No sour grapes for Ontario potatoes

With grapes taking a hit last winter, Ontario’s potato industry could be the biggest crop.

By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com; Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

There is no schadenfreude from Ontario’s potato industry—German for “no pleasure taken from the misfortune of others.”  

A combination of a bumper potato crop in 2022 combined with a devastating winter for the grape industry seems ready to crown a new champion as Ontario’s top fruit and vegetable crop.

The Ontario grape industry is usually one of the top provincial crops, with the spud usually near the top, or in second place as it was in 2021.

Of course, it is still too early to count one’s taters—another crop could swoop in for the win.

The Ontario potato crop did not see as much precipitation in the southwestern part of Ontario is farmers might have preferred—even though it seems to be a pretty good crop. But some regions did suffer from a lack of rain during the growing season, which could impact yield. Even so, many farmers had enough of a crop to provide donations to local food banks.

If we are talking about farm value, with a shortage of grapes, the crop value will go up with the farm value.

Challenging the Ontario potato and grape yields will be field tomatoes, and apples. Tomatoes while less expensive per pound, are used and are grown in greater numbers than apples. But it is the fact that apples are less common than tomatoes that allow the higher apple costs to the consumer.