Roughly 5,000 potato acres, or 8 per cent of Manitoba's total crop, was left in the ground this fall.

Dan Sawatzky, manager of Keystone Potato Producers Association, explained how Manitoba processors will make up the shortfall.

"They'll be looking to bring potatoes in from other regions. Alberta does have a few extra and Idaho does as well, but other regions also experienced some challenges to get the crop off, in particular down east, Wisconsin and PEI."

Sawatzky says yields were doing surprisingly well before the weather turned poor. Producers around Winkler and Carman were able to finish most of harvest before the damaging frost occurred. Other areas around Portage, Carberry, Cypress River and Glenboro were not as lucky.

He notes most producers did have insurance, adding the difficult harvest will hurt as many producers were looking to expand their operations to take advantage of the high demand for potatoes.