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Ontario Potato Conference covers the good, the bad and the ugly of potato production

March 6, 2020  By  Alex Barnard


The annual 2020 Ontario Potato Conference, held in Guelph, Ont. on March 5 by the Ontario Potato Board, brought together growers and industry members to discuss everything from pesticide re-evaluations to soil compaction.

The atmosphere in the conference room was pleasant – a rare opportunity for far-flung farmers to get together. However, it was clear that growing insecticide resistance, regulatory changes regarding fungicide use and the difficulties of the 2019 growing season were all top of mind.

It was the first time attending the conference for Darin Gibson, president of Gaia Consulting Ltd. in Newton, Man. It’s no secret that Manitoba’s potato growers had an incredibly difficult growing season and harvest. While Gibson’s presentation focused on the regulatory changes in Group M fungicides that have recently occurred and decisions that are due to be made this summer, he addressed Manitoba’s troubles in conversation.

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“We’ve had terrible falls [in 2018 and 2019], a challenge to get out of the fields what we did get. And then what we did get in the storage, we’re losing some of that due to rot and different storage issues,” Gibson said. “That’s really overwhelming our industry, especially the French fry growers, mostly because the areas that tend to be where the French fry growers are had the most difficult conditions.

“It’s just a lot of stuff coming at [potato growers] and they have to figure out a way to do it.”

With the reduction of several fungicides and the uncertainty of whether mancozeb will remain available to potato growers, Gibson highlighted the difficulties in creating a potato fungicide program.

“The programs are more complicated, because you can’t just set it and forget it – put in mancozeb every week, and you may add some other stuff depending on the season and the different diseases that you experienced. But besides more complicated, it’s for sure going to be more expensive.”

Gibson included figures in his presentation for the potential differences in cost depending on the products available and the frequency of applications, but he cautioned that cost would differ based on area and dealer. Between that and the uncertainty of what products will still be usable, Gibson noted the difficulty of determining how much costs would increase.

“I am hoping there’s going to be a few applications [of mancozeb], maybe three, so we can still cobble together a program with what we have now and what’s coming along,” Gibson said. “But if we have none, that’s going to put a lot of pressure on, financially and for resistance management.”

Always look on the bright side

There was plenty of positive information to come out of the conference, too. Shawn Brenn, chairman of the Ontario Potato Board and master of ceremonies for the morning sessions, noted that attendance at the conference continues to grow. They’ve had to change venues in the recent past due to increased attendance, and looking around the conference room Brenn said that it might be time to expand the event’s space again.

Peter VanderZaag’s presentation relayed that his research with scholars at Yunnan Normal University in China has produced optimistic data that the potato yield plateau can be surmounted. VanderZaag is an international potato research scientist mainly working in China at the moment, but also a local to Alliston, Ont. where his family has been growing potatoes for generations. The studies conducted at Yunnan Normal University include practical application of the decades of diploid potato research conducted by Henry DeJong (retired) at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in Fredericton, N.B. VanderZaag’s research hopes to finetune the genetics of potato varieties so that potatoes are prepared for challenges ahead with stagnant yield and food insecurity.

Peter Johnson, an agronomist with Real Agriculture and well-known Ontario agriculture speaker, spoke about soil compaction and how to combat it. Johnson explained that properly calibrated tire pressure can make a huge difference in the impact of heavy farm machinery in the field. Tonnage per axle remains a serious factor in deep compaction – something to be mindful of.

The Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association’s Chris Duyvelshoff explained that Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) decisions would now be adopted in Ontario immediately, reducing delays in new product availability formerly caused by Ontario’s regulatory body needing to make their own decision.

As for Gibson, he had a bright spot for Manitoba potato growers, too.

“They expanded the Simplot [French fry processing] plant in Manitoba – they more than doubled the size – and so acres are going up. Even though we’ve had a couple of difficult falls, the mood is pretty positive because there’s going to be more acres,” Gibson said. “Growers are in a better position, because McCain and Simplot need more raw products, so they need more potato acres. So, that’s good for the growers.”

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