Canada: Manitoba Potato Harvest About 20–25% Complete by Mid-September, No Late Blight Reported
Manitoba Agriculture's weekly potato report says digging ranges from not yet started to 40% done across farms, with rain forecast to interrupt the harvest.
Manitoba’s potato harvest was about 20–25% complete by mid-September, according to the provincial government’s weekly potato report dated 17 September 2026.
Progress varied widely between farms, from “yet to start” to 15–40% completed, Manitoba Agriculture said. No late blight had been reported in the province so far this season.
Rainfall between 8 and 13 September ranged from about 4.4 mm at Carman, St. Claude and Treherne to around 12 mm at Wawanesa and Glenboro. Daytime highs reached 27–29°C, while overnight lows ranged from 0°C to 5.9°C. Cumulative potato heat units (P-Days) were generally around 815 and above.
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The report warned that scattered rain was forecast for 18–20 September, which could interrupt harvesting.
The report covers field progress, weather and disease only; it gives no data on tuber quality, storage intake or yields.
Manitoba is one of Canada’s main potato-processing provinces. Nationally, the United Potato Growers of Canada projected in late August a crop of 125–126 million hundredweight, and warned that heavy rain in Manitoba and Alberta was raising concerns about storage, according to Spud Smart. That projection predates the report and is given here only as background.
potatoes.news has reported on the two-track Canadian season, with recovery in Prince Edward Island and new processing capacity elsewhere (read more).
The provincial report is a single official source, and it is not independently confirmed. It is, however, the standard weekly reference used by the sector in Manitoba.
Manitoba Agriculture publishes the potato report weekly during the season, so the next edition should show whether the forecast showers slowed digging and how far the gap between early and late farms has narrowed. With overnight lows already close to 0°C, the remaining harvest window before hard frost is a practical concern for farms that have not yet started.
Why it matters
How much of the crop is lifted before rain and frost, and in what condition it goes into storage, will decide supply for processors through winter. A quarter of the harvest done by mid-September, with rain in the forecast and no late blight so far, leaves the outcome open.
Photo: Potato harvest and sorting in Declo, Idaho, USA, not Manitoba (illustrative). Kirsten Strough, USDA / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
