Island potato growers worried about lack of rain in August [Video]

Potato growers in some parts of P.E.I. are worried about the lack of rainfall in August as they watch their potato plants shrivelling in the field.

The area around Malpeque Bay has been particularly dry, with some fields receiving a quarter of the rainfall in August that they usually see. Elsewhere there has been more rain, said Ryan Barrett, research and agronomy specialist with the Prince Edward Island Potato Board. 

“There’s parts of the province, like around Charlottetown, where there was almost a normal amount of rain, and the crop looks quite good, and they’re expecting a good crop,” Barrett said.

“There are parts of the Island that got 15 and 20 per cent of their normal rainfall, especially in parts of West Prince, parts of East Prince.”

Barrett said he has a trial field in the Cascumpec area that got only about 15 millimetres of rain in August, and …