Cavendish Farms to study P.E.I. potato yields, quality

Cavendish Farms has started a new demonstration farm to research the benefits of regenerative agriculture.

Discovery Farm, located in New London, P.E.I., is a commercial-scale farm that will focus on building soil health and biodiversity to improve the quality of yields for P.E.I. potato farmers.

Partners involved with the project include Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the province’s Department of Agriculture, the P.E.I. Potato Board and the University of Prince Edward Island.

In an interview with The Guardian on June 20, Cavendish Farms’ vice-president of agriculture operations Jubs Bristow says the farm will highlight areas for improvement and shift to improve those areas that need attention.

First steps

The research is already ongoing, and every year, Cavendish Farms will continue to add new initiatives to the Discovery Farm, Bristow said.

“If we feel we’ve achieved initiatives that have been identified, then we’ll add new initiatives, all in the name of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving our environmental sustainability,” he said.

Ongoing initiatives that have been identified are crop rotation, different crop cover species and the availability of many more species versus monoculture species, said Bristow.

“We’re working on efficient use of fertilizers and precision application of fertilizers, as well as efficient water management, and then crop rotation is another initiative,” he said.

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Excitement

Farm Boys Inc. co-owner Kyle Maynard told The Guardian on June 20 that he’s excited about the research that will take place at the Discovery Farm.

“Every farm has a lot of sustainable practices already. But, due to the cost of these experiments, it’s very difficult to take on,” he said.

It’s great to have the information spread around many potato producers in P.E.I., Maynard added.

“Whether it’s technology, process or any different products that are used,” he said.

Practices

It’s a very good practice that P.E.I. has a mandatory three-year crop rotation, said Maynard.

“One of the things a lot of farmers are doing is high-residue tillage,” he said.

Instead of just plowing the ground, flipping it upside down and exposing all of the soil, the farm is incorporating the residue on the top so that there’s still some at the surface, Maynard added.

“It keeps your soil together a little bit better and prevents erosion. So, we do a lot of that and cover cropping has been a big process, and a lot of farmers are doing it,” he said.