09 Jul Agronomy Update – July 9th
Hi everyone,
After a few grey days with spotty showers, it looks like we’ve moved into a little drier, sunnier stretch. In looking at the PEI Dept of Ag weather stations, most of the Island has received 10-15 mm of rainfall over the last 7 days, with slightly more (20-30 mm) in Eastern Kings.
In general, the crop is progressing quickly. Potatoes planted in mid-May are quickly moving to row closure and are at flowering/tuber initiation.
Air Spore Report:
| July 7th, 2025 | ||||
| Early Blight | Brown Spot | Grey Mold | Fusarium | |
| West Prince | 0 | 3 | 8 | 2 |
| East Prince | 19 | 77 | 8 | 17 |
| Queens | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 |
| Kings | 0 | 14 | 16 | 0 |
- This was the first week of collection at most locations.
- No late blight spores were detected.
- Early blight spores were only found at one location but at a high number.
- Brown spot spore numbers are still relatively low in most locations, high at two locations in East Prince.
- Grey mold counts are low
- Fusarium is noted for those scouting cereals. Fusarium blight is not frequently seen in potatoes here.
- The timing to apply targeted fungicides for early blight/brown spot/black dot on susceptible varieties is before row closure to get good coverage on lower leaves. For early planted Targhee/Rangers/Dakota Russets, the timing for that application is ASAP.
- No late blight spores have been found in NB. Late blight spores are continuing to be detected in Maine but with no reports of field infection so far.
Aphid Alert:
- Full regional details are below.
- Aphids per sample is similar between Monday samples analyzed so far to the averages from last week. More than 4 aphids per trap.
- One green peach aphid was detected in East Prince last week. This is much earlier than in recent years. However, green peach aphids were found in Maine more than 3 weeks ago, so the early appearance isn’t surprising.
- Other colonizing aphids (potato, buckthorn) have decreased and now make up only 15% of total aphids. The majority of aphids are non-colonizing aphids.
- Seed growers are advised to keep a tight spray schedule with lots of oil application to prevent PVY spread.
| Region | Date | Number of
Samples |
Green Peach
Aphid |
Potato
Aphid |
Buckthorn
Aphid |
Foxglove
Aphid |
Bird Cherry-
Oat Aphid |
Other
Aphid |
Tarnished
Plant Bug |
Total | Average per Sample |
| WEST PRINCE | 07-Jul-25 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 58 | 0 | 71 | 5.46 |
| EAST PRINCE | 07-Jul-25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 4.00 |
| CENTRAL QUEENS | 07-Jul-25 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 40 | 4.00 |
| SE QUEENS/KINGS | 07-Jul-25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| EAST KINGS | 07-Jul-25 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1.50 |
| Total | 29 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 105 | 0 | 125 | 4.31 | |
| Region | Week Ending | Number of Samples | Green Peach Aphid | Potato Aphid | Buckthorn Aphid | Foxglove Aphid | Bird Cherry-Oat Aphid | Other Aphid | Tarnished Plant Bug | Total | Average per Sample |
| WEST PRINCE | 05-Jul-25 | 30 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 85 | 0 | 107 | 3.57 |
| EAST PRINCE | 05-Jul-25 | 25 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 85 | 0 | 99 | 3.96 |
| CENTRAL QUEENS | 05-Jul-25 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 66 | 0 | 76 | 4.75 |
| SE QUEENS/KINGS | 05-Jul-25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4.00 |
| EAST KINGS | 05-Jul-25 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 22 | 2.44 |
| Total | 81 | 1 | 12 | 33 | 0 | 4 | 258 | 0 | 308 | 3.80 |
Additional Pest/Disease Notes:
- European corn borer egg masses are being detected in West Prince and elsewhere, some at blackhead stage. Scouts should keep a close eye out for ECB egg masses.
- Colorado potato beetles are widespread, but damage is variable by field/region. In many fields, CPB are still being controlled by in-furrow neonic chemistry. There are a few reports of fields with higher levels of damage.
- Volunteer potatoes are very prevalent this year, especially close to woods/hedgerows. Growers should be paying attention to last year’s potato fields and scouting for volunteers, especially those not chewed down by potato beetles. There is a new factsheet on volunteer management on the Agronomy Site.
- Emergence issues appear to be isolated and limited. Plants are growing quickly, with a number of field planted mid-May having achieved row closure.
- There are some growers in East Prince who have started to irrigate. While we’ve had a few showers this week, total accumulation hasn’t been great, and some fields are starting to show as dry. Pay close attention to soil moisture readings as fields reach tuber initiation. Low soil moisture at tuber initiation can have a negative impact on tuber number per plant as well as common scab incidence.
Next Crop Update Meeting:
- Tuesday, July 15th – 2:30 pm at Ag Insurance Corp Building, Kensington
- Attend in-person or by Zoom. Contact Ryan for Zoom details
UPEI Sustainable Ag Conference:
UPEI is hosting a Sustainable Agriculture Conference on August 5th and 6th in Charlottetown. More on this event is available at https://atlanticsustainableag.ca/. Registration is now open, with a fee of $125.
Thank You, Bethany!
Bethany Visser is concluding her time with the Board as a Junior Agronomist this Friday and has taken on a term position with the PEI Department of Agriculture. Bethany has been a pleasure to work with for the past 16 months and has shown great aptitude and interest. She will be missed in our office, but we’re glad that she is moving into another position in the PEI agriculture industry.
Have a great rest of the week,
Ryan