Prince Edward Island potato growers in Canada have submitted their applications to dispose of some of the potatoes left unsold because of the export ban to the United States, as Nancy Russell reports for CBC News. The P.E.I. Potato Board is now reviewing the applications from growers across the Island.
Under the plan, being administered by the P.E.I. Potato Board, the potatoes need to be destroyed by the end of February to qualify for compensation from the federal and provincial governments. A dispute over potato wart has closed the U.S. border to P.E.I. potatoes since November.
The closure leaves Island farmers with an estimated 300 million pounds of potatoes they cannot sell.
Brian Annear was forced to destroy a warehouse full of red potatoes on Wednesday. “It’s devastating, but I think I had a couple months to prepare for it. I could see this was going to happen,” Annear said. “Mentally it’s not something we want to do, but it was inevitable.”
Annear said destroying more than a million pounds of potatoes was a substantial loss to Annear Farms. He has applied for compensation to destroy more than four million pounds, but is hoping it will be less than that if the export ban is lifted.
Source: CBC News. Read the full report and watch a video here
Photo: Brian Annear said destroying more than a million pounds of potatoes was a ‘substantial loss’ to Annear Farms. (Submitted by Sheilagh Annear to CBC News)
