17 Aug Agronomy Update – Aug 17

Hi everyone,

I was away last week on vacation, but I’m glad to hear that most of the Island got substantial rainfall while I was away!

Here are some rainfall totals from the past 7 and 14 days: from weather.peiclimate.ca (UPEI weather stations)

Obviously, there is lots of variation across the province.  It looks like parts of Kings County will need the rain today and for the rest of the week more than East Prince, where there are multiple stations indicating close to 4 inches of rain over the past 2 weeks.

Crop Update:

At the Crop Update meeting held yesterday in Emerald, those in attendance reported that generally the crop looks very good without major issues.  There have started to be a few reports of white mold, even in fields without a history of soybean or brassica crops.  Colorado potato beetles are an issue in some fields, particularly in West Prince.  There were also some reports of flea beetle damage but not of major concern.  Other foliar disease levels appear to be quite moderate.

Yesterday, I found grey mould (Bortrytis) in a field in Queens County.  Not a massive level of infection, but there was active sporulation happening.  Given the recent wet weather and the stage of the crop, this isn’t surprising.  Something to keep an eye on, particularly for susceptible varieties.

Morgan and I started doing our first set of ratings for Verticillium wilt (early dying) this week for one of our projects.  So far, we aren’t seeing much evidence of early dying, but we have more fields to visit.

Spore Trapping Update:

Spornado (10 sites):  No Late Blight Spores Detected

Airspore Spore Results:  No Late Blight Spores Detected in PEI.  Last week, late blight spores were detected in QC, NB and ME.

Early blight spore numbers are remaining high in Prince County, likely due to proximity of fields to areas of active infection.  I have seen some foliar symptoms of early blight this week, but not at serious levels.  Brown spot spore numbers have generally remained low through most of the season.  As you can see, Bortrytis (grey mould) spores are trending upward, with individual readings up to 1500 recorded on Monday.  Keep this under consideration as you plan your next fungicide applications.

AIM Tours – Next Week!

I have finalized our visits for AIM Tours next week.  Details below:

West Prince Tour :  Google Map

• Stop 1 : next laneway west of 504 Route 145 in Mill River East. AIM Manure Trial
• Stop 2: field across the road from 123 Oliver Road, Huntley.  AIM Reduce N Trial
• Stop 3: Dock Corner Farms (corner of Oliver & Dock Roads) for BBQ

East Prince Tour:  Google Map

• Stop 1 : across the road from 1589 Cairns Road, Freetown. Pearl Millet (Living Labs) Trial
• Stop 2 : across from 642 Dunk River Road, Bedeque (close to Dunk River Farms) – Subsoiling Trial.
• Stop 3 : behind 833 Dunk River Road, Bedeque – Cover Crop Trial (Living Labs)
• Stop 4 : Hilltop Produce, 5502 Rte 225 for BBQ.

Kings County Tour:  Google Map

• Stop 1: paved laneway where New Harmony Road and Route 16 meet.  Mustard Trial (Living Labs)
• Stop 2: field next to 200 Steeles Lane. Cover Crop before Potatoes (Living Labs)
• Stop 3: MacAulay Farms, 590 Route 16, Chepstow for BBQ.

Each of the tours will start at 10:30 am at the first location.  We will have signs by the road to help you find us.  We should arrive at the final stop around 12:00 where a BBQ lunch will be served, as well as viewing some samples from a couple of other local trials.  In addition, reps from the PEI Federation of Agriculture will be on hand to discuss the On Farm Climate Action Fund, where farms can apply for funding to assist with cover cropping, improved nitrogen use, and rotational grazing.

All are welcome!  We look forward to seeing you there and having the opportunity to share some of the on-farm trial work being done in PEI this year.

Looking forward to seeing lots of you next week.

Ryan