Prince Edward Island potato farmers got a visit from the federal minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food on Saturday, March 26, who told them seed potato growers will be waiting at least another year for good news on the reopening of the market for exports to the U.S.
As Logan MacLean reports for SaltWire Network, Marie-Claude Bibeau’s P.E.I. visit came days after the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on March 24 that P.E.I. tablestock and some processing potatoes would soon be allowed back into U.S. markets after a November 2021 ban following an October discovery of potato wart in two fields.
Bibeau spent the day March 26 speaking with farmers and also met with P.E.I. Agriculture Minister Bloyce Thompson, she said in an interview with SaltWire Network at J. and J. Farm in O’Leary.
“Obviously the conversations with the seed potato growers are more difficult, because the market will not open this year, and probably not next year as well, because we have to do the full investigation and we have to strengthen the management plan as well,” she said.
Source: SaltWire Network. Read the full story here
Photo: Marie-Claude Bibeau, federal minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, left, speaks with Egmont MP Bobby Morrissey at J. and J. Farm in O’Leary, P.E.I. Courtesy/credit SaltWire Network.
