Canada: Potatoes New Brunswick Chair balances PNB responsibilities with potato farming

New Brunswick’s Shawn Paget is among the new generation of potato farmers working hard to ensure that the industry remains an integral part of Canadian agriculture. Paget’s Riverview Farms is situated in the heart of New Brunswick’s potato belt. His 1,850-acre operation includes 680 acres of processing potatoes, which he grows in rotation with corn, soybeans and seed grains. Paget is proud to be a supplier to the french fry and potato chip markets. “I sell to McCain and Old Dutch, and it’s satisfying to actually see that product up on the store shelf and to know that you are a part of that,” he says. Paget, who turned 41 in January, has actually been farming since 1993. “I’ve been at it for awhile,” he says, adding that he grew up on a small beef and mixed vegetable farm about 15 minutes away from where he lives now. More