Alberta produced 32,063,000 quintals of potatoes in 2023, surpassing Prince Edward Island, which harvested 25,813,000 quintals, according to the latest data released by Statistics Canada.

According to Terrance Hochstein, the Executive Director of the Alberta Potato Growers Association, the industry is changing, and this is not the case only in Alberta.

He stated that potato production is shifting from east to west, with increases recorded in tuber production in Manitoba and in the states of Idaho and Washington in the neighboring country.

Also, thanks to the expected volume of the potato crop, Manitoba moved to second place among the provinces that produced the largest number of potatoes in 2023, ahead of Prince Edward Island, a province recognized for this crop.

Terrance Hochstein said that this larger potato production in the western part of the country is largely due to the increased planted area.

Also, according to Statistics Canada, potato farmers in Alberta planted nearly 3,000 additional hectares this year compared to last year, totaling 32,415 hectares of crops.

Best performance in the country

Data from the federal agency show that Alberta was also the best-performing province in 2023.

On average, each planted acre in Alberta produced 419 quintals of potatoes. For comparison, the average in Prince Edward Island was 311 quintals per acre.

For Terrance Hochstein, this success is attributed to crop irrigation as well as weather conditions.