Yesterday a post was added to the the PEI Potato Agronomy website titled “Important Harvest Considerations” – intended for potato growers in this important potato producing province of Canada where some farmers are struggling to complete their harvesting because of adverse weather conditions.
The post reads: “It’s been an incredibly challenging harvest season, and we’re hoping for much better weather to allow you to get the rest of the crop under cover. We’ve received some suggestions and had some thoughts as well in reflection of the conditions this fall, so we’d like to share them with you.”
Growers are reminded to take particular care of soil from harvested fields reaching warehouses, and cautions growers who have finished digging their own crops and are now helping neighbours to get their crops under cover, to ensure that their equipment are cleaned and disinfected before moving onto other farms.
Growers are also reminded that mental health is an important issue during stressful times such as these and that growers need to be mindful of that. “The growing conditions for the 2018 crop have been very difficult, and that takes a toll on you and your family, as well as on the crops. The PEI Federation of Agriculture (PEIFA) has a confidential counselling service that is available free of charge to Federation members and their families.”
