Good weather so far has P.E.I. potato farmers optimistic

The planting season was finished early, the weather has been warmand timely rain has the P.E.I. potato crop in good shape.

"To this point, things are looking pretty good," said Greg Donald, general manager of the P.E.I. Potato Board.

"We have the potential for a decent crop, of course depending on the weather we get in the next month or so."

A dry spring allowed farmers to get out in the fields early, and growing conditions have been good since, said Donald. The greenery above the ground has grown well, and the plants are now in the process of growing the potatoes themselves below ground.

"We're at least a week, maybe a little more in some cases, but on average maybe about a week ahead of normal, like, where the crop would be at this point in the growing season," said Donald.

"The farmers, they say, until it's in the barn or it's in the warehouse in the case of potatoes you never know. But at this point we're optimistic."

That harvest is still more than a month away for most potatoes, and farmers will want to continue to see timely rain, and hopefully avoid the heavy downpours that can come from hurricanes and tropical storms, potentially flooding fields and drowning crops.

P.E.I. seeded more acres of potatoes this year, 85,300, than it has since 2019.