Carman-area grower Jason Kehler’s large shed will soon be filled with seed potatoes to be planted this spring and harvested in the fall.
However, there’s a lot of uncertainty this season with French fry demand down and incoming tariffs.
“A perfect storm, the perfect storm. What else do you say?” asked Kehler.
The Seed Potato Growers Association of Manitoba said in the last couple of weeks, the big French fry producers in the province cut potato orders for the year. The association said millions of dollars worth of product is no longer needed, while seed growers have too much product with no market to sell.
“Losses in income could be real and very substantial and will vary widely from farm to farm. It is estimated that there is 15 to 20 per cent excess potato seed for planting season 2025.”
The association said this is not just a problem for this year, as this also leads to uncertainty of how much seed to produce for 2026.
Kehler blamed it on a slow down in the economy, saying French fries sales are down at U.S. fast food giants like McDonald’s.
“With less people eating French fries, the demand for the fry is down. So, obviously, if the processor can’t sell a fry, they can’t buy a potato,” said Kehler.
The April 2 tariff threat is also not helping the financial crunch.
“We have trucks on the road. It’s hard to schedule freight for the first week of April because nobody knows if freight will be moving south.”
He said the Manitoba government should step up and help the industry.
Meanwhile, the province said it will work with the federal government to develop changes to agriculture assistance programs.
Plus, Manitoba has set aside tens of millions of dollars in the recent budget to help offset the impact of tariffs.
“At this stage of the game, there’s a contingency fund that’s been established. I guess it’s kind of a wait and see,” said Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshen.
Kehler said he’s not making any knee jerk reactions. He’s still going to plant the same number of potatoes as planned.
“My dad always said we never lost a crop in March, so we’re going to go with our plan,” Kehler said.
