Canadian potato storage holdings for February are at record levels, well above the five-year average and up 8.2 per cent over the same time last year, according to the most recent report.
Total Canadian Potato Storage Holdings on Feb. 1 totalled 74,031 million cwt, despite Quebec, P.E.I. and New Brunswick all showing lower stocks compared to the same month last year.
The lower stocks in these provinces seem to be mostly due to good disappearance in January, however, there are reports of higher cull rates in the eastern provinces due to the wet growing season and harvest causing some issues in storage.
The higher stock levels seem to be in the western provinces and mainly in the processing sector. Although Ontario, Alberta and B.C. did show higher stocks in the fresh sector, in overall numbers, fresh inventories are down just over five per cent for the country. If the current rate of disappearance continues, the United Potato Growers of Canada (UPGC) estimates little carryover in this sector, however, it is still early in the season.
UPGC is still keeping an eye on the high levels of processing potatoes, with some growers concerned that a part of the pile may end up in the fresh sector. However, to date, there continues to be movement from west to east to use up the surplus and balance out shortages in some of the eastern provinces.
The seed sector also saw a decrease in overall stocks of 226,000 or 2.3 per cent, with extra seed in Alberta, P.E.I. and Ontario offset by reduced inventories in Quebec, Manitoba, New Brunswick and B.C.
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