Sep 21, 2017Late start leads to a strong finish for 2017 growing season
{Sponsored} By the time you read this, potato harvest across the U.S. will be nearing its end. In the coming weeks, we will hear about industry successes and shortcomings while hoping for impressive qualities and yields.
Growers will soon begin making preparations for next year. They’ll make crop protection purchases and revisit their equipment needs.
But before we look ahead to the future, we need to analyze the past. To do so, we sat down with Tye Shauck and Curtis Rainbolt, a pair of BASF technical service representatives stationed in the Pacific Northwest, to talk more about the 2017 potato-growing season.
Spudman: Can you give us a general overview of the 2017 season? What have you heard from growers?
Shauck: The 2017 season started late — a few weeks behind compared to the last few years — due to cool, wet conditions this spring. Many potatoes were slow to emerge due to the conditions, but once potatoes were up, they had fairly good growing conditions for most of the summer.
Rainbolt: The crop has progressed well with relatively low disease pressure. And despite the late start to the season, growers expect good yields and quality.
Spudman: You mentioned that growers have experienced low disease pressure. Can you elaborate? What, if any, pests and disease have growers encountered?
Rainbolt: Late blight has been somewhat isolated in the Columbia Basin. Like always, there are pockets of white mold and early blight, but overall pressure has been lower than last year. In Idaho specifically, potato psyllid counts have been lower, but the percentage of psyllids carrying the bacteria that causes zebra chip has been slightly higher.
Shauck: Growers also faced Rhizoctonia, black dot and late blight, depending on location.
Spudman: Even though pest and disease pressures were low, growers need to be prepared. How can BASF help growers fight back against unwanted invaders?
Shauck: BASF offers a variety of products in the Potato Portfolio that can help growers control a number of pests. Early in the season, Prowl® H2O and Outlook® herbicides can be used pre-emergent to control many weed species and provide residual soil activity. At planting, Priaxor® fungicide can be applied in-furrow to aid in control of soil borne Rhizoctonia. The fungicide can also be applied at the early vegetative stage to control black dot or near row closure to control early blight.
Rainbolt: I’d like to highlight Endura® and Forum® fungicides. Endura is a fungicide that provides control of white mold and early blight and should be the first fungicide applied just prior to row closure. Forum, another fungicide in the BASF Potato portfolio, provides excellent control of late blight. Regent® insecticide is excellent for in-furrow wireworm control. As you can see, BASF has multiple products with an excellent fit in potato production systems.
The goal is to help growers prevent diseases in the field throughout the growing seasons; BASF and their team of field experts are always available to help.
For questions related to BASF’s Potato Portfolio, contact your local representative or visit www.GrowSmartPotatoes.com.
Always read and follow label directions. Prowl H2O, Outlook, Priaxor, Endura, Forum and Regent are registered trademarks of BASF.
C. 2017 BASF Corporation
