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Now the potato industry is heading toward another fall harvest and the culprit, or culprits, remain at large, prompting growers to band together in offering a $500,000 reward to catch those responsible.

“We have had a few new tips since the reward amount [previously $100,000] was boosted,” RCMP spokesperson Sgt Leanne Butler says from Charlottetown, adding that a team of investigators remains dedicated to the case. Still, no arrests have been made, or suspects named.

“This is an ongoing investigation,” she says.

For farmers, the sabotage has been a logistical snafu, adding costs to an old business model. One grower I spoke with, who requested their name not appear in print, talked of the $500,000 his operation has invested in metal detectors. A similar scenario is playing out on farms across the Island. (Ottawa and the province have pledged close to $4 million to assist farmers in purchasing detection equipment).

The detectors are now considered necessary, but they are also hypersensitive, triggering false potato alarms when there is no actual cause (or needle) to be alarmed about. But every warning bell must be checked, slowing production, further adding to costs.

Through it all the plucky potato, as a P.E.I. brand, and a provincial foodstuff, has shown remarkable durability among consumers. Islanders consume about 8,500 tonnes of potatoes annually — Sylvia Doiron and her family eat them three times a week — while the industry remains a billion-dollar-a-year player in the provincial economy.