decision by the P.E.I. Potato Board.The board had approved an order in December that required pr...

Good growing conditions this spring and summer have put the P.E.I. potato crop more than a week ahead of schedule.   Potato Board chair Boyde Rose said there was some damage from heavy rain a few weeks ago, affecting one to two per cent of the crop, bu...

Los productores de papa de la Provincia de Manitoba están considerando cambiar a un ciclo más corto de pulverización de fungicidas si el tizón tardío continúa apareciendo en los campos de cultivo de la región. Vikram Bisht, patólogo vegetal de la Inic...

Manitoba Potato growers may consider switching to a shorter fungicide spray cycle as late blight continues to show up in fields throughout the potato growing regions of the province.Vikram Bisht, plant pathologist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Ru...

The Top 200 Canadian restaurant chains managed to grow sales by 1.0 percent and increase overall units by a slightly higher 1.3 percent last year, even as the economy just started easing out of the recession. With total sales of C$23.9 billion, the Top...

Bruce Huffaker, editor of North American Potato Market News (NAPMN) forecasts the total area planted to potatoes in Canada to be 356,000 acres - 15,100 fewer acres than planted in 2009, a 4.1% reduction.

A fungus that could seriously damage Manitoba's multimillion-dollar commercial potato industry has been spotted at commercial nurseries, Manitoba Agriculture says. The provincial agency has issued a warning to residential gardeners after "late b...

Irving-owned Cavendish Farms is making arguments before a tribunal in the hopes of overturning an order that would force it to sign contracts with farmers before planting season. In 2008 and 2009, farmers were frustrated by delays from the company th...

Global Potato Tours is organizing its first international tour, scheduled to take place June 27 - July 4, 2010 on the largest potato producing province of Canada - Prince Edward Island. Tour members will be introduced in person to many individuals invo...

Canada exported 14.0 million cwt of potatoes and potato products during the January-March quarter. According to the editor of North American Potato Market News (NAPMN), Bruce Huffaker, that fell 1.7 million cwt short of the 2009 pace, a 10.7% decline. ...

Growers of processing potatoes in Manitoba have approved a deal with McCain Foods which will see production drop by 12 percent, with prices down around 15 percent. Gary Sloik, general manager of the Keystone Potato Producers Association, says growers w...

The Prince Edward Island Potato Board said it is disappointed that Cavendish Farms is appealing a new mediation and arbitration rule put in place this year. Under the Potato Board order, contracts must be worked out between Island potato processing p...

McCain Foods is laying off about 10 per cent of its workforce in Portage la Prairie this fall and Manitoba potato producers are expecting a leaner crop year.About 40 people out of a workforce of about 400 at McCain's in Portage are expected to be laid ...

Potato farmers selling potatoes to McCain Foods have seen their contract improved after going to arbitration.The farmers had complained McCain's offer price was not even close to what Cavendish Farms is giving its farmers. The issue went to arbitration...

In Manitoba, the potato crop is off to a record start - over half the potato acreage has been planted -, but that does not mean potato growers are pleased with how the spring has progressed. Growers of processing potatoes are still without price cont...

The Potato Gene Repository at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Potato Research Centre in Fredericton is about to enter a new era with a $500,000 lab expansion.   What is a potato gene repository?   Think of it as a bank where more than 150 variet...

Irish potato, one of the world's major food crops, is increasingly grown and processed for use in various products;consider the popularity of consumer favorites like French fries and potato chips. In the closely scrutinized food production industry, pr...