CARIBOU, Maine — Potato farmers, researchers, industry advocates and representatives from agricultural companies are gathering to discuss the latest issues in raising potatoes at the 32nd annual Maine Potato Conference in Caribou this Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 17-18
The conference kicks off at the Caribou Inn & Convention Center at 8:40 a.m. Wednesday morning with a presentation on adapting to drought, followed by two sessions on soil health.
Soil health an issue that’s been getting more and more attention in recent years, along with dickeya, a relatively new bacterial pathogen that causes blackleg disease in potatoes and is of particular concern for seed potato producers.
In a presentation at 3 p.m. Thursday, Eric Hitchcock, director of seed potato certification for the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, will be discussing measures related to dickeya and blackleg in new changes to the seed potato certification rules.
Other presentations include topics such as growing grain for food and livestock feed, markets for alternative crops that could be added to potato-grain rotations, and soil fumigation, a type of pesticide application that has not been used often in Maine.
At 11:10 a.m. Thursday, a representative from TriEst Ag Group will be talking about the process of soil fumigation, and at 11:30, McCain Foods agronomist Erica Fitzpatrick-Peabody will be sharing results from fumigation trials at Maine potato farms. Another McCain representative will also be sharing information on the company’s nurse and cover crop project.
