Manitoba potato industry fears big losses as companies cut orders

Darren Bernhardt · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 25, 2025 9:22 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

The Manitoba murphy industry — from effect producers to those who turn the main crops — is scrambling to set to quality that the companies they proviso are slashing orders, leaving them facing perchance immense losses.

"I cognize there's immoderate effect growers that are gonna get wounded a batch worse than others," said Mark Peters, who owns Spruce Drive Farms conscionable northbound of Portage la Prairie, where helium grows astir 80 hectares (200 acres) of effect potatoes, but calls himself "pretty small" successful examination to different farms successful the province.

"Definitely immoderate of the larger effect growers, they're going to beryllium astir apt losing astatine slightest $1 million, possibly more, [worth] of effect that they person successful retention that mightiness not person a home."

A effect murphy is 1 that tin be replanted to nutrient a murphy crop. Peters sells his to murphy growers, who usage them to make their yields.

"It was a daze to me, due to the fact that I was nether the content everything was good. With the upwind warming up, we're capable to commencement shipping our effect to the growers," helium said. 

But conscionable arsenic the wheels were acceptable into motion, they stopped. 

"That started present past week connected Thursday. [We] got a telephone Friday saying, 'yeah, we're gonna person to chopped our declaration with you by fractional due to the fact that we got chopped by fractional from McCains," Peters said.

McCain Foods Limited and  J.R. Simplot Company are the 2 biggest buyers of potatoes successful the province, utilizing them for a assortment of frozen murphy products that are supplied to market stores.

In 2024, Alberta produced 23.7 per cent of Canadian potatoes, followed by Manitoba (21.6 per cent) and Prince Edward Island (20.4 per cent), according to Statistics Canada.

"It's a large portion of our economy. There's a batch of wealth progressive successful the murphy industry," Peters said.

'Trying to fig retired what precisely is going on'

Producers helium has spoken to said the cuts successful orders range from 10 per cent to 100 per cent, which creates a trickle-down effect.

"As a effect grower, that means that present you're going to beryllium stuck with effect that you grew, and that's different pill to swallow," Peters said.

"So it's beauteous frustrating arsenic a effect grower to effort and turn for these [producers] that person promised they privation this seed, but past erstwhile outpouring comes and it's clip to instrumentality it present they can't.

"Their hands are tied too, truthful it is benignant of a messy situation."

It's unclear wherefore the cuts are happening, and whether they're related to the ongoing trade warfare betwixt Canada and the U.S., said Peters.

CBC News reached retired to a fig of murphy growers successful the Portage la Prairie and Carberry areas, each of whom declined to speak.

Seed producers successful the state person started gathering to sermon their options, Peters said.

"We're trying to benignant retired what to bash with the other … wherever to vessel it, oregon bash we conscionable flip it, oregon what we're going to do," helium said.

"There's not precise galore effect growers successful the state and we're each connected the aforesaid team. We don't privation to undercut anyone else. So we person to instrumentality to our prices … and we're conscionable gonna spot wherever the chips fall."

Tariff contingency not enough: PCs

Jeff Bereza, the Progressive Conservative agriculture professional and MLA for Portage la Prairie, told reporters Tuesday he's heard from galore growers who are disquieted astir the situation and "talking astir precise dense cuts."

Companies similar McCain and Simplot "have to look astatine marketplace conditions, and the marketplace conditions they're looking … astatine close present person tariffs," Bereza said.

"The trickle-down effect determination is, what's it going to bash to the unit successful those plants? What's it going to bash to those radical that proviso agronomic services?"

Bereza said the $100 cardinal the NDP government has acceptable speech for the agriculture assemblage arsenic portion of the tariff effect contingency in its latest budget won't spell acold capable to enactment murphy or canola growers, who besides look tariffs from China.

"We've known astir these tariffs … since earlier [U.S.] President Trump was elected," helium said.

"It's thing that we should person been moving connected months agone to marque definite that we were not astatine this concern that we're successful close now."

Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn said he's acceptable up a gathering with Keystone Agricultural Producers for Friday. 

Keystone said successful an email Tuesday it won't remark astatine this clip due to the fact that it's presently successful negotiations with the processors.

WATCH | Tories telephone for assistance for Manitoba murphy producers:

Peters said helium hopes seed producers person a amended thought of their situation in a mates of weeks, erstwhile the growers figure out what varieties they privation and however overmuch they mean to works this year.

"I anticipation things get figured retired present sooner than later. Spring is conscionable astir the corner, truthful it's going to deed america truly speedy here," Peters said. "It would beryllium bully to cognize what we're doing."