Collapsed barns, flattened crops and a harvest that will be impaired by both the impacts of heavy rain and downed trees in fields.

That is the legacy Post Tropical Cyclone Fiona left to agriculture producers in PEI when it passed through the province with the force of a category 2 hurricane. With the high toll in lost infrastructure and crops, many producers may be pondering whether to exit the industry.

The chair of Dairy Farmers of PEI said there were at least eight dairy barns in the province that are now unusable following the hurricane. Gordon MacBeath said the animals have all been moved to other farms and no cattle were lost during the storm.

“It will be a lot of time and expense to rebuild,” he said. “Knowing that the animals are safe will give them some time to access their options.”

With virtually all of the province without power in the aftermath of the storm and several thousand still in the dark as this issue went to press, many producers were forced to dump milk. The chair said the storm took a large human tool on producers as well.

“We are criticized when the price of milk rises a few cents and now producers have had their livelihoods wiped out.” He said “people don’t realize the impact of seeing your livelihood wiped out.”

Potato producers in the province were looking at a strong crop but now they are facing the possibility of significant losses due to rot and possible problems in storage. The general manager of the PEI Potato Board said the heavy rain both before and after the storm has left many potatoes sitting in waterlogged fields.

“Mature potatoes don’t like water,” Greg Donald said. “There could be some problems especially in low lying areas.”

There was also some damage to storage infrastructure and, with the harvest set to ramp up in the next few days, Donald said there is little time to find alternatives. As well, growers may find themselves dealing with downed trees in the middle of fields.

While the full extent of the damage will likely not be known until harvest time and beyond, Donald said it is far from the strong crop producers were hoping for. With reduced yields expected in a number of other major potato growing areas of North America, Island producers were hopeful a strong market and prices could help offset some of the losses from being shut out of the U.S. market for six months.

While much of the corn crop was flattened, the president of the PEI Federation of Agriculture noted the situation is slightly different from what happened in Post tropical Storm Dorian in 2019. Post tropical Cyclone Fiona occurred three weeks later in the season and the corn is fully-grown and ready to harvest.

“It will have to happen quickly,” Ron Maynard said. “We are hoping to get some help from other areas to assist with the process.”

Long-time soybean grower David Mol said his crop was battered by the storm but he is confident he will be able to harvest most of his fields. He noted there is a portion of his acreage that is bordered by trees “and a lot of them fell so I won’t be able to go into that area.

“It certainly remains to be seen if the quality has been impacted,” he said. “We won’t know that until after harvest. “

While he personally fared “not too bad” during the storm, the president of the PEI Cattle Producers said he knows several producers who saw their barns and other equipment destroyed. Dennis Hogan said the cost of replacing that infrastructure will be significant and time is of the essence with winter approaching.

“I know some producers are thinking of getting out,” he said. “We really can’t afford to lose anybody because our numbers are relatively small.”

Hogan said the industry, in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture and Land and the Atlantic Beef Products Inc., has been working hard to make the province more self-sufficient in beef production.

“That will certainly set back those efforts,” he said.

Mark Ashley of Wintermoor Orchards in York said his whole apple crop was wiped out by the storm. He said there were so many apples on the ground it was not safe to open his U-Pick orchard to allow visitors to go in and pick what was left.

He considers himself fortunate the orchard did not loose any trees, saying he would be back in business next year and crop insurance would help cover some of the losses.

Source - https://www.peicanada.com