22 Aug Agronomy Update – Aug 22nd

Posted at 15:20h in Recent News by

Hi everyone,

Some folks were luckier than others to get some rain over the past 48 hours.  As you can see below, there is a wide variation of rain totals across the province.  Prince County surrounding Malpeque Bay (Cascumpec, Tyne Valley, Lot 16, Kensington, Hamilton) has been particularly dry and many potato fields are visibly suffering from the lack of moisture.  A number of producers in East Prince are on their 3rd or 4th irrigation round so far, with lots of guns and pivots going today.

 

  Rainfall (mm)
Location July 29 – Aug 22 Aug 16 – Aug 22
O’Leary 31.8 10.8
Tyne Valley 18.6 6.4
Kensington 25.2 5.6
Tryon 55.2 23.2
Harrington 70.2 25.2
Johnston’s River 111.8 25.2
Orwell 56.8 6.2
Souris 72.2 12.2


AIM BBQs:  Aug 27-29th

All are welcome to AIM BBQs the week after next.  Each event will start at 11:00 am with viewing of some samples from AIM trials in each region and a chat about ongoing AIM research projects.  This will be followed by a BBQ at 12 pm.  Dates and locations:

Tues, Aug 27:  Triple S Farms, 25 Smallman Rd, Knutsford (https://maps.app.goo.gl/NpdDjFYgV39JMiey5)

Wed, Aug 28:  Island Holdings, 987 Campbellton Rd, New London (https://maps.app.goo.gl/LG2vwUfrNBH7Xq7z6)

Thurs, Aug 29:  Mo Dhacaidh Farms, 7173 St. Peters Rd, Morell (https://maps.app.goo.gl/9JMAPoXigCwA8Xim7)

 

 Spore Trapping:

  • Late Blight has not been detected in PEI this week in either Spornado or Airspore programs.
  • Late blight spores were detected in multiple locations in Aroostock Co, Maine early last week.  In addition, foliar late blight was discovered in Presque Isle, ME late last week.  No late blight has been detected in NB so far.  No LB spores in NB or Maine this week.
  • The forecast for the next several days doesn’t look favourable to late blight development, as it continues to be warm and dry without much rainfall in the forecast.

 

AIRSPORE Aug 18/19 Aug 20/21
Region Early Blight Brown Spot Grey Mold Early Blight Brown Spot Grey Mold
West Prince 20 0 71 31 31 2276
East Prince 0 0 76 30 15 169
Queens 11 11 3645 80 0 1511
Kings       28 0 10985

 

  • Early blight spore counts have largely decreased in most fields, only a couple of fields with elevated numbers.  Brown spot spores non-detected in most fields.
  • If you have observed early blight or brown spot in any fields and would like to submit a sample for resistance testing, please contact me!  You can either drop off samples at the office, or we can arrange to collect samples.  I need a few more samples for this survey!

 

Spornado Bortrytis count averages:

 West Prince:  2.7 million/trap

East Prince:  1.4 million/trap

Queens:  44,000/trap

Kings:  827,000/trap

 

  • Bortrytis numbers are steadily increasing, despite the lack of moisture and higher temps.  If we get into a bit of a cooler trend next week, I would expect grey mold pressure to be even higher.
  • Grey mold is most worrisome when we start getting daytime temperatures consistently below 23 C (with cooler nights) and lots of free moisture.  As the forecast transitions to cooler and wetter weather, switching up your fungicide program to include chlorothanonil (Bravo/Echo) for control.  Note that only 3 applications per year of these products are allowed.

 

Aphid Alert Update:

 

Region Date Number of traps Potato Aphid Buckthorn Aphid Greenpeach Aphid Other Aphid Tarnished Plant Bug Bird Cherry-Oat Aphid Total Average pert trap
CENTRAL QUEENS 19-Aug-24 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0
EAST KINGS 19-Aug-24 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0
SE QUEENS/KINGS 19-Aug-24 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0
WEST PRINCE 19-Aug-24 11 0 0 0 11 0 0 11 1.0
Total 17 0 0 0 11 0 0 11 0.6

 

  • We have not found green peach aphids in PEI yet.  Numbers continue to be about 1 aphid per trap in West Prince, and close to zero in the rest of the province.
  • Both Maine and New Brunswick are reporting higher than normal aphid numbers throughout the season, and high numbers of green peach aphids detected starting in the last two weeks.  We should remain on the lookout for green peach arrival in the near future.
  • If you have fields with noticeable corn borer damage and you would be open to having insect samples collected for resistance testing, please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Advanced Grazing Pasture Walk – Aug 28th

The PEI Dept of Ag is hosting a pasture walk at Oyster Cove Farms on Aug 28th from 6 to 8 pm to showcase advanced grazing practices in rotation with potatoes.  Oyster Cove Farms are a participant in a Living Labs research project with grazing ahead of potatoes.

Matt Ramsay of Oyster Cove Farms is a potato farmer with a focus on building soil health.  As part of this effort, he is now custom grazing cow calf pairs, aiming to develop mutually beneficial collaborations between neighbors.  Oyster Cove Farms benefits from additional manure and cover crop management to improve soil health, and their neighbor benefits from reducing costs of stored feed.  Matt will discuss practical realities when integrating grazing ruminants onto a cropping operation, and forage/grazing management strategies.

I hope to see lots of you at the AIM BBQs next week!  Have a great rest of the week.

Ryan