P.E.I. potato farmers say post-Fiona damage adding expenses during busy harvest

It's been nearly three weeks since post-tropical storm Fiona ripped across P.E.I., and Island potato farmers say the added work of cleaning up downed trees, debris and damage to their properties has come at a tough time.

It's now the middle of harvest season and while weather conditions are helping farmers get their crop out of the ground, post-Fiona clean-up has been slowing down the process.

"There's a lot of trees that fell. We've moved more trees this fall than I've done in the last 42 years of my farming," said John Visser, owner of Victoria Potato Farm and chair of the P.E.I. Potato Board.

"And in a potato field, before the harvest goes through, the trees have to be moved. It's an added expense at a time of year when time is a very short commodity."

Visser said his staff are pulling together to finish the harvest and current weather conditions have been favourable.

He said it's a race against the changing temperatures, and there's already been frost on the ground a few mornings,meaning his team needs to wait for the ground to warm up to begin harvesting.

"There's been a few frost delays but other than that the weather has been very good once it dried out from Fiona."

Fiona has taken a toll on many potato farmers' wellbeing as well. Visser said every year has come with a new challenge, from drought in 2018, to the potato export ban linked to the detection of potato wart in P.E.I. fields in 2021.

"It just adds more stress to a stressful lifestyle, but you know it's what we do."

Harvest conditions favourable

Visser isn't the only farmer dealing with post-Fiona expenses.

"We had at least three potato storages that the roofs were completely blown off. We had a packing shed that lost the wall," said Greg Donald, general manager of the P.E.I. Potato Board.

He said there are still some potato storage locations that don't have power and farmers have been trying to find alternative storage options. Many who do have power have been lending generators to help.

"It's out of our control but since Fiona the weather has been great, so harvest has been able to progress in a timely manner."

He said about half the Island's potatoes have been harvested, which is a good place to be at this point in the season.

Federal support available

Federal Agriculture MinisterMarie-Claude Bibeau, who was on the Island Thursday to speak with farmers,said there will be financial support for all farmers who have experienced losses.

Bibeau said a number of federal programsare available to providefinancial support.Producers are encouraged to apply for interim payments under the federal government's AgriStabilityprogram to help them cope with immediate financial challenges.

"It's for all farmers whohave been affected by Fiona, so we can see damages to the crops or to animals and also to infrastructure of course," Bibeau said, adding that expenses related to removing fallen trees and debriswill also be eligible.

"We want to help them build back better."

Bibeau said the goal is to help farmers adapt to the changing climate, something Donald said is also on the minds of many on P.E.I.

"We're gonna have more, unfortunately, extreme weather events like we had, and how do we do that, to be successful in the future," Donald said.