Way Too Many Potatoes, Farmers Find Ways to Dump Their Crops

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are an over abundance of potatoes in Canada and worldwide.  According to the United Potato Growers of Canada, approximately 200 million pounds of potatoes are in limbo.

 

Processors in our province are full as many restaurants that would typically purchase french fries are closed or are purchasing substantially lower amounts.  Some farmers in Idaho have such extreme surpluses of potatoes, they're dumping crops and dairy farms have started feeding potatoes to their cattle. Despite a growing demand in grocery stores, potato prices have plummeted in the last few weeks due to social distancing and a lack of demand in restaurants and the food industry. Only a few weeks prior, the industry was looking at the best prices in recent memory with even a projection of a summer shortage of spuds.

 

There has been an initiative in Canada and around the world to help potato farmers, eat more french fries.  French fries account for approximately 65% of the total potato crop in Canada.  So, to help our Alberta potato farmers, maybe have french fries as a side more often.  

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.