Potato Farmers Call for Minister Bibeau to Take Action Now

GRAND FALLS, NB - Delays rolling out a COVID-19-related support program for Canadian agriculture may spell doom for potato farmers.

 

While the government delays, millions of pounds of potatoes are sitting in storage and starting to rot. Early last month, the government announced a $50-million Surplus Food Purchase Program intended to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on farmers. However, there has been no action from the government — and few words from Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau — since the announcement.

 

"We need to finally settle with the province and federal government so that we can dispose of these potatoes now," says Matt Hemphill, Executive Director of Potatoes New Brunswick. "That could mean turning them to cattle feed or creating more freezer capacity to get them processed into french fries or donating to food banks. But the reality is we need help and support to do that, and the government has yet to make any tangible move in the right direction."

 

The ripple effect of the COVID-19 economic shut down has hit Canadian farms hard. The closure of restaurants and bars across the country has meant a drastic drop in the number of people ordering plates of french fries. For potato farmers, this resulted in the equivalent of 700 transport truckloads of potatoes in surplus in New Brunswick alone.

 

Canadian potato farmers have also grown millions of pounds of seed potatoes for this year that have gone unused, as dropping demand for potatoes means fewer acres were planted. Seed potatoes take years to cultivate, but are now starting to sprout in storages which makes them unusable.

 

Potatoes are one of Canada's leading agricultural commodities, accounting for a third of all vegetable farm cash receipts in the country. Canada is also the world's second-largest exporter of French fries (after The Netherlands) and fifth largest seed potato exporter — before the COVID-19 crisis hit, an estimated 70% of all potatoes grown in Canada for processing into frozen foods are shipped to other countries.

 

"The government needs to remember we are dealing with a perishable crop," says Richard Strang, CEO of Strang's Produce in Malden, NB. "The longer they delay, the greater the risk of spoilage and the increased chance we have to deal with potato blight in addition to the surplus.

 

"Without government action now, it will devastate a multi-billion industry and all of the jobs — on the farm, in the processing plants and in grocery stores and restaurants — that depend on it."

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.