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By Justin Goulet

Potato industry feeling the impacts of COVID-19

Apr 16, 2020 | 10:42 AM

TABER, AB – The COVID-19 pandemic has caused uncertainty in industries across the world, including within Canada’s agriculture sector.

Lethbridge News Now spoke with Terence Hochstein, the executive director of the Potato Growers of Alberta. He said fry processing plants are either currently not running or running at limited capacity.

This is turn is creating problems with the potatoes that are in storage right now.

“It’s going to make this storage season very long. That in turn will cut into the 2020 crop year, therefore that’s why we do have the reduction in acreage that would be planted this spring in southern Alberta for the fry industry,” he said.

Southern Alberta’s three big potato processors are Cavendish Farms, McCain Foods and Lamb Western. They’ve all cut 20 to 25 percent of the total size of their contracted acreage in light of the pandemic.

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“Each plant has got a different amount of acres they have cut, depending on what their final sales product is – whether it’s going strictly into frozen product or frozen & retail,” Hochstein said.

“The overall average is going to be in that 20 to 25 percent [range] for the fry industry.”

Hochstein explained that the closure of dine-in service at restaurants has resulted in a decline of sales, mainly of French fries. Because of this, freezers at processing plants are full.

“[In] Canada and the U.S., there’s probably about 1.5 billion pounds of freezer storage for fries, and that’s full,” he said.

“So, when that is full and it’s not being drawn down at its regular use, then it backlogs into the plants and they’re not being able to continue to make production.”

As far as any layoffs are concerned, Hochstein said each plant is in “varying stages” of managing their workforce. He added the pandemic is also having a major impact on the seed industry in Alberta.

“Over 50 percent of seed exported out of Canada comes from the Alberta Seed Growers, and because the processing industry has cut back North America-wide, that has drastically affected our seed growers…not only in lost sales this year, but it’s going to affect the production of seed for the next two or three years,” he said.

“When I say that, I mean [that] our seed growers are having to breed or grow multi-generations of seed before it gets into the commercial stream, so they’re planning for three, four, fives years ahead all the time. They don’t know what to do now. That’s had millions of dollars invested in early generation stuff that they don’t know if they’ll have sales for in the future.”

Hochstein said the industry is taking the current situation day-by-day. However, he remains optimistic.

“Our industry will get through this. Absolutely, our industry will get through this. We’re resilient, but it might take a couple of year to even it out and I firmly believe that once we’re out the other side that our industry in Alberta will continue to grow,” he said.

“Everybody’s focused on taking care of their families, their workers – all the things that they do on a regular basis and just [hoping] for the best out the other end.”

For more on the work of the Potato Growers of Alberta, visit albertapotatoes.ca.