ST. ALBERT, Alberta, Canada (October 8, 2020)

The Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association (CSPMA), whose members represent 95 percent of the North American peat production, has an announcement regarding the level of harvest for the 2020 season.

A survey of members was conducted on the status of their 2020 Actual Harvest as a percentage of their 2020 Expected Harvest on August 31.

The harvest overall varied across the country. Generally eastern harvest areas exceeded or nearly met expectations while in the west the harvests were below expectations.

A regional breakdown follows:

In New Brunswick, both North and South regions were above expected harvest volumes. (New Brunswick North, 112%, New Brunswick South,120%). The favorable weather during summer, combined with a reasonably early spring supported the harvest. The harvest on Québec’s South Shore (94%) and North Shore (94%) were below expectations. Similar climatic conditions throughout the summer including several summer storms and periods of extended high temperatures did not permit either region in achieving their targeted volumes.

In western Canada (MB, SK & AB), no region achieved targeted volumes. (Manitoba, 98%; Saskatchewan, 90%; Alberta, 74%). Spring was relatively dry in Alberta and Saskatchewan enabling a reasonable start to the harvest. However, the summer’s consistent cool and wet weather accounted for the decrease. Manitoba achieved close to its targeted volume, but periods of high intensity storms created harvest setbacks during the summer. Minnesota (55%) experienced the lowest expected harvest as a consequence of weather patterns that brought rain and cool temperatures during much of the harvest season.

As in the past, the Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association (CSPMA) members are committed to working cooperatively with their commercial business partners.

Definitions:

« 2020 Actual Harvest »: The volume of CFT of harvest that corporately was achieved as of August 31, plus, what can reasonably be expected to be harvested for the last few weeks of the season considering « normal » harvesting conditions.

« 2020 Expected Harvest »: The volume of CFT that equates to a) market needs, plus, b) anticipated buffer as at the end of the 2020 season, minus, c) inventory on hand at the start of the 2020 season (what was left of the 2019 buffer).

PRESS RELEASE