MarketsFarm — Statistics Canada (StatCan) issued its potato production report Thursday, which noted a 1.5 per cent increase in the country’s crop in 2022.
Across Canada, nearly 122.9 million hundredweight (cwt) of potatoes were harvested last year, with an average national yield of 322.3 cwt/acre on 381,351 acres.
Alberta rose from third into the top spot in 2022, reaping 26.81 million cwt of spuds, up from 24.61 million the year before. The province’s yield came to 375.9 cwt/ac. with 71,325 acres harvested.
In terms of production, Prince Edward Island slipped from first to second at 26.6 million cwt as output eased back from 27.21 million in 2021. Farmers in Canada’s smallest province harvested 81,900 acres, which fetched 324.8 cwt/ac.
Read Also
Feed Grain Weekly: Barley, wheat swinging upward
Prices for feed grains on the Canadian Prairies have “started to rebound a little bit,” said Matt Beusekom, trader with Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge.
Manitoba rounded out the top three at 26.14 million cwt, up from 24.02 million the previous year. The harvest took in 79,250 acres with a yield of 329.8 cwt/ac.
New Brunswick and Quebec were the next productive provinces at 17 million and 14.84 million cwt respectively. In 2021, New Brunswick hauled in 18.2 million cwt and Quebec was 14.1 million. In 2022, the yield in New Brunswick came to 329.5 cwt/ac. and Quebec garnered 312.3.
Ontario was sixth in 2022 at 8.16 million cwt of potatoes on 37,100 acres for a yield of 219.9 cwt/ac. The year before, the province brought in 8.95 million cwt.
As for the rest of Canada in 2022, the potato crop in British Columbia was 1.6 million cwt, along with 1.45 million in Saskatchewan, 240,000 in Nova Scotia and 52,000 in Newfoundland and Labrador. (In a footnote, StatCan said its production numbers for Saskatchewan and Newfoundland are to be used with caution.)
