Dec 9, 2019

Canadian potato crop rebounds, but still sees heavy lost acreage

Statistics Canada estimates the 2019 Canadian potato crop at 106.577 million cwt, up 4% from a down 2018 season and on par with 2017.

Canadian growers planted an additional 13,000 acres (361,554 acres total) this year after poor harvest weather led to a down crop in 2018. The additional acreage led to higher production, but again bad weather led to a high number of acres being abandoned. Roughly 18,000 acres were lost in 2018, and just more than 20,000 acres were lost this year.

Average yield per acre is projected at 312.3. The five-year average is 310.7.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the U.S. crop at 422.45 million cwt, down about 6% from 2018.