P.E.I. farmers 'losing money day by day' in potato export crisis
CBC
P.E.I. farmers are five days into a suspension of trade for their potatoes into the U.S. market and it is five days of sales lost for large farms and family farms alike.
Farmers had little heads up on the suspension. It was put in place on Monday by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said that was done to prevent the Americans from doing the same thing, a move that might be more difficult to reverse.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is concerned about the discovery of potato wart in two P.E.I. fields in October. Farmers heard from the CFIA last Friday evening it could be coming.
Deanna Gaudet had been planning a 60th birthday celebration for her father — who grows potatoes in eastern P.E.I. — on that day, but it turned into a very different activity around the table.
"Him and my two brothers, who farm with him, were all sitting around the kitchen table on a conference call, listening to the news that was to come," said Gaudet.
"We still semi-celebrated, but it was just with heavier hearts."
The P.E.I. Potato Board estimates the value of the U.S. market at $120 million a year.
This is a busy time of year for potato sales, with American Thanksgiving this week and Christmas on the way.
Keisha Rose Topic, who also grows potatoes in eastern P.E.I., as well as operating a potato packer that her family co-owns with the Gaudet family, said every day the border is closed is costly.
"As things are shut we're losing money day by day," said Rose Topic.
"It's not a week or month thing that we want to see this go on."
Rose Topic said her own farm serves a lot of Canadian markets, though her American markets are growing. Her more immediate concern is for the packing facility, which serves about two dozen farms and employs 33. It currently runs two shifts, but she said it seems likely one of those shifts will have to be dropped if the border is not opened within a week.
Potato wart disfigures potatoes and reduces yields, but it is not a threat to human health. The fungus that causes it is listed as a serious concern by the USDA.
Gaudet is no longer active on her family farm, but remains close to it.
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