P.E.I. farmers reliving nightmare of destroying potatoes in 2001

P.E.I. farmers are reliving the past as they face the the difficult decision of having to find a way to get rid of potatoes currently blocked from the U.S. market.

Growers say there is not enough time to pack and truck the millions of pounds that have been left unsold because of the export ban.

In 2001, the U.S. border was also closed because of the first discovery of potato wart, and Island farmers had to destroy more than 300 million pounds of potatoes.

Many Islanders know Kevin MacIsaac from his role as general manager of the United Potato Growers of Canada, but in 2001, he was also a potato farmer, on the family farm in Bear River, P.E.I.  

"It's kind of an emotional decision when I think back to it because of all the things you do growing potatoes, the thing you don't expect is that you're going to have to take them out and destroy them," MacIsaac said.

"I thought once would be enough in a lifetime for that. But it's here again."

MacIsaac said he started destroying the crop in February 2001, starting with a bin of Yukon Golds, because he knew they would not last as long in storage.

"It was pretty much a heartbreaking day when we started and we kind of hesitated because we thought perhaps there's a chance the border will open, which didn't happen," MacIsaac said.

"Every day, we would have a discussion at the end of the day, same as you have discussion after harvest.  The discussion in 2001, was how many loads did we haul out in the dump truck today, and how many loads went through the snow blower. So pretty devastating."

MacIsaac went on to destroy two more bins of potatoes, covering a 25 acre field, careful not to make the layer too thick, so they are able to decompose.

"The whole concept was to try to destroy the crop so that those potatoes would not be a source of infection for any disease in the coming year. And the best way to do that is to expose them to the cold temperatures," MacIsaac said.

"Chop them up small, so that all parts of the potato get exposed, freeze, damage the cells, and they won't grow. Because you don't want any volunteers the coming year." (Volunteers are potatoes that are not planted which are a potential source of disease).

MacIsaac was emotional as he recalled what those months in 2001 were like, and the ripple effect through Island communities. 

"We thought of all the people in the industry that were going through it, the people that we had hired to work to grade the potatoes, they went home," MacIsaac said.