06 Aug Agronomy Update – Aug 6th

Hi everyone,

It’s another dry week in PEI.  While the lower nighttime temps are favourable, the lack of moisture is hitting critical for many fields. I took a drive on the weekend to Kings County and encountered a number of fields that are exhibiting early drying symptoms and drought stress. Most impacted are fields that were later planted that didn’t have a chance to fill the rows and achieve full canopy cover.

The long-range forecast doesn’t look favourable for precipitation. With crops being stressed by lack of soil moisture and hot, dry winds, growers should be on the lookout for symptoms of foliar disease and nutrient deficiencies. Hopefully we get some significant rainfall soon.

I don’t have a full Aphid Alert report this week due to the stat holiday on Monday. 13 samples have been counted so far this week, with an average of 4.3 aphids per sample. I will have a more complete report on aphids on my Friday update.

I’ve heard from a few different sources that a second generation of CPB are starting to cause significant damage in some fields. Growers and scouts should be on the lookout for CPB egg masses and larvae now.  I’m also hearing reports of flea beetles and tarnished plant bugs, but not at threshold levels.

Air Spore Results:

• No late blight spores have been detected in PEI or NB this season.
• Late blight spores have been recently detected in Quebec, and foliar late blight was found in greenhouse tomatoes in QC.
• Local weather (dry, lower humidity) is not conducive to late blight development at the moment.
• Early blight and brown spot spore counts are climbing, which is reflective of the dry weather.  Spores are lowest in West Prince, where they have also had the most rain.

Final Crop Update Meeting:

Our final Crop Update Meeting of the season will be next Tuesday, August 12^th at 2:30 pm at the AIC Building in Kensington or on Zoom.

Spudchat – Talking precision ag with Chad Mooney:

There is a new episode of SpudChat out today, where I talk with Chad Mooney of Arthur Mooney & Sons Farms of Souris about his journey back to the farm and how he has integrated a number of precision ag practices on their farm, including innovative use of drones.  You can check out that conversation here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Save the Date – AIM BBQs!

I’m in the process of finalizing dates and locations for AIM BBQs during the final week of August.  So far, I have confirmed that we’ll be hosted by Arthur Mooney & Sons Farm on Aug 26^th. We will also have BBQs that week in New London and Elmsdale…I hope to have full details confirmed by the end of this week.

Each BBQ will feature a sneak peek at some research projects being done under AIM or with some of our research partners. At the first BBQ on Aug 26^th, we’ll also have a demo of Chad Mooney’s DJI Agras sprayer drone, as well as a visit to a rotational grazing trial next door using E-Shepherd GPS collars on the cows.

All growers, agronomists, and AIM partners are welcome to these BBQs. As noted, I should have the complete list of days and times by Friday.

Have a great rest of the week,

Ryan