Agronomy Update – February 19

Happy Friday.  A chillier stretch of weather, but far from the temperature extremes of friends in other parts of North America.

The last couple of days, Morgan and I have been getting out to visit with some growers to discuss ongoing trials as well as possible new trials.  It’s been nice to get back out and visit with many of you (socially distanced, of course) to discuss our research and agronomy projects, as well as talk about changes that growers are making on their own farms as we get closer to the planting season.

Thank you to those that attended one of the local workshops last week on the subject of soil building crops.  The video and slide deck from that presentation is now available on the Agronomy site for those that weren’t able to attend or would like to revisit it.

Video (YouTube)  

Slide Deck PDF

 Morgan and I are also finalizing reports on our various projects.  Some reports have gone out to growers, other are just getting finished up or I’m still waiting on some data to come back from the lab.  We should have the rest of these out to you quite soon.

Our final series of AIM local workshops will be March 9th and 10th on the subject of Seed Management.  I will have a more complete agenda and invite ready next week, but please mark on your calendars.  March 9th will be Emerald and Mill River, March 10th will be St. Peters and the livestream from the Potato Board office.

I am also planning a couple of short webinars in March to share with you interim results of some additional Board-funded research projects that should be of interest to producers.  Stay tuned for details on those in the very near future.

 

SpudCon 2021:

For those that haven’t already registered, the Canadian Spud Congress (SpudCon) is happening next week on Feb 24th and 25th.  This is a virtual conference with a great line-up of speakers, a virtual exhibit hall where you can meet with company reps and suppliers, and a networking lounge to meet with other farmers, agronomists, and industry partners.  To register and for the full speaker line-up, visit https://canadianspudcongress.ca/

Highlights of the speaker agenda:

Wednesday, Feb 24th:

  • Potato Marketing Overview (Canada/USA/Europe)
  • Cover Crops in Potato Rotations – Mark Stalham, UK
  • Row Width Considerations – Mark Pavek, WSU
  • Status/Management of Fungicides for Alternaria – Julie Passche, NDSU

Thursday, Feb 25th

  • Digitizing you Field Records – FCC
  • Seed Potato Regulatory Modernization
  • Grower Roundtable on Changes in Tillage Practices
  • Precision Ag on the Potato Farm – Jacob van den Borne, Netherlands

 

Additional Extension Opportunities:

Late Blight:  The Canadian Potato Council and Spud Smart are hosting a webinar on March 9th at 2 pm Atlantic Time on Fighting Late Blight.  The presenter is Dr. Rick Peters from AAFC Charlottetown, and he’ll be sharing the results of his ongoing research into tracking and combatting late blight.

Registration Link (for free)

It will also be available online to watch at a later date if you’re not able to attend on the day (ie. if you’re at an AIM Local Meeting *wink*)

BRR:  Also coming up on March 2nd will be a webinar from the Canadian Potato Council on Bacterial Ring Rot (BRR) Cleaning and Disinfection Practices.  We will have a link to share with you next week for this webinar.

Have a great weekend!

Ryan