SEPTEMBER 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Potato harvest looks promising


for BC growers Annual variety trial field day shows results of a good season


by DAVID SCHMIDT DELTA—BC potato growers


are decidedly upbeat about this year’s crop but there is a dark cloud on the horizon. “This is the best crop of red potatoes I’ve ever seen,” veteran Delta grower Hugh Reynolds said during the BC Potato Variety Trial field day at Lundstrom Farms on Westham Island, August 22. Brothers Blake and Ryan


Lundstrom were not prepared to go that far, preferring to wait until the potatoes are actually harvested later this fall before pronouncing the season a success. However, they readily agreed this has been an “excellent” growing season. They were able to plant a week to 10 days earlier than usual and have had mostly good weather since. The Lundstroms grow about 150 acres of red, yellow, white, russet and Kennebec potatoes in a rotation with beets, pumpkins and feed barley. In recent years, they have been growing “less reds and more yellows” in response to changing market demands. “We use irrigation,” they


said. “It’s a lot of work but it’s worth it.” It’s not just BC growers who


are enthused about the crop. United Potato Growers of Canada general manager Kevin MacIsaac is just as impressed. “I’ve been coming to the BC


field day for a long time and this is one of the best crops I’ve seen,” he said, adding the BC crop looks like it will be much better than in most of the rest of the country. “BC had moisture at the right time.”


He expects the crops in his


home province of Prince Edward Island and


neighbouring New Brunswick (Canada’s largest potato producing areas) will be poor because the spring was wet and summer has been “very dry” and most Atlantic


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growers do not have access to water for irrigation. While Manitoba’s potato


crop is also looking good, MacIsaac believes Alberta growers lost some of their crop to a severe hailstorm which swept through the province in mid-August. This year’s trial included 100 varieties of russet, yellow, red and purple varieties. It included both established varieties and new, many unnamed varieties, from seed potato producers and breeding programs in BC, Alberta and Atlantic Canada. Growers were able to compare the look and productivity of each of the varieties. Trial coordinator Heather Meberg will present detailed yield and taste results from varieties in the replicated trials at the growers short course in January. Unlike many variety trials, the BC trial is conducted in the midst of a commercial potato field and treated the same as the rest of the crop. In the Lundstroms’ case, this meant receiving a dose of fertilizer at planting and a second dose in-furrow and three rounds of irrigation. The Lundstroms said they


were happy to host the trial this year, noting they have benefitted from previous trials.


9


About 100 growers showed up at Lundstrom Farms on Westham Island for the BC potato variety trials field day, August 22. They used the day to hobnob with friends and neighbours while they compared about 100 different potato varieties in the trial. DAVID SCHMIDT PHOTO


“We switched to growing


Imola and Gold Dust (Agata) because of what we saw in past trials,” Blake said with Ryan adding he has already seen some varieties in this year’s trial which are piquing his interest. While this year’s crop may be a delight, BC potatoes could become a thing of the past if the province loses the uses of chlorpyritos to combat wireworm. At the field day, growers


were encouraged to sign a letter addressed to the Pest Management Regulatory Agency and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency asking them to reconsider their proposal to cancel all agricultural uses of chlorpyritos, or at the very least, to provide a longer transition period. While the rest of the


country uses Thimet to manage wireworm, it is not used in BC because of its impact on local wildlife. Bifenthrin is registered for wireworm but may also not be allowed in future. Even if it is allowed, availability is an issue


leaving BC growers with no alternative to chlorpyritos. “If we lose chlorpyritos, the


impact on BC potato growers would be devastating,” says BC Ministry of Agriculture potato and vegetable specialist Susan Smith.


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