A Prince Edward Island family-owned farm operation in Canada, Eric C. Robinson Inc., is closing the potato growing and packaging portion of its farming division to focus on the soybeans, forage and barley it already produces.
The company also owns Island Lime, P.E.I. Agromart and Garden Isle Farms on Prince Edward Island on the east coast of Canada. These will not be affected. The decision was difficult, but moving on from potatoes made sense, said farm manager Lori Robinson.
“This is not a forced decision, it’s a family decision to move our 200-year-old business forward,” she said. “We saw opportunities in the P.E.I. agricultural sector down the line that we had to move on. It was a good time to move on them.”
Three-quarters of the company’s 2,200 acres will continue to grow soybeans, forage and barley, but the company is looking for someone to lease the remaining acres, as well as the storage and packaging facilities to continue growing potatoes.
Robinson said she has work for the next four or five months to finish off packing last year’s crop. After that, the seasonal workers will be laid off as they normally would.
