POTATO GROWERS IN AROOSTOOK ARE WELCOMING A BETTER GROWING SEASON, BUT HAVE BEEN WARNED TO BE VIGILANT AS APHIDS AND COLORADO BEETLES COULD BE COMING.
POTATO growers in northern Maine are breathing a bit easier than they were a year ago, as they are now in the middle of a drier 2024 growing season.
In 2023, unrelenting rain soaked fields from planting through harvest, threatening potatoes harvests.
But this year, thanks to favourable weather, the outlook for potatoes is promising. Last year Maine produced 10 million pounds fewer potatoes than the previous year but growers believe a good growing season will help recover those losses.
However, as the potato plants are thriving early, so are the bugs that like to eat them, said University of Maine Cooperative Extension leaders.
“The weather has been excellent for potato growth thus far, but it has also allowed for earlier insect activity,” crop specialists wrote in a grower newsletter last month.
Potatoes are Maine’s most important crops. They had a value of $291.5 million last year, according to the United States Department of Agriculture’s 2023 state agriculture overview.
Potato scouting coordinator Sean McAuley, integrated pest management specialist James Dill, potato pathologist I. Kutay Ozturk and pest specialist Griffin Dill issue the Potato Pest Alert weekly throughout the growing season, with recommendations for treating pests and diseases.
Potato scouts in Aroostook and central Maine have reported aphids are present in moderate numbers and Colorado potato beetles are active in all areas, according to the most recent installment on July 3rd.
Colorado beetles are a problem because they eat potato leaves and can develop resistance to pesticides. A female can lay up to 800 eggs. Growers reduce their numbers by using crop rotation, mulching and insecticides.
No potato diseases were reported at the beginning of July and excellent growing conditions were producing vigorous potato plants, according to specialists who advised growers to watch closely for aphids and to treat preemptively for late blight with fungicide.
Source: Bangor Daily News/Paula Brewer
