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WWW.POTATOGROWER.COM 39 easy way to estimate the overall weight loss and correlate field location, harvest conditions and storage management to weight loss in storage. We found marginal weight loss differences between bags embedded in the pile versus bags placed on top of the pile. It is much easier to place bags on top of the pile, but they should not be placed on catwalks. Overall, conditions of the harvest day, field location, storage management and tuber conditions contributed to the weight loss potential in storage (Figures 2 and 3). Having information on weight loss, even after the fact, can help identify ways to manage the crop in future years. How do we minimize weight loss in storage during the remainder of the storage season? A few management options: avoid fluctuations in temperature, control disease and sprouting, humidify incoming air, and maintain a delta T (difference between top and bottom of pile) between 0.5 to 2 degrees Fahrenheit. Winter with its cooler weather often brings higher outside relative humidity. Depending on which region potatoes are being stored, outside conditions may provide sufficient relative humidity, but in most locations it is still insufficient to provide needed humidity. Colder air has a lower water content than warmer air—in other words, a lower absolute humidity. Humidifying outside air (evaporative cooling pads or supplemental humidifiers) will maintain a lower vapor pressure deficit around the potatoes. Weight loss in storage is complex. Water loss is the major culprit, so focusing on proper hydration, skin set, and pulp temperatures going into storage, along with managing early storage temperatures and equilibrating and minimizing the delta T extremes as soon as possible, and humidifying incoming air, will help with weight loss in storage. For more information contact your local Yara Retailer or Yara North America, Inc. • 800-234-9376 • www.yara.us Healthier for your crops Profitable for you How can you afford not to use YaraLiva as your primary nitrogen and calcium source? Ask for YaraLiva by name. A whole lot more than calcium nitrate. YaraLiva ® YaraLiva ® CN-9 ® improves plant health, tuber yield, size and quality CN-9 is a YaraLiva premium liquid solution that supplies nitrate nitrogen to help the plant develop a strong canopy and increase the uptake of calcium, potassium and magnesium. Calcium is a key element in plant cell structure, membrane function, and is critical during cell division. The result is higher yielding quality tubers with less culls. 166594YarNor12v.indd 1 3/27/17 9:27 AM • Variable rate fumigation for nematodes and diseases • Variable rate fertilization • Soils • Nematodes • DNA • Consulting • GAP • All viruses • Tissue • Irrigation Scheduling www.westernlaboratories.com 800-658-3858 WESTERN LABORATORIES 140539WesLab16h.indd 1 5/30/14 11:35 AM The greatest weight loss for potatoes occurs during the fi rst 30 days of storage.