Home gardeners frustrated with ban on P.E.I. seed potatoes

The export ban on P.E.I. seed potatoes is leaving many home gardeners frustrated this spring. 

Garden centres in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are unable to stock many of the varieties that they usually buy from seed growers on Prince Edward Island. 

The ban has also cut into the sale of seed potatoes by Veseys, a mail order business based on P.E.I. 

The ministerial order that was put in place by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency after the discovery of potato wart in two Island fields last fall prohibits the export of seed potatoes to the United States.

They are also banned domestically unless they can meet a list of regulations set by the federal agency. Most P.E.I. growers have said they can't meet those regulations.

Barry Cudmore farms in Brackley Beach, P.E.I., and has specialized for years in seed potatoes for the home garden market, including 23 garden centres across the Maritimes, as well as through Veseys.

"Well, it's gone. That's how it's affected us. We cannot ship through Veseys or the stores," Cudmore said.

"Store managers are distraught, and the thousands of people that would show up at their doors looking for these potatoes are probably even more distraught." 

Cudmore said he gave the stores a heads up in February that he might not be able to ship to them because of the export ban.

He said he has lost close to $60,000 in sales, and worries about what will happen if the ban continues.  

"We've actually picked up a store here and there every year, which is sort of a growing market for us," Cudmore said. 

"That's squashed at the moment. So what happens if it's not resolved by this winter or this fall? What should I be telling stores for next year? Two years not getting potatoes from me, I'm sure I'm going to lose some customers."

CFIA regulations

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency does allow the shipment of some seed potatoes, with certain conditions. 

In an email to CBC, a spokesperson wrote: "The Ministerial Order regulates the movement of soil from PEI. This means products must be free of soil or, if they can't be free of soil, additional risk mitigation measures must be put in place. The CFIA has established criteria that are based on international standards to assist with case-by-case evaluation for the domestic movement of commodities associated with soil. This established criteria serves to prevent the further spread of potato wart."

Cudmore said he was not able to meet the criteria set by CFIA, and doesn't think he will be able to in the future. 

"For us to make the adjustments necessary, I think we'd be shut out of the game for a number of years," Cudmore said.

"It would have made more sense to me if this had been year one going forward, then we can adjust accordingly going forward. I just I find it very frustrating. Maddening." 

Confused customers

At the Amherst Country Store in Nova Scotia, manager Joshua Dixon is fielding lots of questions from customers. 

"Most of the customers that I've talked to, whether it was in the farm store, in the parking lot or at the garden centre, the word that I hear most often coming up is 'ridiculous,'" Dixon said.

"They can't see why just one or two small cases on the Island would affect the export of seed stock."

Dixon said he was able to source some seed potatoes from a grower in New Brunswick, but is still missing some of the popular varieties that Cudmore provided, and that customers are asking for.  

"We're very much hoping next year that we're able to get back to where we were the last few years, and start ordering for Mr. Cudmore again," Dixon said.

"As soon as we are allowed to start bringing product over, we would start bringing it over from him immediately."

Lost sales

At Veseys Seeds in York, P.E.I, the export ban has also been having an impact.

"It's been a terrible inconvenience, of course, because we never knew where things stood," said John Barrett, the company's director of sales, marketing and development.

"When we launch our catalogue in November, all products are normally available. Problem was … there was still a ban on seed potatoes. So we had to turn off all of those items on our website while we encouraged our growers to reach out to CFIA to find out what they had to do in order to meet their regulations."

Barrett said only a few growers were able to meet those regulations, and that approval came late.

He said that cut in half what Veseys was able to offer its customers in varieties of seed potatoes. 

"The end result was that, out of our 14 varieties, we were only able to get seven, and six of those seven varieties we weren't able to get until quite late into the season," Barrett said.

"We have seven varieties with no sales, and six varieties whose sales are considerably lower than normal because of the lateness."

Barrett said Veseys usually sells about $250,000 annually in seed potatoes, and this year he predicts that will be down more than 60 per cent.

He said he also fears the long-term impact of the lack of availability this spring.  

"We're just wondering, will they come back next year when we weren't able to fill their requirements this year?" Barrett said. 

"Overall, it's been frustrating and, of course, it's a revenue loss for the company too." 

Barrett said Veseys will have to decide by August what, if any, seed potatoes it will feature in the 2023 catalogue, which goes to print in October.

"We do devote two pages [to seed potatoes] in our catalogue, which is a very expensive publication to produce because of the volume that we mail," Barrett said.

"If we're uncertain about whether or not we're able to get a product, chances are that it might not make it into the catalogue, particularly if it's going to take up two full pages."