BROOKS, Alta. – For the first time in five years, late blight has appeared in the potato fields of southern Alberta.
Alberta Agriculture potato specialist Clive Schaupmeyer said Aug. 14 the disease had been found in 15 fields and more discoveries are expected.
“It has been hot and dry so we are perplexed about why it has appeared now,” he said from his Brooks office. “I do not expect it to become too widespread. I think we’ll see a decline in confirmations, but we will see more.”
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Al Stewart, of the Potato Growers of Alberta, said the disease is a recurring problem for the industry throughout the country.
He said the Alberta industry actually is distinguished by its relatively disease-free status in most years.
“Late blight has been located in a small number of fields in the southern Alberta growing area,” he said in an interview. “Our indication is that it is under control because of the hot dry weather.”
Late blight is a virus that attacks the leaves and stems of potato plants. Unchecked and under hot, damp conditions, it can spread quickly.
“It really can turn a field into a stinking, rotting mess in no time,” said Schaupmeyer. “I don’t think we’ll see that here. I pray we don’t but prayers won’t do it. We have to help God here.”
He said producers have been spraying and in some cases have responded to the reports of blight by reducing irrigation.
Late blight has been reported this year in most potato-growing areas of North America. On the Prairies, there also have been limited reports of infestation in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
“There were some confirmed cases a month ago, much earlier than normal,” Dan Sawatzky, of Manitoba’s Keystone Vegetable Producers, said Aug. 17 from his MacGregor farm. “There have been no new cases recently.”
Hot weather and rain in July produced conditions in which blight can thrive.
Schaupmeyer said despite this year’s re-appearance of blight in Alberta fields, the province’s potato growers can take pride in the fact that it is such a rarity.
“There really is a reputation here for disease-free crops,” he said. “Despite that, the vast majority of producers continued to spray and I think this year proves the point that it was the right thing to do.”
He said without that producer precaution, “we likely would have seen blight in other years as well. Producers here can be proud that they didn’t back away from it.”
He said the next several weeks will determine whether the infestation has been contained.
“If it stays where it is, losses will be minimal,” said Schaupmeyer. “A continuation of this hot dry weather would be the best thing for sure.”
