Latest news with #P.E.I.PotatoBoard
CBC
24-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Potato farmers in P.E.I. asking golfers to practice their swing away from fields
Social Sharing Many golf courses on Prince Edward Island are close to potato fields, and that means an errant tee shot could lead to problems for farmers. That's why the P.E.I. Potato Board is asking golf enthusiasts to practice their swing away from farmers' fields. "When we're farming alongside the golf courses, the guys are picking up some golf balls when they're doing their harvest activities," said Scott Howatt, a processing specialist with the P.E.I. Potato Board. Golf balls and any other "foreign material" such as loose plastic or metal that has blown into fields has to be removed during the harvesting process. "Golf balls can cause some pretty serious issues at the processing plants. If they make it through the grading system and the fluming system, they can get into the knives and cause real damage there," Howatt said. "Nobody wants to purchase non-potato material and nobody wants to have the risk of having it in their food." Food safety issue Howatt said one farmer recently pulled an entire bucket of golf balls from a single field. "It's a food safety issue that all of our growers take very seriously and do the very best that they can to remove all that stuff and golf balls," he said. "When they get covered in dirt, they look like a potato going through the system." While a bad slice on the course can send a golf ball into a potato field, animals have been known to pick them up and drop them there too, Howatt said. Hans Wilting, owner of Linden Lee Farm Enterprises in Meadowbank, said he's scooped up many golf balls from his field. "We do have fields that are around a lot of summer cottages. People often take their golf clubs to summer cottages and those cottages might have tourists that might not be aware of what golf balls will do," he said. "Please don't shoot golf balls into fields." If any of his workers see a golf ball while out in the field they stop the tractor, pick it up and get rid of it. But, he said, doing that can mean the process takes a lot longer.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Province offers to buy P.E.I. potato wart index fields, take them out of agricultural production
Prince Edward Island is launching a new program that makes money available to buy fields where potato wart has been confirmed in the past. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has designated 37 sites across the Island as index fields — or areas where the soilborne fungus that causes the disfiguring disease has been identified even once. "This announcement is something that has been supported by growers on P.E.I.," said Greg Donald, the general manager of the P.E.I. Potato Board. "It's an additional layer that gives full assurance that there will be no risk from this disease." Land that is sold to the province through the buy-back program will not be farmed again, but could be used for "trees, energy solutions and preservation," a spokesperson for the government said in an email statement. It will also contribute to the province's goal of protecting seven per cent of P.E.I.'s land, the email said. The government would not say how much money is being set aside for the fund, with the spokesperson calling it "a demand-driven program... Purchasing the land will be conducted through an independent appraisal that fairly represents the market." Land owners wanting to sell their index land are being told to apply through the province's webpage. Even in cases where the affected land area in the index field is small, the entire field has to be put out of commission and removed from agricultural production to eliminate further spread, Donald said. "The main risk pathway with this organism is soil," he said. A history of market chaos Potato wart was first discovered on P.E.I. in 2000, and then again in 2021. Although the fungus poses no health risk to humans, it leaves potatoes distorted by warts and makes them unmarketable. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency banned fresh P.E.I. table potatoes from being sold into the United States for four months after it was found in the province in the fall of 2021. Some farmers with excess product were forced to destroy millions of pounds of their crop, and the sale of seed potatoes into the U.S. remains banned. The provincial response to the 2021 potato wart crisis can be looked to as a model for dealing with plant health issues, Donald said. "The message to our customers… whether here on P.E.I. or across Canada or around the world, is that if you're going to do business with P.E.I., P.E.I. potatoes, you're going to get exactly what you need, when you need it," he said. "They're going to be the safest potatoes because of how this issue has been managed and the ongoing surveillance and many layers of risk mitigation [that] have been put in place." The province recently expanded its risk mitigation measures with a new National Potato Wart Response Plan. The P.E.I. Index Field Buy-Back program will expand on investments the province has made in the Island's potato industry and help strengthen it, the government said. "We saw an opportunity to benefit our entire industry at a time when trade is of the utmost importance," Minister of Agriculture Bloyce Thompson was quoted as saying in a news release.
CBC
12-06-2025
- Health
- CBC
Province offers to buy P.E.I. potato wart index fields, take them out of agricultural production
Social Sharing Prince Edward Island is launching a new program that makes money available to buy fields where potato wart has been confirmed in the past. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has designated 37 sites across the Island as index fields — or areas where the soilborne fungus that causes the disfiguring disease has been identified even once. "This announcement is something that has been supported by growers on P.E.I.," said Greg Donald, the general manager of the P.E.I. Potato Board. "It's an additional layer that gives full assurance that there will be no risk from this disease." Land that is sold to the province through the buy-back program will not be farmed again, but could be used for "trees, energy solutions and preservation," a spokesperson for the government said in an email statement. It will also contribute to the province's goal of protecting seven per cent of P.E.I.'s land, the email said. The government would not say how much money is being set aside for the fund, with the spokesperson calling it "a demand-driven program... Purchasing the land will be conducted through an independent appraisal that fairly represents the market." Land owners wanting to sell their index land are being told to apply through the province's webpage. Even in cases where the affected land area in the index field is small, the entire field has to be put out of commission and removed from agricultural production to eliminate further spread, Donald said. "The main risk pathway with this organism is soil," he said. A history of market chaos Potato wart was first discovered on P.E.I. in 2000, and then again in 2021. Although the fungus poses no health risk to humans, it leaves potatoes distorted by warts and makes them unmarketable. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency banned fresh P.E.I. table potatoes from being sold into the United States for four months after it was found in the province in the fall of 2021. Some farmers with excess product were forced to destroy millions of pounds of their crop, and the sale of seed potatoes into the U.S. remains banned. The provincial response to the 2021 potato wart crisis can be looked to as a model for dealing with plant health issues, Donald said. "The message to our customers… whether here on P.E.I. or across Canada or around the world, is that if you're going to do business with P.E.I., P.E.I. potatoes, you're going to get exactly what you need, when you need it," he said. "They're going to be the safest potatoes because of how this issue has been managed and the ongoing surveillance and many layers of risk mitigation [that] have been put in place." The province recently expanded its risk mitigation measures with a new National Potato Wart Response Plan. The P.E.I. Index Field Buy-Back program will expand on investments the province has made in the Island's potato industry and help strengthen it, the government said.
CBC
17-02-2025
- Health
- CBC
Black dot disease detected in P.E.I. potato crops
A fungal disease that affects plant tissues has been detected in Prince Edward Island potato crops. Black dot disease — named for the fine black spots that appear on infected roots, stems and leaves — is typically brought in on infected seed and spreads through soil, said Julie Pasche, associate professor and chair of potato pathology at North Dakota State University. Pashe said that once the pathogen is in a field it will remain in the field for quite some time and build up with each additional potato crop. "They are very durable structures that survive in the soil," she said. "They're not broken down very easily." Black dot isn't thought to be widespread on the Island, but growers are keeping an eye out for it, said the P.E.I. Potato Board. Pasche ran a session on the emergence of black dot at the P.E.I. Potato Conference earlier this month. What are the effects? There are two phases of black dot: the foliar phase and the tuber blemish phase, Pasche said. The foliar phase "really ties in with the early-die complex," which is also caused by other diseases like verticillium wilt. That could result in yield loss and smaller tubers, which would affect processing growers, she said. The second phase is especially important for fresh table stock growers, Pasche said. That phase causes discolouration. "If you're in the grocery store, [they] wouldn't necessarily be the ones that you would choose." Management strategies Black dot can be seen with the naked eye, but it can sometimes be difficult to spot. It can look very similar to other diseases, Pasche said. "The most important thing is to be able to discern the symptoms and signs of black dot." When it comes to eliminating the disease, Pasche said the best method is to let land lie fallow for 15 to 20 years, depending on how much of the pathogen is in the soil. Some fungicides can also be "somewhat effective," she said. Black dot disease is relatively widespread in the U.S., and growers are managing it "to a greater or lesser degree," Pasche said. Improvements to management strategies are needed, but "it's not a doom-and-gloom sort of situation," she said.
