About Potatoes in Canada

Potatoes in Canada

Overview

Potatoes in Canada is the national trade publication for Canada's potato industry, published by Annex Business Media from Simcoe, Ontario. It serves the full length of the potato value chain — growers, shippers, dealers, processors, researchers and suppliers — with agronomic research coverage, industry and market news, and a flagship annual print issue supported by a year-round news website at potatoesincanada.com.

Where its sister titles in Annex's agriculture group address broad-acre cropping or livestock, Potatoes in Canada is a single-commodity specialist: everything it publishes bears on the production, protection, storage, processing and marketing of potatoes in Canada, from seed production in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick to processing crops in Manitoba and Alberta and table-stock and chip production in Ontario and Quebec. Its signature event, the Canadian Potato Summit, and its podcast and interview series make it the sector's dedicated trade-media hub.

History

Trade directory listings record Potatoes in Canada as first published in 1989, and list it at Annex Business Media's Simcoe address under group publisher Michelle Bertholet, with Bree Rody as editor. No separate founding narrative has been published in the sources consulted, and the title's documented modern history is that of Annex's agriculture portfolio: a group of crop and livestock titles produced from Simcoe whose editors share programmes, podcasts and recognition schemes across the portfolio. Rody, who also edits Manure Manager and Drainage Contractor for Annex, has been the magazine's editor in the published record since the early 2020s, writing for the title and hosting its contributions to the AgAnnex Talks podcast.

The most significant recent development in the magazine's history is its change of shape. Directory listings record its print frequency as one issue a year — a Spring issue — and in an editor's column looking ahead to 2026, the magazine told readers plainly that "with Spring 2026 being our only print issue," they could look forward to more web-exclusive features and interviews on the website all year round. The title has accordingly become a digital-first publication with an annual print anchor: the Spring print edition remains the sector's yearly reference issue, while the day-to-day journalism has moved online.

The Canadian Potato Summit is the other landmark in the title's recent development. Launched in 2021 as a half-day virtual event, the Summit brings growers and stakeholders together each January for live sessions on agronomy and industry affairs from leaders in the potato sector. The fifth annual edition was held virtually in January 2025, and sessions from the 2026 Summit were posted free on the magazine's website, extending the event's reach beyond its live audience.

Content and Coverage

Agronomy is the core of the coverage. The magazine reports the research agenda of the Canadian potato sector: disease management for late blight, early blight and newer threats such as rubbery rot and potato wart; the long-running fight against the Colorado potato beetle; seed health and virus testing; fertility work, including a September 2026 report of a study finding farmers could cut nitrogen use by 25 per cent without sacrificing yield; and variety development through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's national breeding programme. Research findings are sourced from AAFC scientists, university researchers and extension specialists and written for working growers.

Around the agronomy sits the business of potatoes. The magazine covers acreage and production data — at the 2025 Summit, United Potato Growers of Canada's general manager walked growers through national figures showing Canadian production surpassing earlier levels on steadily increasing yields, even as planted acreage remained below its 2003 peak of more than 457,000 acres — along with processing and labour news, equipment and storage developments, and trade files of direct consequence to the sector, notably the 2025–26 tariff dispute with the United States, which the magazine covered from the perspective of an industry whose largest export market is American. Its news file in the autumn of 2026 ranged from Alberta processing workers' wage demands to U.S. scrutiny of P.E.I. potato imports.

Post-harvest and storage coverage is a staple of the service — the magazine's e-news programme includes a special storage edition under the banner "What's in store?" — reflecting how much of a potato crop's value is won or lost in the bin. The Summit's published programme shows the same range: the 2026 edition's industry panel brought together the Canadian Produce Marketing Association's Ron Lemaire, who reported rising consumer demand for potatoes in late 2025 and credited the air-fryer boom, United Potato Growers of Canada's Victoria Stamper and the Canadian Potato Council's Caleigh Hallink-Irwin, while its research sessions took up subjects from potato wart's research complexity to Colorado potato beetle control.

People coverage rounds out the mix. The Conversation Series, running through the autumn of 2026, publishes extended interviews with figures across the industry, and the magazine is a presenting partner in Annex's Influential Women in Canadian Agriculture programme, whose 2026 honourees included Susan Ainsworth of the Keystone Potato Producers Association.

Audience and Reach

The audience is the Canadian potato sector itself, as the directory listings define it: potato growers, shippers, dealers, processors, researchers and suppliers. It is a small, specialized national readership spread across every potato-growing region — the seed and table-stock farms of Atlantic Canada, fresh and processing production in Quebec and Ontario, and the large irrigated processing crops of Manitoba and Alberta. No audited circulation figure for the magazine appears in the directory listings consulted, and none is claimed here; the publication's reach is better measured by its role as the sector's common reading, its Summit's draw of speakers from across the country and overseas, and the year-round traffic of its news site.

Digital Presence

Potatoesincanada.com is now the magazine's primary edition. It publishes features and news on a continuous cycle — items dated through 12 October 2026 appeared on its front page at the time of writing — supported by an e-newsletter whose archives run through 2026 and by on-demand video of the Canadian Potato Summit sessions. The editor co-hosts the AgAnnex Talks podcast, the agriculture channel shared with Annex's sister titles, and the magazine's editors take part in the Influential Women in Canadian Agriculture podcast series recorded under the same banner. Subscriptions are offered in magazine-and-e-news combinations through the website; the Spring print issue is the one print edition of the year.

Ownership and Organisation

Potatoes in Canada is published by Annex Business Media, the Simcoe-based business-to-business publisher, within an agriculture group that also includes Top Crop Manager, Canadian Poultry, Fruit & Vegetable, Manure Manager, Drainage Contractor and Greenhouse Canada. Trade directory listings name Michelle Bertholet as group publisher for agriculture and Bree Rody as the magazine's editor; Rody holds the same role on two sister titles, reflecting the group's shared-editor model. Editorial contributors include AAFC and university researchers, provincial potato-board and grower-organization staff, and industry specialists; events are run through Annex's events operation, which administers the Canadian Potato Summit.

Contact and Availability

Potatoes in Canada is published by Annex Business Media, 105 Donly Drive South, Simcoe, Ontario N3Y 4N5; the directory-listed telephone number is 519-429-3966. The magazine's website, potatoesincanada.com, carries its news, features, e-newsletter sign-up and the recorded sessions of the Canadian Potato Summit, and readers can subscribe to the annual Spring print issue and e-news through the site. Inquiries about the Canadian Potato Summit are handled through Annex's events team at the address above.