The first 6 to 8 weeks are especially vital for developing root growth in onions. Strike soil fumigants provide a barrier of protection from soil borne disease, buying time for the developing young plants to yield a healthy and vigorous onion root. Pre-plant soil fumigation treatment with Strike is the first step in a successful […]
It has been a couple months since I last posted, but one of our recent articles on SpudSmart.com is garnering a lot of views. People are curious about soil and soil health. I’m a soil guy myself: I am fascinated by the life that exists below our feet, and how we can promote and support […]
Back in May, Spud Smart published an article I wrote on verticillium management and it has been one of our most read articles so far this year. I hope you find it useful. Trapped in a Circular Discussion on Verticillium Management I just stepped out of a meeting between several university agronomy faculty members and […]
In this second segment of our blog aimed at potato seed growers, let me throw a shocking finding at you: A recent scientific research paper stated that up to 68% of all seed potatoes sold in the Pacific Northwest are infected with verticillium. If you are one of the very lucky few who don’t currently […]
Are you a potato seed farmer? Then this will be of interest to you. We conducted a two-year trial comparing potatoes grown in soil where disease was managed with the soil fumigant Strike (active ingredient: chloropicrin) versus potatoes grown in soil that was not treated with Strike. Based on what we observed in the field […]
During my interview with Joy Youwakim, an agroecology scientist at Biome Makers, she defined some key differences between organic and regenerative agriculture that bears repeating. Joy: “There’s a difference between regenerative and organic agriculture. In organic, there are rules about what you can and what you cannot use. With regenerative ag, there is nuance: there […]
Potato Wart was discovered in the United States in Pennsylvania in 1918, and then later in Maryland and West Virginia. It was eradicated in 1994 and has not been detected since. But for our neighbors to the north and around the world, certain regions wrestle and worry about this disease that can lead to the destruction […]
Last month we had the pleasure of hosting Joy Youwakim, an agroecology scientist at Biome Makers, at our Potato Expo booth. If you haven’t heard of Biome Makers, they are an independent, third-party genomics company that offers a proprietary DNA-sequencing program that uses the world’s largest taxonomic database of over 10 million microorganisms. Using this […]
In a recent grower meeting, the grower was expressing frustration at the diminishing returns he was experiencing with his current soil health regimen. One of our sales representatives asked the grower if he had considered the biological impact of his soil fumigation program. The grower confessed that he had not. That led to our latest […]
In a recent article published in SpudSmart, I drew parallels between where we are in the potato industry today compared to where California’s strawberry industry was in the 1950s. Strawberries are very sensitive to verticillium – same as potatoes. With limited means to fight the disease, strawberry growers tried to outrun verticillium but ultimately had […]
