Growers in Prince Edward Island, Canada, are facing economic losses because of new legislation that will require them to go to three-year rotations on their potato crops.
In addition, they are facing new laws that will require them to build more buffer zones around fields near waterways.
On top of those items, they are facing higher electrical and fuel costs this season.
“I won’t get a better price on the market for my potatoes because I have a three-year crop rotation or provide buffer zones,” one grower lamented.
President of the PEI Federation of Agriculture said that PEI growers have already lost land to buffer zones and expect to lose as much as 15 percent of their total potato ground with the three-year rotations.
Experts are emphatic that there will be less nitrate leaching on lands with the three-year crop rotations.