Full extent of Fiona’s damage to crops still unclear: PEI Potato Board

How did P.E.I. potatoes fare in the storm? Greg Donald, the general manager of the PEI Potato Board, on how the province’s potato crops fared in Fiona.

Post-tropical storm Fiona made landfall just as Prince Edward Island farmers were set to start harvesting and storing their crops.

Greg Donald, the general manager of the PEI Potato Board, says the heavy rain and high winds will likely leave an impact on farmers.

"Too much moisture can increase the risk or issues of storability of that crop, as well as the wind damage. Corn was laid over a lot of the corn fields that hadn't been harvested, and damaged them, which can significantly reduce the yield and make it difficult to harvest," said Donald during an interview on CTV News at Noon Wednesday.

"So that, in addition to damage to properties, buildings, to some of the potato warehouses and contending with a lot of downed trees. And it's difficult to harvest fields when obviously the trees are down in the fields."

Donald says the lack of power across P.E.I. has also played a factor in how farmers fared after the storm.

At the peak of outages, about 82,000 Maritime Electric customers were knocked off the grid due to the storm. As of 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, there were still over 1,400 customers waiting to have their power restored.

"The crews have been doing a tremendous job to restore power, but some of the operations haven't had power just until the last few days," Donald explained. "So, harvest was definitely delayed in a lot of cases getting through all these issues."

As far as financial losses when it comes to Island crops, Donald says it is still too early to tell.

"And we still don't know what all the effects are going to be, like in the case of potatoes. We've had tremendous weather since Fiona and we've been able to catch up in terms of harvest, but there's still concerns about how the crop is going to store. You know, water-related issues, so we'll have to wait and see."

Donald says the main focus is now on cleanup, and there is financial aid available for farmers.

"There has been some assistance and there are some programs that are currently in place that may be applicable, but it's still unclear exactly what the full extent of the damages are and what is going to be available," he said.

"We just hope that the damage will be minimal."