Canada: Hot, dry summer cuts into Ontario potato yields

Ontario potato growers will continue to feel the heat from Ontario’s sizzling summer during harvest, as Diana Martin reports in a news story published by Farmtario.

“The number of days over 30 C and nights over 20 C has been close to a record breaker for us, and it’s really hampered yield,” said Mark VanOostrum, supply manager for Northeast Ontario and East with WD Potato, at the Potato Field Day and Trade Show. He predicts a 20 per cent yield reduction is likely, with some fields seeing up to 50 per cent loss.

Along with record-breaking high temperatures, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada reported that 71 per cent of the country reached the abnormally dry or moderate to extreme drought classifications by the end of July.

While the hot, dry weather reduced the impact of late blight this season, Dr. Eugenia Banks said producers were scouting for Potato Cyst Nematodes (PCN), pink eye and Potato Virus Y (PVY), which thrive in dry, hot conditions, in addition to heat stress indicators of leaves folding in on themselves.

Tyler Beattie, a sixth-generation producer at John Beattie Farms in Alliston, said their irrigation pumps worked overtime this season. He’s optimistic that the recent drop in temperatures will help improve harvest quality, even with an expected 20 per cent yield decline.

Source: Farmtario. Read the full story here
Image: Drone image of potato fields near Alliston, Ont. Credit Dr Peter VanderZaag via Farmtario