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34 POTATO GROWER | MAY 2019 Stewardship practices for potato growers Good Caretakers Diggin' In Diggin' In STEWARDSHIP | Industry Report For any potato grower, practicing good stewardship is a must to sustain a healthy, successful operation. There are a variety of ways growers can practice good stewardship, including how they protect their crops from pests, weeds and disease. "Practicing good stewardship from a crop protection standpoint means not relying on one single tool to manage pests," says Curtis Rainbolt, a BASF technical service representative based in Idaho. "Growers should use every practice available to them to care for and sustain their operations." In addition to using crop protection products on their crops, Rainbolt also recommends that growers use cultural practices available to them. CULTURAL PRACTICES FOR GOOD STEWARDSHIP Good stewardship starts with preserving plant health. Although the environment plants grow in varies from region to region, there are plant health practices any grower can follow. "One thing growers can do to maintain the health of their crop is practice effective soil and water management," says Rainbolt. "This starts with using the right watering practices for the soil they're growing their crops in. Growers can learn more about these practices through their local extension offices." Rainbolt also recommends that growers consider the best crop rotations to maintain the long-term health of their crop. Growing a different mix of crops reduces pests that thrive in potatoes such as wireworms and nematodes. It can also help reduce the risk of diseases and weeds that most commonly inflict damage on a potato crop. "The rotational crop a grower uses really depends on his or her geography and what crops can be grown there as well as what the markets are," says Rainbolt. "In Idaho, barley, wheat, peas, dry beans, canola and sugarbeets are common. Some growers will grow potatoes every other year, but the most beneficial rotations only have potatoes growing every three or four years." Another cultural practice Rainbolt advises