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Soil health is the mantra for McCain Foods’ Farm of the Future
by The Grower
KAREN DAVIDSON
One in every four French fries in the world is manufactured by McCain Foods. The iconic Canadian company is aiming to hold that laudable achievement in the face of a global supply chain that’s being pressured by more wildly variant weather - not just in one geography but sometimes several in a single growing season.
Despite more inputs, yields have plateaued and even declined in some regions. In point of fact, the Northwest European Potato Growers reported in November 2022 that the year’s production had declined six per cent, year over year. These worrying trends have prompted McCain Foods to start three Farms of the Future in distinctly different regions of the world by 2025. To date, farms in Canada and South Africa have been announced.
Generally speaking, potato growers are receiving more precipitation in sudden bursts while experiencing more drought, conditions that are challenging soils to absorb and retain water. This means that improving soil resiliency is considered the best way forward for a more sustainable potato industry.
Two years in, the Farm of the Future has years left in its mandate to showcase regenerative techniques until 2030. Yet Yves Leclerc, global director, agriculture sustainability, McCain Foods, has plenty to share about lessons learned already from the 500 acres near corporate headquarters in Florenceville, New Brunswick.
Enhance crop and ecosystem biodiversity by planting three varieties of potatoes - Russet Burbank, Caribou Russet and Innovator - and 28 species of cover crop.
“It is possible to reduce soil erosion quite quickly through cover cropping,” says Leclerc. “What we’re finding in New Brunswick is that cover cropping is changing the weed complex. When you terminate a cover crop, then you have to prevent regrowth.”
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