The Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association (CSPMA), whose members represent 95 percent of North American peat production, has announced harvests are critically low for 2008 due to wet weather.
CSPMA President Paul Short says the Canadian peat harvest is only at 43 percent at the end of August with a carry-over inventory of 17 percent. This is a record low of 60 percent compared to the last five-year average of 75 percent, he says.
“The inevitable result will likely be a shortage of professional grower peat,” he says. “Abnormal and persistently wet conditions throughout all Canadian peat harvest regions have impacted the ability of the industry to harvest expected volumes.”
The area hit the hardest is Eastern Canada, with New Brunswick and Quebec accounting for 66 percent of all of Canada’s peat production. The outcome is the peat moss industry is facing one of its poorest peat harvest seasons on record, CSPMA says.