PEI potato growers wait and watch their potato storage

Kevin MacIsaac says the easy part is over for Island potato producers - the harvesting.

Now comes the tough part. Waiting for signs of rot to appear among the millions of pounds of spuds moved into storage.

"They're going into the building checking for smells and signs of rotting tubers,"said MacIsaac, chair of the P.E.I. Potato Board.

"Growers are very apprehensive,"he said.

MacIsaac is hoping producers facing rot will be able to tap a share of the $12.4 million in emergency funding announced by the province and Ottawa last month.

The money was allocated to cover the cost of disposing of unharvested water-soaked potatoes.

Approximately 4,000 acres were left unharvested, following record-breaking rainfall earlier in the season.