Potato Grower

WWW.POTATOGROWER.COM 65 maine Eric Hitchcock Seed Certification Program Manager Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Maine's 2018 growing season was very similar to what growers experienced in 2017. A cool spring was followed by prolonged dry spells for the rest of the growing season in Aroostook County, in the northern tip of the state. Southern and central Maine experienced dry periods also. Luckily, certain growing areas received rain events later in the season to help sustain the crop. Overall, the 2018 crop appears to be very healthy despite dryness in some areas. As of Sept. 14, 2018, the certification program had 9,333 acres field certified from 109 farms. The top five varieties entered for certification in Maine in 2018 are: 1. Atlantic ................................................................843 acres 2. Lamoka ................................................................685 acres 3. Snowden .............................................................627 acres 4. Russet Burbank (MT strain) .................................594 acres 5. Russet Burbank (ID strain) ..................................508 acres Inspectors are now performing PCN sampling and are in preparation for laboratory PVY post-harvest testing. This year marks three years of transition in post-harvest laboratory testing for the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. For 2018, the Florida grow-out has been fully phased out; all samples will be ELISA post-harvest tested at the certification laboratory in Presque Isle, Maine. Ron Dyer is the director of the Bureau of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources for the State of Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Walter Whitcomb is the Commissioner of the State of Maine Department of Agriculture Conservation and Forestry. Seed potatoes in bloom near Caribou, Maine miCHigan Jeff Axford Director, Michigan Seed Potato Association Michigan's 2018 seed potato crop began the season with a small drop in acreage entered for certification. This small decrease follows several years of increase and is due to, for the most part, the way rotations worked out. The planting season was uneventful and timely. Plant growth seemed to be accelerated, with field inspections beginning a week ahead of normal. Seed inspectors were pleased with the results of inspections, as there were no rejections or class reductions necessary for virus. It was also very encouraging to note no late blight symptoms and very few blackleg symptoms were seen during the inspection process. Michigan seed-growing areas had timely rains early in the growing season but experienced dry weather during mid- summer. The lack of rain coupled with higher-than-normal temperatures created a challenge for growers in keeping up with irrigation. The higher temperatures during the day—as well as at night—had growers concerned about yields. But as they got into harvest, they were pleasantly surprised by above-average yields. There were some delays in harvest early on because of high temperatures. But for the most part, September was a good harvest month. The weather in October took a turn for the worse. Heavy rain caused delay after delay through most of the month. The second half of the month brought low morning temperatures, further delaying things. At the time of the writing of this report near the end of October, there were still a few potatoes in the ground that should be in storage by the end of the week as weather conditions improve. In Michigan, harvest inspections are part of the certification process. While this inspection is a challenge due to the logistics of actually looking at each lot as it is harvested, it provides a good idea of what the quality of the crop is as it goes into storage. Although there will be some field frost issues in a small percentage of Michigan's seed crop, I am very pleased with the overall quality of this year's crop. Potato harvest at Walther Seed Farm in Newberry, Mich.

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