In this episode of SpudChat, Ryan Barrett chats with Kelvin Montagu of Applied Horticultural Research in Australia about regenerative agriculture at the World Potato Congress, held in late June in Adelaide, Australia. This recording was done by the folks at PotatoLink, the Australian potato industry extension project. You can find out more about Po…

In this episode, Ryan talks with Dr. Aitazaz Farooque, Professor of Precision Agriculture with the University of Prince Edward Island. Aitazaz has been a frequent collaborator on research projects with the PEI potato industry, including research into the use of soil electroconductivity (EC) for creating management zones, uses those zones for variab…

In this episode of Spudchat, we talk to Dr. Ian Scott of AAFC in London, Ontario about insecticide resistance in Colorado potato beetles. Ian was part of a team that worked for the last five years to test potato beetles from across Canada for resistance to commonly used insecticides, uncovering some very interesting results. We talk about those res…

In this episode, we talk to Dr. Tyler MacKenzie of Agricultural Certification Services in Fredericton, NB to talk about the work that their team is doing on PVY, including some research into aphicide resistance that they did for us here in PEI last year. Tyler also talks about using new lab techniques to identify Verticillium and nematodes, which c…

In this episode of Spudchat, we head "across the pond" again to speak with Martyn Cox, an independent agronomist in England who has been working hard to figure out how to manage wireworm, which has become more of an issue in recent years. Martyn has been collaborating with folks in PEI for the last few years to inform how they improve their IPM str…

Spudchat is back! Apologies for the hiatus, but looking forward to bringing you more potato chat this year. In this episode, Ryan talks with Dr. Mark Stalham of Mark Stalham Potato Consultancy in the United Kingdom. Mark worked for many years at Cambridge University Farm and then NIAB CUF before starting his own private agronomy consulting firm. Ma…

In this episode of SpudChat, Ryan talks with Dr. Mario Tenuta from the University of Manitoba about Potato Early Dying complex (PED). Mario was the lead for Canadian Potato Early Dying Network (CanPEDNet) project as part of the FVGC National Cluster for the last five year, and included research happening here in PEI. They talk about some of the key…

In this episode of SpudChat, we hear from Greg Donald, General Manager of the PEI Potato Board from a presentation Greg made at the 2023 PEI Potato Conference. Greg provides an update on the ongoing potato wart investigation, the results of the International Panel report on potato wart in PEI, and how this informs the path forward toward resuming s…

This episode features another of our presenters from the 2023 PEI Potato Conference in Summerside on February 13th. Today, we hear from Anne Verhallen of OMAFRA in Ridgetown, Ontario, talking about practical approaches to soil health. Anne is a well-renowned expert on cover cropping and soil health improvement, working primarily with horticulture c…

On this bonus episode of SpudChat, we're pleased to share an episode of the Tuber Talk podcast from Potatoes in Canada that was recorded in late 2022. In this episode, Ryan Barrett talks about research and extension projects on cover crops and improving soil health in potato rotations with Bree Rhody. You can find Tuber Talk at https://www.potatoes…

This week on SpudChat, we bring you the audio from another of our presentations at the PEI Potato Conference in Summerside on February 13th, 2023. In this episode, we hear from Dr. Claudia Goyer of AAFC in Fredericton, NB. Claudia has been leading a national research project into common scab for the past five years, investigating both the populatio…

SpudChat is back! Over the next couple of weeks, we're sharing some of the presentations from the 2023 PEI Potato Conference, held in Summerside on February 13th. First up is Dr. Mathuresh Singh of Agricultural Certification Services in Fredericton, NB to talk about PVY and why it was such a problem in 2022. Mathuresh covers a number of reasons why…

This week, Ryan talks with Dr. Andrew McKenzie-Gopsill, Weed Scientist with AAFC Charlottetown about a range of weed-related topics, including herbicide rotation and efficacy, herbicide timing, and some of the interesting cultural and mechanical weed seed destruction research that Andrew is working on.…

On this episode of SpudChat, Ryan Barrett provides and update on the crop following the first Crop Update Meeting of the year, hosted by the PEI Dept of Ag. Recorded July 7th, 2022.By Prince Edward Island Potato Board

In this episode of SpudChat, Ryan Barrett walks through some of the funding available for farmers under the On Farm Climate Action Fund, administered in PEI by the PEI Federation of Agriculture. Full details available at www.peifa.ca/ofcafBy Prince Edward Island Potato Board

SpudChat is back with a new episode, and this week we bring back the grower check-in, where we talk with PEI potato farmers from across the province to hear how things went this planting season, and what's new for this year. This week, Ryan is joined by Jonathan MacLennan from West Cape, Chris MacAulay from Chepstow, and Andrew Lawless from Shamroc…

In this episode of SpudChat, Ryan talks with Michele Konschuh from the International Potato Tech Expo in Charlottetown about irrigation management following her presentation on March 30th. Michele is an irrigated crop researcher with the University of Lethbridge.By Prince Edward Island Potato Board

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, Ryan is joined by David Jones, Programs Manager with Canadian Potato Council in Ottawa. David gives an overview of the things that the CPC does for Canadian potato growers, including responding to continual pesticide reviews by PMRA. This week, we dig into the newly announced proposed decision to cancel uses of chloroth…

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.By Prince Edward Island Potato Board

SpudChat is back, and we're talking about pink rot with Jeff Miller of Miller Research in Rupert, Idaho.By Prince Edward Island Potato Board

We cap off our three week focus on cover crops by talking to Dr. Laura Van Eerd, Professor and researcher with the University of Guelph at Ridgetown College in Southwestern Ontario. Ryan talks with Laura about her long-term cover crop research and some of the exciting findings from those trials so far. More on Dr. Van Eerd's research can be found a…

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 ma…

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…

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 podca…

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.By Prince Edward Island Potato Board

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.By Prince Edward Island Potato Board

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 …

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 p…

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 volunte…

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 …

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 Sys…

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 …

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.By Prince Edward Island Potato Board

In this episode of SpudChat, Ryan is talking about some of the trials that are underway looking at the effect of different rotation crops on improving soil health and suppressing soil borne diseases, including potato early dying.By Prince Edward Island Potato Board

In this episode of SpudChat, we talk to Dr. Mathuresh Singh of Agricultural Certification Services in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Mathuresh and his team have been working on research into Potato Virus Y (PVY) over the last decade, providing a great deal of recommendations for seed growers on how to prevent the spread of PVY in their fields. We chat…

In this episode of SpudChat, we talk with Mary Kay Sonier, Seed Coordinator at the PEI Potato Board, about all things seed potatoes. Specifically, we talk about variety evaluation and some promising new varieties in PEI, managing PVY, and a bunch of other seed-related topics. For more on many of these topics, visit www.peipotatoagronomy.com for fac…

For this edition of SpudChat, we do our first Grower Check-In with Prince Edward Island potato growers across the province. We learn about three different farms, get an update on how planting is going, and what these growers are doing differently on their farms in 2021. This week we talk with Jonathan MacLennan of MacLennan Properties in West Cape;…

In this week's episode of SpudChat, we talk with Dr. Claudia Goyer, plant pathologist with Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada in Fredericton, NB about common scab, the old nemesis of potato farmers everywhere. We talk about how common scab happens and some of the reasons why it is such a challenge to control. We also talk about Claudia's research as pa…

In this episode of SpudChat, we talk to Sebastian Ibarra of the PEI Department of Agriculture & Land to talk about Integrated Pest Management and some of the different IPM programs available from the Department. For more about the PEIDAL programs, visit: https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/agriculture-and-land/beneficial-management-pra…

In this episode of SpudChat, we talk to Evan MacDonald, Senior Precision Agronomist with Croptimistic Technology Inc covering Eastern Canada. Evan has previously worked with both the PEI Department of Agriculture and Cavendish Agri-Services and has a passion for precision agriculture and field mapping. He is also a Ph.D. candidate at the University…

In this episode of SpudChat, we talk with Dr. Rick Peters of Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada in Charlottetown, PEI about his work on fungal diseases in potatoes. A wide-ranging conversation talking about late blight, early blight, black dot, and more.By Prince Edward Island Potato Board

Welcome to the first episode of SpudChat, the weekly podcast talking about the potato industry in Prince Edward Island and beyond! In this episode, host Ryan Barrett provides an overview of what SpudChat is all about, as well as a brief overview of some of the types of research and agronomy projects that are being done as part of the Agronomy Initi…