BC’s potato crop was up 10% in 2023, according to the latest estimate from United Potato Growers of Canada.
With few acres abandoned and ideal conditions through the growing season, BC is estimated to have harvested nearly 1.8 million hundredweight (cwt), or 87,950 tons.
“It was the perfect year, really,” Heather Meberg, owner of ES Cropconsult and organizer of the annual potato variety trials told Country Life in BC at the annual potato field day in Delta at the end of August.
The harvest proved her correct, delivering larger, more uniform spuds than those seen in previous years. While some yellow varieties developed unusual shapes and sizes due to the season’s hot, dry conditions – a phenomenon reminiscent of the impact extreme heat had in on the crop in 2021 – they were the exceptions rather than the norm.
The harvest in 2023 compares to 1.6 million cwt in 2022, when a wet, cold spring delayed planting and pushed harvest into October. Both years came in under the haul of 2.1 million cwt seen in 2021 as the industry recalibrated to demand trends seen during the pandemic.
The greater harvest in BC last year contributed to Canada’s largest ever potato harvest, UPG general manager Victoria Stamper reported.
The national harvest of nearly 126.9 million cwt was attributable to largely favourable growing conditions in much of the country relative to 2022.
Demand for the BC crop appears to be strong, with UPG’s disappearance report indicating uptake of nearly 1.1 million cwt as of December 18, a 21% increase from 2022 based on strong fresh market demand. This left 951,000 cwt in storage. While this was above the three-year average of 710,000 cwt, the larger 2023 crop and good demand made it of little concern.
With files from Ronda Payne
A dry season continues