November/December 2019 - 16

MAINE
The 2019 growing season was very
similar to what growers experienced
in 2017 and 2018, with a cool spring
and prolonged dry spells for the rest
of the growing season in Aroostook
County. Southern and Central Maine
experienced dry periods similarly.
Luckily, certain growing areas received
rain events later in the season to help
sustain the crop.
Overall, the crop appears to be very
healthy despite average to low rainfall
in some areas. As of Sept. 30, 2019, the
certification program has 9,806 acres
field certified from 110 farms.
The top five varieties entered are:
* Atlantic, 914 acres
* Russet Burbank (MT strain), 785 acres
* Caribou Russet (PVP), 710 acres
* Lamoka (PVP), 679 acres
* Snowden, 629 acres
Inspectors performed PCN sampling
and laboratory PVY post-harvest testing.
This year marks two years of full postharvest
laboratory testing for the
Department. All samples will be ELISA
post-harvest tested at the certification
laboratory in Presque Isle.
Nancy McBrady is the Director
of the Bureau of Agriculture, Food
and Rural Resources for the State of
Maine
Department
of
Agriculture,
Conservation and Forestry. Amanda
Beal is the Commissioner of the State
of Maine Department of Agriculture
Conservation and Forestry.
- Eric Hitchcock, seed certification
program manager, Maine Department of
Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
MICHIGAN
The 2019 seed potato crop in
Michigan began the season with a more
than 3% increase in acreage entered for
certification. The increased acres came
mostly from more production of the
Manistee and Lamoka varieties.
The planting season was timely and
uneventful for some areas, but for others
it was delayed by rainy weather. Cold
temperatures after
planting
delayed
emergence. Overall, we were about a
week behind as the growing season
began. The crop did a pretty good job in
making up for the lost time, but harvest
still started a little late. We were pleased
with the results of our inspections,
as there were no rejections or class
reductions necessary for virus. We saw
no late blight symptoms and very few
blackleg symptoms during inspection.
There were some delays in harvest
because of high temperatures, and then
heavy rain caused delays through the last
half of harvest. Luckily, temperatures
stayed mild, so we did not have any frost
damage. There was a small amount of
water damage in some low areas.
In Michigan, we do harvest inspections
as part of the certification process. While
this inspection is a challenge due to the
logistics of actually looking at each lot as
it is harvested, it gives us a good idea of
what the quality of the crop is as it goes
into storage. Although there were some
weather challenges through the season, I
am very pleased with the overall quality
of this season's crop.
We continue be on high alert for
dickeya by testing symptomatic plants
and facilitating
laboratory
screening
of seed lots. This fall nearly half of
all seed lots were sampled and will be
sent to North Dakota for B.R.R. and
dickeya screening.
At the time of this report, we were
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November/December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November/December 2019
