Ontario’s potato harvest is on the home stretch despite drought and hot summer temperatures stretching into October.
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Ontario potato yields down slightly, but quality is high
Summer drought and warm temperatures in October challenge growers
HJV unveils split grader with Tomra Optical Sorter at Potato Field Day
New prototype promises faster field-to-storage transfer, reduced debris, and labour savings; commercial release expected in 2026.
At Ontario’s Potato Field Day, farmers got a first look at HJV’s Split Grader prototype. Paired with a Tomra 3A optical sorter, the system removes green potatoes and debris at 100 tons per hour, improving storage quality and reducing labour needs.
Hot, dry summer cuts into Ontario potato yields
While heat stress and storage issues remain a concern, recent rainfall and cooler nights could improve harvest quality
Ontario’s record-breaking summer heat and drought could cut potato yields by between 20 and 50 per cent in some fields but cooler nights and rainfall may help salvage harvest quality.
Manzate Max fungicide now labelled for potato use against blight
Scouting, spraying and eliminating cull potatoes are key blight control strategies
Manzate Max, a new liquid formulation fungicide, is now available for use on potatoes to combat early and late blight in Ontario.
Evolutionary origins of the potato revealed – and a tomato was involved
Study, which analyzed genomes from cultivated and wild potatoes, may improve future breeding
A new analysis of 450 genomes from cultivated potatoes and 56 genomes of wild potato species has revealed that the potato lineage originated through natural interbreeding between a wild tomato plant and a potato-like species in South America about 9 million years ago.
Alberta crops 21 points below average but soil moisture improving
Prior to Alberta getting rain over the weekend of June 21 and 22, the province's crops were well below the five-year average for ratings. As of June 17, Alberta Agriculture said they were listed as 50 per cent good to excellent overall compared to the average of 71 per cent.
Early warning systems key to late blight detection
Cuts to American labs have producers in North America concerned
Cuts to American potato testing labs have producers in North America concerned about losing a late blight early warning system.
New national potato wart plan in place for 2025 growing season
The new National Potato Wart Response Plan is complete and will take effect for the 2025 potato crop.
CFIA’s 2024 potato wart survey comes back clean
Canadian Food Inspection Agency potato wart survey turns up no cases of the disease for 2024.
Irish Lumper potato a catalyst to history
I undertook growing some of this infamous spud and learned its history
Next year marks the 180th anniversary of Ireland’s Great Famine, an event that saw the death of about one million people, emigration of another million, and had profound impacts on the settlement and development of Canada.