We're in the small town of Sheridan, Montana, on a potato farm. That in a month or so, we might be able to send them somewhere for some kind of processing. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories, coronavirus business & economic impact analysis, When COVID-19 closed down restaurants and hotels, potatoes headed toward food service had, It had a chain effect down to processors and growers, trapping, While farmers across Idaho and Montana have. Farmers market goes indoors – photo essay, Making food ahead of time for Christmas is a great idea, Mustard focus keeps Alberta farmers hopping, Growing a salad indoors is a feasible option this winter, Magazine launched to give young writers a voice, Organic farming’s environmental friendliness questioned, Organic sector wants certification crackdown, Producers biggest losers of failed agriculture minister talks, North American farmers warned to prepare for long dry spell, Alberta plans to make trucker licences less expensive, Food prices swell, the ‘snackification’ sensation, foreign farmworkers can’t fly home. Business Insider visited a potato seed farm in Sheridan, Montana, to understand the emotional and financial impact this has had on farmers Peggy and Bill Buyan. Zak: If you're a fresh-product grower, you'll plant a different variety, or a different genetic line of potatoes. If we'd have anticipated COVID wrong and had a short crop, a very small crop, it would have been devastating to food hunger. Zak: Even though they're losing money on them, they'd rather see someone eat them than nothing happen at all. In 2018-19, Canada exported $1.42 billion in frozen potato products, based on Statistics Canada data. You can bake it, mash it, roast it, and of course make french fries with it. Cold weather and the impact of Hurricane Dorian have damaged potato crops in the United States and Canada. Two Iowa meat plants close as COVID-19 outbreak spreads, Margin-based insurance program gains traction, B.C. The situation in Australia is the same. since. Zak: Virtually all the potatoes grown started out from a certified seed. Is there a potato shortage 2019? A significant percentage of french fries produced at Manitoba plants are exported to fast food restaurants in the U.S. Midwest. Instead, they're throwing away 700 tons. Those negotiations are messy this year because of COVID-19. Rainfall is critical for this crop. Narrator: These potatoes aren't gonna end up on your dinner table. Zak: When COVID hit, we had a huge run on retail, which lasted for about a week to two weeks, but then when we shut off all the restaurants, that's when everything came out of kilter. Zak: The other side of that is - we call it our process segment. Once the sit-down portions of restaurants closed … then all you have left is drive thrus to (sell) french fries,” said Kevin MacIsaac, general manager of United Potato Growers of Canada. Market Alert – Potato Shortage Continues As we Approach the 2019-2020 storage potato season, we are now seeing the effects of the challenges we faced along the way. Farmers farm for the love of farming, and even in tough times, we still will continue to farm for the love of farming. Bankruptcies are starting to creep up. Idaho leads the nation in potato production producing nearly 1/3 of all U.S. potatoes. Narrator: The surplus potatoes also couldn't just be sent to grocery stores. Narrator: But all of that effort barely made a dent in the number of stranded potatoes. | START CLAIMING YOUR BENEFITS NOW, The Western Producer | Response to COVID-19. The Western Producer is Western Canada’s most respected farm paper. We visited Buyan Ranch, where Peggy and Bill have been growing potato seed for 59 years. Zak Miller: More than half of our market shut down by government mandate. December 02, 2020 13:53 IST. Nobody was prepared. Supply? “Some (regions) are more and some are less.”. Peggy and Bill are facing $140,000 in losses. Bottom line: Turkey production numbers are down slightly in 2020, but this isn't directly due to COVID-19. The region is the largest producer of red potatoes in the country and … Sather and Byre are in agreement that the red potato varieties will see the largest shortage of seed in the spring of 2020 and that could have an impact on growers in the Red River Valley. The system isn’t “breaking,” it’s flexing. Narrator: To save some of the potatoes from going to waste, Buyan Ranch got creative. We're always looking for next year. In Western Canada, the crop is running behind schedule as processors push to get new crop harvest underway. “It doesn’t take a great scientist to figure it out. “This has meant curtailments of production at Cavendish Farms in New Annan.”. It’s difficult to predict how long restaurants will remain closed and when demand for french fries will be restored. Bill: When you put all your work and effort into growing them and the expense and the pride of what you grow, and then to just completely just throw it away and waste it. Normally, potato production across the Northwest looks like this. Richardson quickly added that United States does not have a potato shortage. The 2019 crop would normally cover 12 months of that two year period. Prices … Processors have filled up their freezer space and slowed or stopped production of french fries and hash browns. "There is an aluminum shortage, specifically it’s a shortage of aluminum cans.” The Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry CEO says the cause of the shortage is three-fold. $400 million plant in Lethbridge last year and JR Simplot spent $450 million to double the size of its facility in Portage la Prairie. UPDATED: Tue., Dec. 3, 2019. Narrator: Peggy and Bill have been forced to bury 1.4 million pounds of potatoes in total. Normally this time of year, Bill and Peggy would be sending their potatoes to be planted. Now that processors have stopped frying potatoes or cut production, the 2019 crop could satisfy demand for 15 to 16 months. Others grow better. Zak: Some of these farmers are looking at red all over their balance sheet, and there's no black to be seen. Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus you'd like to share? Extremely cold weather and storm systems have and will continue to put a strain on the Idaho potato industry as … Soon in Canada though, you may not be able to do any of those things. Since there will be a shortage of these workers, the industry now looks at other industries to possibly attract workers from. In Peggy's case, her customers in Washington were cut back more than 50%, and she and Bill were stuck with tons of seed they'd normally sell. Process potatoes represent the bulk of potato acres in Canada and the United States. Canada is currently facing a nationwide potato shortage that farmers are calling completely unprecedented. Bill: We had high hopes that maybe something would turn up, you know? Their final destination is this hole. Narrator: Now back to the farm. Bill: We already had the ground prepared, and we raise most of our own seed and buy some, so, I mean, you might as well just carry on. - See 170 traveller reviews, 16 candid photos, and great deals for Bedlington, UK, at Tripadvisor. An unusually cold and wet potato harvest season may lead to a French fry shortage in the US ... those raw potatoes may have moved in different areas than perhaps they would in areas where there… Narrator: And the same thing is happening across the Northwest. WA plants and harvests potatoes year-round so are able to supply fresh potatoes 52 weeks of the year. A shortage of french fries could be coming, Bloomberg reported Monday. Updated 4:45 PM ET, Tue December 3, 2019 . Potatoes are hitting the market at lower grades following the wettest autumn since 2012. Zak: You can't take some of these facilities that are built directly for food service and then tomorrow flip a switch and make them able to sell into retail. The potato is arguably one of the most versatile side dishes out there. The situation changes every day, but potato acres in Canada and the United States could take a dramatic hit in 2020. Zak: If I was advising a year ago, not knowing what was gonna happen, I wouldn't have told them to do anything differently than they did now. Sather and Byre are in agreement that the red potato varieties will see the largest shortage of seed in the spring of 2020 and that could have an impact on growers in the Red River Valley. | File photo. The Federal Government’s announcement that all people arriving in Australia, including citizens, must self-isolate for a fortnight could have implications for agricultural workers. Cold weather has led to a potato shortage in North America, threatening the availability of french fries, Bloomberg reported Monday. Strong and stable for over 95 years, The Western Producer has earned the trust of farmers and advertisers alike. Just, some fry better, they have a better color to them. “What’s that doing … is you’re taking the remaining eight or nine months out of that (two year) calendar and that is your 2020 crop. But that point, if everything is OK and the rations, then we'll start feeding the calves with them. The Federal Government’s announcement that all people arriving in Australia, including citizens, must self-isolate for a fortnight could have implications for agricultural workers. Each potato variety goes to a specific grower in either the fresh or processed segment. That's a fairly rigorous process that avoids disease, imperfections. Potato Storage Release Dates - 2020-2021 Season Please note that every effort will be made to ensure that the storage data is released at 3:00 PM (15:00) eastern standard time. Zak: Think of everything from white-table restaurants clear down to your fast, quick service. Zak: But that's the plight of a farmer. Bill Buyan: The potatoes have been awful good to us for a lot of years, but this year it just really turned sour. Peggy Buyan: When you dump that many potatoes, the financial hit, I mean, that was what's so heart-sickening, is the financial burden. Since there will be a shortage of these workers, the industry now looks at other industries to possibly attract workers from. Bill: I mean, it was just unprecedented. “I would say across North America … the processors are going to ask us to seed between 70 and 75 percent (of normal),” said Terence Hochstein, executive director of Potato Growers of Alberta. Subscriber “An additional 3,500 acres will need to be planted this year to meet the needs of the Cavendish Farms Expansion,” United Potato Growers of Canada said in a March report. So why did this all happen? Only a month ago, processing plants on the Prairies were planning to contract more acres of potatoes. Narrator: That's the bag of potato chips, the french fries at McDonald's, or the precut fries in the frozen section. No comments. A shortage of french fries could be coming, Bloomberg reported Monday. Potato growers get the seed from Buyan and start planting in March, then they harvest in early fall. Bill: It's costing us money just to bury these. Peggy: We thought, you know, let's plant what we do, take the risk. More spuds were needed because Cavendish Farms opened a. UPDATED: Tue., Dec. 3, 2019. You're asking - a square peg in a round hole, I guess, is the best analogy I can come up with. “While food remains an essential item for everyone, we have seen a significant drop in the demand for french fries as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19),” Mary Keith, spokesperson at Cavendish Farms, told the P.E.I. By Harmeet Kaur, CNN. The combination of pandemic woes, election burnout, stress drinking, and perhaps a few ill-conceived comfort meals have all conspired to give America a giant case of agita. Peggy and Bill have given out roughly 75,000 pounds of potatoes to the surrounding community. by The Counter. It's pretty devastating, you know? Please email covidtips@businessinsider.com and tell us your story. Account active Source: Alamy . Save for later. Now they're facing a 20-year low. The acreage expansion is now on hold as Canadian growers and the potato industry wait for french fry consumption and the world to return to normal. Zak: It takes a tremendous amount of capital to grow a crop of potatoes. Demand? However, experts expect shoppers will want smaller turkeys in 2020 due to shrinking attendance numbers, and that may put a push on shoppers to buy the smaller turkeys before they're all snapped up. Cold weather and the impact of Hurricane Dorian have damaged potato crops in the United States and Canada. What are we dealing with? The economic upheaval from COVID-19 will constrain potato acres in 2020 as french fry processors use up potatoes from the 2019 crop. On its website, the group said foodservice accounts for 85 percent of all frozen potato sales. Zak: Going forward this year, I think the farmers are doing the right thing. Multiple news headlines this week have warned of a “possible French fry shortage” this year after a … Fall potato crops were hit by what could be viewed as a perfect storm of crop problems, including delayed planting, untimely rains and an early hard freeze. Raven autonomous grain cart system ready for market, China responsible for large leap in exports, Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | © 2020, Western Producer Publications Limited Partnership. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. In bad years, you just start over the next year and hope for a better, you know, better season. US experiencing shortage of potatoes used for French fries. There is little doubt that the 2019 potato crop will be seared in the memories of both potato growers and buyers. As a result, Canadians and Americans are eating fewer french fries than usual. We'd have mass shortage of potatoes, and that would have been even worse. Potato production may drop by 25 to 30 percent because of closed restaurants, a sharp decline in french fry consumption and the economic fallout from COVID-19. Peggy: We've put them into this pile and mixed straw, then we're gonna put plastic over the top of it and let it get totally broke down by next fall. News. Zak: Grocery stores or retails would have been bursting to the seams with potatoes if we had redirected all that. Cold weather has led to a potato shortage in North America, threatening the availability of french fries, Bloomberg reported Monday. Bill: She's organized two or three giveaway days, and we've had pickups from 100 miles away, people come and got potatoes. If you're a process grower, you'll grow a different product line. Russet table potato growers need to recognize that there is a strong possibility that processing potatoes will spill into the table potato market. In the spring, companies and provincial potato grower associations hold meetings to negotiate the volume and price of processing potato contracts. An unusually cold and wet potato harvest season may lead to a French fry shortage in the US. 2020’s latest (but least surprising) shortage: antacids . “It’s a huge challenge. Consumers are worried about the possibility of not having enough French fries, after this year's potato shortage. Right now, parts of Eastern Canada are facing moderate to severe drought conditions. The region is the largest producer of red potatoes in the country and it is sometimes called the “Idaho of Red Potatoes.” News > Agriculture Bad weather causes potato shortage everywhere, except in Washington. Processors are facing another UK potato shortage after heavy rains resulted in what has been described as one of the worst crops in 40 years. It said potato production for the 2019 crop year was forecast at 22.4 million tons, down 6% from the prior year. Link Copied! Narrator: So when food-service establishments shut down because of COVID-19, it was a chain effect. Narrator: Potatoes for food service, like restaurants, hotels, and catering, make up an estimated 55% of all potato crops. While retail demand is surging, demand from the food service sector -- restaurants, caterers, cafeterias -- … The Red Lion: Is there a potato shortage ????? I mean, between our time and labor and renting a large excavator to dig the hole and cover them, I mean, it's not free just to throw them away to us. That's money out of our pocket, trying to find another use of the spuds. Jun 29, 2020, 10:48 AM When COVID-19 closed down restaurants and hotels, potatoes headed toward food service had nowhere to go. They'll be looking into increasing their lines of credit, they'll be needing to remortgage some of their property, you know, just trying to free up more capital to try and survive for next year. Conditions varied by growing area, but they combined to tighten supplies of both table and processing potatoes. Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the pandemic? The potential acreage cuts are for process potatoes, which are used to make french fries and other frozen potato products. “The processors will do everything in their power to stretch that (2019) crop as long as they can,” he said. News > Agriculture Bad weather causes potato shortage everywhere, except in Washington. Narrator: Now farmers across Idaho and Montana are stuck with mountains of potatoes. FREE! JBS USA has already started developing a stronger international supply chain and poultry production is still strong. MacIsaac said the situation is similar across the country. Processors cut down orders with growers. The National Potato Council said there are $750 million to $1.3 billion in potatoes and potato products clogged in the pipeline. The situation in Australia is the same. Seed potatoes make their way through a … A possible post-Brexit ban on the importation of potatoes from the UK could affect supplies in Ireland next year, if UK table potatoes and seed potatoes fall foul of EU food safety rules. The focus on french fries with a potato shortage looming may seem odd given all the different iterations the humble spud offers, but there is good reason to focus on the fast-food staple. Bill Bostock 12/2/2019 Despite Trump’s pressure, most Americans think it is unsafe to reopen schools, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows 12.10.2020, 2:56pm. That’s where you’re finding the volume cuts for the 2020 crop across North America (for process potatoes).”. | GLACIER FARMMEDIA MEMBERSHIP. They also need to understand that it will take time to rebuild demand for potatoes that has been lost due to the shortages that will persist throughout the 2019-20 marketing season. Slowdown in processing demand, restaurant closures during pandemic caused a drop in Canadian potato production December 4, 2020; Pandemic measures dry up potato export market in the Kurdistan Region December 4, 2020; Tasmanian Government confirms it will update potato import risk assessment December 4, 2020; Have you seen the headline claiming there is a french fry shortage … UK consumers may face a home-grown potatoes shortage next year as stocks run out due to new storage rules. It starts with a seed grower like Buyan, where farmers grow a variety of seed strains. Cavendish Farms, which operates a french fry plant on Prince Edward Island, has instructed growers in that province to sell potatoes to other markets. Zak says a 100-pound sack of potatoes went from costing about $12 a sack to $3 a sack, and a farmer needs it to cost at least $5 to break even. … Just because there might be shortages in specific cuts doesn’t translate to a massive food shortage more generally. Experts fear a 12-week gap could open up in the UK supply in 2020 as a result of the loss of the main chemical used on stored spuds. Narrator: All in all, an estimated 1.5 billion pounds of potatoes are trapped in the supply chain across the US. The short-term impact on Canada’s potato industry is clear, but the mid-term consequence is more complex. “These losses are expected to be severe at least through May and will probably take at least six months before returning to normalcy based on industry projections,” said Potatoes USA, which represents American potato growers. Week after week, it delivers the information farmers have come to rely on. Updated October 15, 2020 9:30 am Britain is facing a sweet potato shortage after extreme weather hurt US crops and import costs rose thanks to a falling pound. In Manitoba, about 5,000 more acres were needed to satisfy the JR Simplot plant. Aug 20, 2020. Maybe if there are smaller gatherings, people might want smaller birds." BEGIN SAVING NOW, MEMBERS GET MORE! If you didn't, you'd have quit a long time ago. It's the supply chain from the growers to the supermarket that got interrupted. More than $800 million of those exports came from Manitoba and Alberta. Tens of thousands of restaurants are now closed in North America because of the risk of spreading the coronavirus. Peggy: Right now it's, like, 200,000, roughly, in there, with everything, I would say. I guess that's kind of the farm and ranch. At this time the PEI Potato Board would estimate that overall production could be … Prairie yields currently look average at best. Get Rediff News in your Inbox: email. The cuts to volume come at a time when Manitoba and Alberta’s potato industry was poised for expansion. By Henry Sandercock 2020-02-13T12:49:00+00 :00. There are growing districts on PEI which have had a much better summer with timely rainfall events, but they have been very localized making predictions on crop yield almost impossible. A potato paucity is upon us, and French fry aficionados are worried. Out of options, the growers cut their orders with seed farmers. Share. For farmers across Idaho and Montana, that number comes to $8 million. Farmers are still planting potatoes, just not as much. Despite road blocks, there's no shortage of potato, onion in Delhi By Sanjeeb Mukherjee. Processors facing another shortage of UK potatoes following heavy rain. You don't actually see the potato; you see the byproduct or the end result of that. And more than half of the industry's potatoes were stranded on seed farms. In the fresh segment... Zak: You're actually seeing the potato in its true form. One way to think about it, Hochstein said, is to consider the time period from Aug. 1, 2019 to July 31, 2021. News; Consumer; UK set for crisp shortage as extreme weather to blame for dwindling potato supply The UK could be hit with yet another shortage as a “crisp crisis” is set to hit England. Once the potatoes are out of the ground, they go into storage or are sent to a factory, where they're cleaned and turned into either fresh or processed potatoes. Potato production may drop by 25 to 30 percent because of closed restaurants, a sharp decline in french fry consumption and the economic fallout from COVID-19. The … Narrator: Farmers are also mashing up potatoes into a compost-like mixture to feed cattle next year. She's distributed them down on our street in town, just set up and people stop, they give them a bag of potatoes. In … Idaho leads the nation in potato production producing nearly 1/3 of all U.S. potatoes. Nobody could imagine that this could happen,” Rabobank food analyst JP Frossard said. The immediate consequence is that potato processing plants operated by McCain Foods, Cavendish Farms and J.R. Simplot have cut production of french fries, hash browns and frozen potato products. For a small operation, for us. Narrator: Buyan grows three different disease-free seed strains: Umatilla, Clearwater, and Russet Burbank potatoes. programs intended to benefit small and new farms, The care and feeding of a dragon not for the timid, Soil science can often take back seat to philosophy, Producers urged to embrace performance management, Agriculture transparency requires better education, Strong demand expected to push corn, soybean prices, Canola growers advised to prepare for liftoff, Canola supply-demand situation tightens after report, Dealership plans vote on privatization plan, Faster roading cuts into wasteful transit, Farm sale includes two barn-find ‘new’ tractors, New Alberta feedlot ready to buy cattle next year, COVID-19 cases on the rise at southern Alberta feedlots, Beef called wrong target in health movement. Just start over the next year process potatoes represent the bulk of potato acres in though... 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