Manitoba is the country's second-largest potato supplier, but this year the harvest figures are not so good.
Many fields in the provinces faced the problem of poor harvest and remained unharvested. This problem was faced not only by Manitoba but by the whole of Canada this year.
According to static data, about 8% of the crop turned out to be bad. Local farmers say that the weather is to blame: the summer was too hot and dry, and in the fall there was a lot of rain.
To cope with the shortage, Manitoba is forced to get potatoes from some other Canadian provinces and from the USA.
Farmers from Southern Potato’s farm near Winkler explained that they implemented irrigation and it helped to have a good crop on several large areas. However, it was impossible to irrigate the whole farm, so people saw potatoes of average to below average quality there.
Representatives of Southern Potato’s farm stated that every year farming requires using of new technologies, otherwise, the harvest will be quite bad.
Vic's Fruit Market in Winnipeg noted that it still has a good stock of high-quality potatoes, which it is very proud of. The market also added that a sharp rise in potato prices should not occur in the near future, at least until spring.
Farmers report that they plan to make a supply of water from precipitation that will fall in winter in case the too dry summer will again happen next year.
In general, around 64,000 acres of land are used to grow potatoes in the province.
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