SpudChat

In this episode SpudChat, Ryan talks with Mark Pavek of Washington State University about his research and extension projects, including variety management projects involving newer varieties like Clearwater Russet and Mountain Gem Russet that were developed in the Columbia Basin but are now finding adoption here in Prince Edward Island.

In this episode, Ryan talks with Dr. David Burton of the Dalhousie Faculty of Agriculture about nitrogen in potato rotations.  Dave has been doing multiple projects looking at better quantifying the nitrogen in PEI soils as well as how producers can better dial-in nitrogen use, including use of enhanced efficiency nitrogen fertilizers.

In this episode of SpudChat, we talk to Dr. Christine Noronha, a research entomologist with AAFC in Charlottetown.  We talk about the great work Christine and other have been doing on wireworm IPM strategies as well as a couple of other insect pests in potato production.

SpudChat is back, and we're talking about pink rot with Jeff Miller of Miller Research in Rupert, Idaho. 

On this episode of SpudChat, Ryan talks to Dr. Judith Nyiraneza with Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada in Charlottetown about some of her research projects, including cover cropping, building soil health and fertility through rotation crops, measuring the effect of manure in potato rotations, as well as her recent research into improving phosphorus management in PEI.

On this episode of SpudChat, Ryan talks with Peter "Wheat Pete" Johnson, an agronomist, farmer and podcaster from Ontario to talk about the agronomy of winter cereals, as growers start ramping up cover cropping this fall.  They also chat about some ways to avoid soil compaction as we head into the harvest season.

You can listen to Wheat Pete's World every week at RealAgriculture or wherever you get your podcasts.

On this week's SpudChat, we talk with the king of Canadian ag podcasting, Shaun Haney of RealAgriculture.  We talk about how he started his ag media business, how he enjoys reaching out to farmers of all types across Canada, and some of the newer podcasts and features that he and his team are working on.  RealAgRadio, the Agronomists, and other podcasts are available wherever you get podcasts!

On this episode of SpudChat, Ryan provides a quick update on the crop and a look ahead at the two remaining AIM Field Tours coming up on Tuesday, September 7th.  

This week, the Grower Check-In is back for August.  Ryan talks with Morgan Smallman of J & J Smallman Farms near O'Leary, Kevin Murray of Murray Farms in Bedeque, and Myles Rose of RA Rose & Sons of North Lake to hear how the crop is looking across the province.

On this episode, we again have an update on the status of the crop across the province following our bi-weekly scouting meeting.  Joining me this week are Lorraine MacKinnon and Eileen Beaton with the PEI Dept of Agriculture & Land and Morgan MacNeil with the PEI Potato Board.  Generally, the crop is looking good in PEI and growers are positive, but still a few things to pay attention to as we move into tuber bulking stage.

In this week's episode of SpudChat, we once again get a review of the bi-weekly scouting meeting with Lorraine MacKinnon of the PEI Department of Agriculture and Land.  Thankfully, reports have been very positive with few reports of disease or pest issues.  We talk a little bit about dealing with wet spots, thinking about pink rot, and other topics.

In this episode of SpudChat, we talk with Emily Murphy, a PhD Candidate at UBC who is working with the East Prince Agri-Environment Association as part of their research in using willow trees to prevent nutrients from moving to groundwater as well as sequestering carbon.  Emily will talk a bit about willows and how they could fit for many types of potato fields.

We've convened our panel after the biweekly Fieldworkers Meeting again.  This time, Ryan is joined by Lorraine MacKinnon with the PEI Dept of Agriculture & Land as well as Dr. Christine Noronha, entomologist with AAFC in Charlottetown.  We talk about european corn borer control, an explosion of earwigs, healthy and vigorous looking crops, and volunteer control.

What better time to talk to potato growers than after some rain!  This week on SpudChat, we check in with three potato growers from across PEI to hear how the crop is looking and what's new on their farms this year.  We talk to Marshall Smallman of Smallman Farms in Knutsford, Matt Ramsay of Oyster Cove Farms in Hamilton and Ben Visser of GWR Visser Farms in Orwell.  

On this edition of SpudChat, we've convened a panel of PEI potato experts to review some of the comments we heard as part of the first biweekly fieldworkers meeting as well as our own observations of the crop.  Joining Ryan this week are Lorraine MacKinnon with the PEI Department of Agriculture and Land; Steve Watts, agronomist with Genesis Crop Systems; and Greg Donald, General Manager of the PEI Potato Board.

In this episode of SpudChat, we talk with Don Jardine, a researcher/instructor/consultant with the University of Prince Edward Island's Climate Lab.  Don is working with their team to install a number of new weather stations across the province in an effort to more accurately capture the regional variability in climate that we see in PEI as well as hopefully improve forecasts in the future.

For this month's Grower Check-In, we talk to Bryan Maynard of FarmBoys Inc. in Arlington, Gordon McKenna of Country View Farms in Newton, and Chris MacAulay of MacAulay Farms in Chepstow to talk about how planting went, how the crop is looking, and anything new on the farm this season.