P.E.I. exporters begin shipping potatoes to the U.S.

Trucks loaded with P.E.I. potatoes are bound for the U.S. mainland for the first time since the ban on the province's table-stock potatoes was lifted.

Exporters began loading their trucks on Monday, three days after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the potatoes would be permitted south of the border and four months after the ban was imposed in the first place.

"It's taking much longer than it should have. I feel like the science has proved itself months ago, but we're happy to be at this point now," said Bill Enserink of Red Isle Produce. Some of Red Isle's trucks are expected to reach Boston by early morning on Tuesday.

Eight trucks loaded with P.E.I. potatoes were scheduled to leave the Island on Monday.

Enserink said most if not all of his customers on the U.S. East Coast were eager to see trade resume.

"We had good momentum right up until the border closed in November. We were shipping basically from Boston to Florida," he said.

"Those customers have been reaching out again and asking us questions on what we have and what we can do and when we can deliver, and 'Do you have trucks?'And so I think most of the customers will be looking for various items that we do have still."

Back in business

Enserink said his company will be shipping potatoes to the U.S. daily.That will probably continue until pastJuly if the quality holds up.

He said not much is new compared to when the borders closed back in November, though the U.S. is only accepting the Island's highest-quality potatoes.

Other packing plants in the Island have also started to get new orders for U.S. customers.

"We've had contracts with retailers in the U.S. who we were filling in October and November and they've been looking for us to get back in there ever since." saidBoyd Rose, who runs East Point Potato.

Ban remains on seed potato exports

For seed potato growers, however, nothing has changed.

The ban on seed potato exports is still in place, with federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau indicating shipments aren't expected to resume any time soon.

"We are sitting on bins of seed that will eventually be fed to cows," said Skye View Farms' Alex Docherty, who sells both table-stock and seed potatoes.

"We're out of the game for this year completely, and according to the minister we're out for another year probably."

Enserink said there's definitely more work that needs to be done, particularly when it comes to reassuring customers there won't be another ban happening in the future.

"There would be customers that would be concerned about something like this happening again," he said.

"So I think the real work now, the heavy lifting for [the Canadian Food Inspection Agency] is to come up with a better understanding with the USDA so that thisdoesn't happen again."