Potato farmers hope aggressive marketing will benefit industry

SUMMERSIDE - P.E.I.'s potato farmers are hoping more aggressive marketing will help their industry bounce back after a tough season.
Many Island growers met Friday in Summerside for the P.E.I Potato Board's annual general meeting.
Board chair Boyd Murphy said this year's crop is roughly on par with last season's.
"Overall on the Island, I'd say we left two to three per cent of the crop in the ground, and more like eight to ten per cent in the far western part of the Island," Murphy said.
Souris farmer Kevin MacIsaac said wet weather this year hampered the crop somewhat, but a smaller harvest isn't necessarily a bad thing.
"We have a reasonably good quality there," MacIsaac said. "There are fewer potatoes harvested on P.E.I. this year so our holding numbers are down and that's good from the marketing perspective. We don't have a big problem with what we have to move through the marketplace, so nobody panics."
The board's new marketing director, Kendra Mills, is hoping some co-operation between the province's tourism and agriculture departments will give more market presence to the Island's potatoes.
Bags of the product will have an code that can be entered online for a chance to win a culinary vacation to P.E.I.
Adding to this year's woes, however, are financial problems at Cavendish Farms, a major player in potato processing.
Recently, the Irving-owned frozen potato processor announced it would close its New Annan and U.S. plants for two weeks this year because of the downturn in the economy.
The company could also implement rolling closures in 2010 in an attempt to stay afloat.
"It impacts everybody that has a contract for processing potatoes. Every day that plant doesn't run is a day where four-million pounds of potatoes are not processed in P.E.I.," said MacIsaac.
Murphy said the move was somewhat expected after Cavendish Farms cut back processing contracts by 15 per cent in the spring, but said he's confident the company and the economy will bounce back.

sbrun@journalpioneer.com