PEI Potato Board welcomes assistance to cover some storage losses

The Prince Edward Island Potato Board says it welcomes the confirmation of assistance for storage losses that occurred as a result of the extreme wet weather in the fall of 2008.
The board says it first learned of the assistance via a federal government news release that appeared on the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada website May 7.
"Since last fall, we've been seeking help for the individual farmers who lost a great deal of money when their crops broke down in storage," said Potato Board chairman Boyd Rose.
"We appreciated the co-operation shown by both levels of government when they quickly announced assistance back on Oct. 1, 2008, but it's been a long seven months waiting for this announcement on the storage component."
When the Disaster Assistance Program was announced last fall, the federal and provincial governments indicated up to $12.4 million would be provided to Island potato farmers.
However, the Potato Board says the terms of the program were quite restrictive, and even though Island farmers had to abandon 3,500 acres of potatoes (worth over $10 million) due to sodden fields, the disaster program paid out only $1.4 million of the promised $12.4 million in assistance by the end of March.
With this new announcement of help for the losses that occurred in storage, the board estimates that the total amount that will go to Island potato farmers will be approximately $2.8 million ($1.4 million for field losses and $1.4 million for storage breakdown), and not $12.4 million as announced on Oct. 1, 2008, and again on Dec. 5, 2008.
The federal portion is therefore estimated at $1.68 million, and the provincial portion $1.12 million.
"The individuals who will receive assistance under the disaster program appreciate the help," said Rose.
"We know that one farm alone lost close to $1 million due to unharvested acres and storage breakdown. The two-cents-per-pound assistance will help cover some bills, but we will lose farms as a result of the weather disaster."
In 2008, Island potato farmers planted 92,500 acres of potatoes and harvested 89,000 acres. Farm cash receipts for potatoes were over $200 million in 2008, and the value of seed, tablestock and processed potato exports from PEI over the past four years exceeded $1 billion (excluding the value of the Canadian market).
A spokeswoman for the National Farmers Union is terming the assistance "extremely disappointing."
Edith Ling, NFU District women's director in PEI, said the scale of the disaster was massive and many of the province's potato farmers are facing severe financial hardship.
She said while farmers are encouraged that governments have recognized the problem and committed some funds, the level of financial assistance falls far short of what is really needed to help producers recover.
"Two cents a pound is not nearly enough when it costs between 10 and 11 cents a pound to grow a crop," she said.
"This assistance package really only is designed to cover the additional expenses farmers had of removing potatoes that spoiled in storage from warehouses and disinfecting their buildings. It offers nothing towards the loss of the crop."
Ling says it costs over $2,500 an acre to produce potatoes and the NFU had asked the government for a commitment of four to five cents a pound, or about $1,100 an acre.
"It was a disaster and those areas should have been declared disaster areas," she said.
"Farmers are in debt to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars now and there was nothing they could have done to prevent the spoilage of their crop."
Ling is calling on the federal and provincial governments to follow through with additional funds to assist producers as soon as possible. - The Guardian