POTATOES SECTOR PROFILE AT A GLANCE

Highlights Cash Receipts 2019 (thousands of dollars)

• is the second largest potato producer in Chickens 121,724 Other products 668,868 , following Prince Edward Island. One-fifth of Canada’s total potato acreage is located in Manitoba. Eggs 127,570 Canola 1,314,954 • Investments in irrigation and drainage have helped Oats 186,412 increase potato yields in Manitoba. The average yield Corn 172,581 was 346 hundredweight per acre in 2019, up 12 per cent Total from five years ago. payments 254,514 • Manitoba’s potato processing capacity has grown - from 17.2 million hundredweight to 23.4 million Potatoes 233,777 hundredweight today! Hogs Dairy 1,086,579 • Manitoba’s total potato exports were valued at products $458 million in 2019, primarily destined for the 317, 271 . Cattle and calves 588,202

Production (metric tonnes) Soybeans 433,979 Wheat, excluding durum 1,131,445 2019 Source: Statistics Canada 19,700,000 Prices (dollars per hundredweight) 2018 5 Year Average n 2018 n 2019 20,300,000 16 2017 22,200,000 15 2016 22,400,000 14 2015 21,630,000 13 2014 19,240,000 12

Source: Statistics Canada 11

10 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Source: Statistics Canada Did You Know? Processing • There are more than 24 varieties of • The Manitoba potato industry integrates potatoes grown in Manitoba. Russet primary production and value-added Burbank for processing and Sangre potato processing. for table consumption are the most • Manitoba is home to four major potato grown cultivars. processors, including J.R. Simplot (Portage • Over 80 per cent of Manitoba’s potato la Prairie), McCain Foods (Carberry and fields are irrigated to ensure potato Portage la Prairie), Old Dutch Foods yields and quality. All the French fry () and Naleway Foods (Winnipeg). process contract fields are irrigated. They make French fries, hash browns, chips and perogies. • Approximately two pounds of potatoes are needed to produce one pound • Manitoba Starch (Carberry) produces of French fries, while four pounds of potato starch for food ingredients and potatoes are needed to produce one nutraceutical markets. pound of potato chips. • Manitoba’s potato processing capacity • To improve environmental grew by 36 per cent since 2017 to reach sustainability, many potato processors 23.4 million hundredweight after Simplot’s recover energy from biogas (methane), expansion. which is generated from anaerobic • During the harvesting season from digestion of processing wastes. mid-August to early October, processors • Keystone Potato Producers Association receive potatoes directly from field. For represents processing potato the balance of the year, they source producers, and negotiates prices potatoes from storage facilities. with processors. • Manitoba’s potato producers can store up • Peak of the Market is a grower-owned to 18.5 million hundredweight of potatoes. supplier of table potatoes and vegetables in Manitoba. Market • The Seed Potato Growers Association • Manitoba’s commercial potato industry includes the production of of Manitoba represents seed potato potatoes for the seed, fresh and processing markets. farms in Manitoba. It is dedicated to the production, promotion and sales • Based on farm gate value, potatoes are the fourth most valuable crop of high quality seed potatoes in the province, following canola, wheat and soybeans. in Manitoba. • The price for processing potatoes is set annually through negotiations between Keystone Potato Producers Association and the processors. Contact us • Table potatoes are primarily sold through Peak of the Market. Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development Export 809 – 401 York Avenue • In 2019, Manitoba’s total potato exports were valued at $458 million, Winnipeg, MB R3C 0P8 down slightly due to challenging harvests in 2018 and 2019. E: [email protected] • Processed frozen products (e.g., French fries) accounted for www.manitoba.ca/agriculture approximately 90 per cent of the potato exports in 2019. • Fresh potatoes, chilled potatoes, seed potatoes, along with potato starch and potato chips comprise the remaining 10 per cent of exports. • The United States is the single dominant export market for Manitoba’s potato industry, accounting for 96 per cent of the total exports of potatoes and potato products. • Other potato export markets include Mexico, Japan, Philippines and Panama.

POTATOES IN MANITOBA