Prince Edward Island potato farmers are warning Americans in advertisements that a “Spudpocalypse” is nigh. Privately, in a letter to government officials, they’re placing some of the blame for the potato disaster on the federal government’s Ministry of Agriculture.
In a harshly worded letter sent last week to Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and obtained by the Star, the Prince Edward Island Potato Board blasted her for declaring the province “infested” with potato wart and suspending potato shipments to the U.S. after the fungus was found in two fields in November 2021. Since then, the potato board estimates $120 million in potential revenue has been lost, and another growing season is jeopardized as the suspension drags on.
The letter sent Jan. 20, said Bibeau’s approach – presenting the science to Americans in hopes exports will resume - has proved ineffective, and calls for an immediate shift in tactics.
“It is evident from reports from the (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) staff involved in technical discussions with the United States that no timelines have been established for a resolution, nor have they even obtained clarity on what ‘science’ is required in order to resume shipments,” the letter says. “Trade advocacy – rather than science – now seems to be the path that CFIA is suggesting.”
Trade Minister Mary Ng and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were copied on the letter, alongside a host of provincial and federal officials.
Potato board general manager Greg Donald and P.E.I. Premier Dennis King told the Star they’d welcome a trade fight, in which Canada could implement retaliatory import bans and launch a legal challenge. They suggest that would make the matter a political hot potato to be solved quickly.
The issue arose in November, when potato wart, a fungus that poses no threat to human health but can disfigure potatoes and make them hard to sell (and which lives in soil for decades), was discovered at two fields in P.E.I. Fearing that the U.S. would ban entry of Canadian potatoes altogether and that getting such a ban lifted would be difficult, Bibeau suspended export permissions to the U.S. for all P.E.I. potatoes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture followed by issuing a customs order forbidding P.E.I. potatoes from entering the country.
Because fresh or processed potatoes destined for people’s tables – as opposed to seed potatoes that would be planted in the ground - pose no threat to humans or crops, Bibeau and her department have been pursuing a strategy of presenting the scientific and technical arguments to the U.S. in an attempt to get them to sign off on a resumption of trading. Ten weeks later, both Bibeau and the potato board agree that the scientific argument that the potatoes are safe is airtight (indeed, those potatoes continue to be consumed across Canada). And yet the ban on exports to the U.S. remains in place.
Donald says that the Potato Board has received no response yet to their letter. But Bibeau responded to some of its contents in an interview with the Star, saying P.E.I. potato exports are her “Number one top priority” and defending her approach as sound. She said she had been told by her counterpart in the U.S. that the potatoes would be banned and so she needed to take pre-emptive steps. “We are bringing additional information, we have an ongoing conversation, a technical conversation, with them to reassure them to reopen the market for fresh potatoes,” she said. “And I’m confident that we will get to the point that they will be reassured and they will agree to reopen the market.”
Premier King, hearing this, said, “If Minister Bibeau believes that will be the resolution I, in my heart, believe she’s the only one.”
“I think we’ve all felt from the beginning that this has less to do with science and more to do with trade,” King said.
Since Bibeau and Canadian authorities agree there is no science supporting a ban, King argues it is time to lift the voluntary one. If the U.S. then continues blocking the potatoes, then it can be acknowledged as a simple trade spat, one he says Canada knows how to fight.
Federal officials say the matter is being pursued simultaneously by various departments - including by Trudeau and Ng. But Bibeau argues abandoning the technical approach for a trade fight carries bigger risks. “Our strength is in the scientific case. Trade issues never get solved very quickly. So I have much more hope in solving the issue through a technical discussion.”
Potato board general manager Donald asks how long farmers are expected to wait while the “technical discussion” drags on. Approximately $120 million worth of perfectly edible potatoes grown last year likely need to be destroyed, and the planting season for the 2022 crop begins in fewer than 90 days. Farmers need to make decisions now about whether to spend millions planting a new crop that they don’t yet know if they will be able to market and sell.
In the meantime, the potato board has been running ad campaigns in Puerto Rico and Massachusetts - their two biggest U.S. markets - warning consumers about the growing potato shortage and high prices they will face because of it, and calling on them to pressure U.S. authorities to resolve the issue.
Donald says the response to the ads has been good, within limits. “What we’re hearing from them is, ëWe’ve passed on our concerns, but (U.S. authorities) say they can’t (resolve it) – because it’s your own country that has a suspension in place.’ So that is frustrating.”
Donald says potato farmers can’t afford to wait. U.S. exports are typically such a large part of the market that already the industry is devastated. Losing another season, he says, might destroy it. “We are going to lose farms over this, for sure. Definitely. And I hope we don’t lose farmers.”
Edward Keenan is a National Affairs writer.