SpudChat

On this episode of Spudchat, Ryan talks with Steve Watts of Genesis Crop Systems here in PEI about some of his on-farm research into nutrient management, including implementing 4R nutrient management, investigating the use of enhanced efficiency nitrogen products, and now investigating the use of nitrogen-fixing bacteria products in potatoes. Steve is a professional agrologist and project lead under the ACS Living Labs PEI initiative.

Spudchat is back for a new season! In this episode, Ryan talks with Dr. Julie Pasche of North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND about Alternaria, commonly known as early blight and brown spot diseases. They discuss the differences between these pathogens and the diseases they cause, discuss differences in populations and fungicide resistance across the continent, and discuss management strategies. They finish with a chat about black dot, a growing disease of importance in many regions.

In this episode of Spudchat, Ryan talks with Chad Mooney, a potato farmer in Eastern Prince Edward Island about his journey back to the farm after time in the Canadian armed forces, how he is trying to use data from multiple sources to inform his decision making on the farm, and the multiple ways he is collecting that data, including the use of drone imagery. Chad also talks about using his DJI Agras drone for cover crop seeding and variable rate fertility management, as well as how he thinks...

In this episode of SpudChat, Ryan Barrett chats with Kelvin Montagu of Applied Horticultural Research in Australia about regenerative agriculture at the World Potato Congress, held in late June in Adelaide, Australia. This recording was done by the folks at PotatoLink, the Australian potato industry extension project. You can find out more about PotatoLink at https://potatolink.com.au, and you can check out their podcast at https://www.buzzsprout.com/2022082.

In this episode of Spudchat, we talk to Dr. Ian Scott of AAFC in London, Ontario about insecticide resistance in Colorado potato beetles. Ian was part of a team that worked for the last five years to test potato beetles from across Canada for resistance to commonly used insecticides, uncovering some very interesting results. We talk about those results and the next steps in managing these persistent pests.

In this episode of Spudchat, we head "across the pond" again to speak with Martyn Cox, an independent agronomist in England who has been working hard to figure out how to manage wireworm, which has become more of an issue in recent years. Martyn has been collaborating with folks in PEI for the last few years to inform how they improve their IPM strategies back in the UK. Martyn updates us on the challenges they face with wireworm and how they are making headway in reducing losses ...

In this episode of SpudChat, Ryan talks with Dr. Mario Tenuta from the University of Manitoba about Potato Early Dying complex (PED). Mario was the lead for Canadian Potato Early Dying Network (CanPEDNet) project as part of the FVGC National Cluster for the last five year, and included research happening here in PEI. They talk about some of the key findings from the research project, as well as where we go from here in terms of managing the disease.

This episode features another of our presenters from the 2023 PEI Potato Conference in Summerside on February 13th. Today, we hear from Anne Verhallen of OMAFRA in Ridgetown, Ontario, talking about practical approaches to soil health. Anne is a well-renowned expert on cover cropping and soil health improvement, working primarily with horticulture crop producers in South-Western Ontario. Anne discusses some of the results of trials that indicate how producers can prioritize s...

This week on SpudChat, we bring you the audio from another of our presentations at the PEI Potato Conference in Summerside on February 13th, 2023. In this episode, we hear from Dr. Claudia Goyer of AAFC in Fredericton, NB. Claudia has been leading a national research project into common scab for the past five years, investigating both the populations of the bacteria that cause common scab as well as potential treatment options for potatoes.

This week, Ryan talks with Dr. Andrew McKenzie-Gopsill, Weed Scientist with AAFC Charlottetown about a range of weed-related topics, including herbicide rotation and efficacy, herbicide timing, and some of the interesting cultural and mechanical weed seed destruction research that Andrew is working on.

In this episode of SpudChat, Ryan Barrett walks through some of the funding available for farmers under the On Farm Climate Action Fund, administered in PEI by the PEI Federation of Agriculture. Full details available at www.peifa.ca/ofcaf

In this episode of SpudChat, Ryan talks with Michele Konschuh from the International Potato Tech Expo in Charlottetown about irrigation management following her presentation on March 30th. Michele is an irrigated crop researcher with the University of Lethbridge.