b"Rempel and Martien say. Martien adds that field checks are paramount at certain times of year such as when Colorado potatoORGANIC SPUDS IN CANADAbeetles lay their eggs. BY THE NUMBERSWe spend a lot more time scouting the fields. But we've generally had good luck. We've had very little disease pressure Canadian organic potato production over the past and generally good quality potatoes, Martien says. three years:Any products used must be natural and from the approvedo 20193,363.9 acresCFIA list. According to Rempel there are some natural productso 20202,060.7 acreswhich arent on the CFIA list. For example, garlic oil cant beo 20212,620 acresused to help keep potatoes from sprouting. The CFIA doesnt allow for any food products to be used for organic crop control, There are approximately 226 organic potato however there are changes underway for this to be allowed inproducers in Canada the future. o The largest amount of growers are located in They are very, very restrictive. And that's probably one of ourOntario at 8236.3 per cent of all growers biggest challenges in our organic production, Rempel adds. nationally Both farms have found that by following organic productionoPrince Edward Island has the largest acreage methods, theyre able to grow organic potatoes that havethough at 1,346.5 acres in 202151.4 per cent comparable yields to conventionally grown spuds.of national productionQuality is just as good as conventional and certainly needsOrganic potatoes make up only 0.1 per cent of to be just as good. We thought, at first, when the consumerCanadas total organic productionwould buy organic potatoes, they would realize, Okay, wereo Field crops, such as wheat, oats, lentils, are the buying organic, and so the quality doesnt have to be as good.most popular organic crops grown in CanadaWhat we discovered is that when somebody pays a premium foroWithin the category of fruits and vegetables, something, they want a premium product, and so the quality ofberries are the most popular organic crop the potatoes has to be top notch, Rempel explains. grownNot So Organic Seed PotatoesOrganic potatoes sales in 2021 were at $16.3 million While regulations are strict around how certified organic fresh 2.4 per cent of total potato sales for the yearpotatoes can be grown, rules arent as strict about the seed thatso This was a 2.7 per cent drop from 2020planted to grow those crops. Conventional potato seed can beoIn 2021, organic potatoes were three per cent of planted for organic potato production.total vegetable sales nationally, and 0.7 per cent Both Hakkers Organics and Kroeker Farms use conventionalof total sales for mainstream food retail storespotato seed for their operations due to lack of access to organicoThe top three organic vegetables in Canada seed. There have been some growers who have tried to producebased on sales are mushrooms, prepackaged organic potato seed over the years. greens, and carrots.In 2010, Hoogland Farms in Millet, Alta. Had the opportunity to buy some land which had been used for organic production.*All statistics were provided by the Canada Organic Through their seed potato salesman at the Edmonton PotatoTrade AssociationGrowers, they were told there was interest in organic seed potatoes from farmers market potato growers. Before purchasing the land, they also talked with a commercial organic farm, Fraserland Organics in Delta, B.C.,gardeners, but other than that no one else ever really bought who they already sold seed to asking if theyd be interested inorganic seed from us. Main reason, we were asking about 50 per organic potato seed. Fraserland was and were willing to pay thecent over conventional seedwhich we figured in doing our premium for organic potato seed. cost and putting summer follow in and you name it, all the inputs (Fraserland Organics) were decent sized customers. So, we we figured that that will be a very fair value for organic seed, thought, Okay, maybe this is the way to try it. Because I mean,Hoogland says.only for garden marketing, it wasnt worth it, Jake HooglandThey were unable to find any other commercial organic explains in a phone interview. growers besides Fraserland Organics who would buy seed from They started with a quarter section of organic land running athem. Eight years later Hoogland decided to pull the plug on his four-year rotation, growing 12 to 20 acres of organic potato seed.organic seed potato venture going back to fully conventional As a conventional seed potato grower, Hoogland had to learn thepotato seed production.ropes of organic production, having to start summer fallowingI just think the regulations are not set up properly. I understand and growing cover crops to reduce weed pressure. He alsothat if there's no organic seed available that someone can buy worked out a deal with a chicken farmer located an hour away toconventional seeds. But if it's available, who's going to check that? receive manure to fertilize his crops. The regulations are just not tight enough, he explains. Our customer in B.C. was fantasticthey supported usRempel finds the policy allowing for conventional seed to be the whole way. And then on top of them we had a few marketused is good as its hard to find organic seed. He understands 10SPUDSMART.COM Winter 2023"