Potato Growers In Canada Continue To Struggle

The Canadian Drought Monitor shows parts of the Atlantic region in extreme drought, including almost all of the entire province of Prince Edward Island.  The Atlantic region of New Brunswick, southwestern Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, all received less than a quarter of normal precipitation in much of the growing season, escalating as the summer progressed.

The three-month summer rainfall total at Charlottetown, PEI’s capital city, was only about 60% of normal.  Prince Edward Island’s signature crop is potatoes and the 2025 harvest is underway now. Early harvested fields are showing poor yields and small size.

Owen McGregor is a fourth-generation potato farmer near Summerside.

“It’s unbelievable dry," he noted.  "Its scary dry. It hurts to see this, and the size of the potatoes, its pretty scary. There’s no size to them whatsoever this year, and its worrying for sure.”

And while later-maturing varieties might still benefit if rains arrive soon, the drought effects will be hardest on the table varieties and on processing potatoes. Irrigation pivots have been running non-stop since early July in the fields that have irrigation.

Yields Are Expected To Be Low This Year

Andrew Lawless has been growing potatoes for 24 years.  He has pivots on about 40% of his acreage. Lawless expects to see only about half-normal yields on his unirrigated fields.

“I don’t remember the last time that I saw an inch in the rain gauge. There’s no moisture there to help them bulk. And the ground is just like sand. There’s no structure left to the soil or anything. It's very dry, we haven’t had a decent amount of rain since the first of July. Definitely the worst year of my career and some are saying it’s been the worst year in their lifetime.”

The light Prince Edward Island soil is so dry that it won’t stick to the potatoes. This causes bruising, and damage to the potato skin, when passing through the machine harvesters.

It Was Dry AND Hot This Summer

The heat has compounded the problem. PEI endured more than seven days of temperatures over 85 degrees between late July and mid-August, with one day setting a 103-degree record at Fox Island just off the southern coast of PEI. Strong winds have further dehydrated soils.

Costs are high to grow a potato crop, with per-acre investment topping $5,000 per acre.

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