28 Jul Agronomy Update – July 28th

Hi everyone,

After some good moisture in most areas last week, it’s been a dry week so far in PEI.  Anticipated thundershowers on Monday did not result in much rainfall across most of the province.  There is a chance of showers on Friday and Saturday, but predicted totals don’t appear to be high.  Thankfully, the full and healthy canopy in most fields helped to keep the hills cooler last week during those very hot days as well as conserving moisture.  Fields without row closure (later planted) are likely to be struggling more with moisture stress.  Some irrigation systems in East Prince are going now to keep soil moisture levels strong.

I am not hearing many issues with pests and diseases…generally, the crops are healthy and strong across the province.  I’ll be out and about more the rest of this week and early next to see more fields.

Spore Trapping Update:

Spornado (10 sites):  No Late Blight Spores Detected

Airspore Spore Results:No Late Blight Spores Detected.

It appears that we’ve surpassed the early peak for early blight (Alternaria solani) late last week and spore counts are trending down again.  Province-wide, spore numbers for brown spot (Alternaria alternata) have been pretty low all season but are picking up a little just the last week or so.  Brown spot usually flourishes as a secondary infection, particularly during hot dry weather, so it wouldn’t be a surprise for those number to grow in the next little while.  Grey mould (Bortrytis) spore counts haven’t been too problematic all season but react to weather conditions (cool and wet).  We generally get more vigilant for Bortrytis later in the season, but if you have particularly susceptible varieties and you start seeing symptoms, consider adding chlorothalonil (Bravo/Echo) to your spray program.

AIM Grower Tours and BBQs in August:

Save the date for AIM Grower Tours and BBQs to be held between August 23-25.

Our tentative schedule:

Tues, Aug 23^rd:  West Prince Tour finishing at Dock Corner Farms (10:30 am to 1:00 pm)
Wed, Aug 24^th:  East Prince Tour (Freetown/Bedeque/Kinkora), end point TBA (10:30 am to 1:00 pm)
Thurs, Aug 25^th:  Eastern Kings Tour (Rollo Bay/Souris area), finishing at MacAulay Farms (10:30 am to 1:00 pm)

Each tour will be comprised of 2-3 field visits to view field trials that are part of AIM, Living Labs, or PEIDAL research programs.  We will also have 10-foot yield samples from additional field trials at each of our end locations, followed by a free BBQ.  All growers and industry partners are welcome to attend!  Stay tuned for the final program and field locations later in August.

Next Crop Update Meeting: 

Tuesday, August 2^nd at Canadian Potato Museum in O’Leary.

All growers, agronomists, field-workers, and industry partners welcome to attend.

Hosted by the PEIDAL

Have a great rest of the week!

Ryan