Farmers waiting for details of P.E.I. potato export resumption

P.E.I. farmers are overjoyed to hear the ban on potato exports to the U.S. mainland looks to be finally coming to an end, but growers are still waiting for details about what that trade resumption willentail.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) signaled in a release on Thursday that table potatoes from P.E.I. would be allowed into the U.S. soon.

The announcement is welcomenews for farmers, who haven't been able to ship their products south of the border since the Canadian Food Inspection Agency halted exports back in November.

"[It's] really good news to hear," said Jason Webster of MWM Farms in Kinkora. "We're all going to wait and see here when the actual first load of potatoes gets over the border. We really hope it'sdays away, not weeks away."

Webster saidhe hopes to hear the full details on when trade can resume soon sofarmers can plan for the spring planting season with "a little bit of confidence."

During an interview with CBC News: Compass, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said she'd spoken with her U.S. counterpart Tom Vilsack on Thursday and he said the borders could reopen "in a matter of days."

'A matter of days' before U.S. border will reopen to P.E.I. potatoes, says Canada's agriculture minister

3 years ago

Duration 5:42

Marie Claude Bibeau tells CBC News: Compass the new export conditions are 'reasonable and based on science.'

But some important details haven't been unveiled yet. APHIS said in the release trade may only resume under "specified conditions" that prevent potato wart from being introduced into the U.S.

Bibeau saidthe U.S. new requirements may be "more specific" about where the potatoes come from.

"We hope to hear from them in the next few days," Webster said.

"We're hoping we can work out towards making [P.E.I.'s potato wart management system] suit everyone in the future. And, you know, everything needs to be tweaked as we go along and we will certainly want to do that."

'We have to believe in the system'

Ray Keenan of Rollo Bay Holdings said the resumption of trade seems to be on time accordingto what the U.S. had previously indicated when it let P.E.I. potato exports to Puerto Rico resume.

"We have to believe in the system," he said. "It does work, but it works slowly. And this is what's happened."

In the meantime, Keenan said farmers are dealing with otherfactors such as high fertilizer and fuel costs.

"This will be the most expensive crop of potatoes that's ever been grownin North America, for sure," he said.

"Given the supply of potatoes that we still have on hand, we need a fairly long runway here to move the rest of this crop. And we would have to hope and hope is not a plan that we have to work towards getting many of these potatoes to the U.S.

"The U.S. market is where these potatoes are needed for the foreseeable future. And there's a home for them, ifwe can find the transportation."