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SPUDSMART.COM SUMMER 201532 ROUNDTABLE of the stubble and then there are other ones that will blacken it up quite well he says. Goff says he doesnt do any deep disc tilling on his farm because we dont have any compaction issues and we dont have any root penetration issues so it doesnt really make sense in our type of soil. We have found deep tilling delays getting on the soil in a wet spring before the frost is gone. Goff does work his fields in the fall before planting them with potatoes however. We always have wheat or canola prior to potatoes he says and in these fields following harvest well rip it with a four inch shovel just to kind of open the soil up. Right before planting the potatoes Goff will condition wheat ground with a straight blade coulter. We find that just chops up the residue and gives us a lot better soil contact for the seed piece he says. I have coultered it in the fall in the past to chop up the residue but I dont find that it does quite as good a job. It works a lot better in the spring after the straws had a chance to rot a little bit through the winter. BURNING VINES Leclerc says burning residual vines following harvest is something growers may want to consider if their potato crops have been particularly hard hit by disease or pests. I know that it can be a bit contentious but it can be useful in some situations he says. Here in New Brunswick for instance we used to have a lot of corn borer issues and one good measure to control the problem in the following years was to burn to vines. That could also be good for other types of pests and diseases as well. According to Goff and Pryor vine burning isnt a common practice on potato farms with sandy soils because any available organic material is needed to help sustain he soil. We do have a problem with baling vines after the potato crop Goff says adding that hes found that giving the field a light double disc following harvest helps address that. That kind of cuts the If you have ideas regarding best management practices in potato production or a possible topic for a future Roundtable discussion wed love to hear them. Please send your suggestions to Spud Smart editor Mark Halsall at mhalsallissuesink.com. vines up and keeps the wind from blowing and baling them up. Pryor says potato vines help hold the soil together and that reduces the risk of water or wind erosion. For this reason he says growers in his region will often perform a light discing of their potato fields in the fall to help push the residual vine cover back into the soil. BY MARK HALSALL MANITOBA POTATO PRODUCTION DAYS CONFERENCE TRADE SHOW Presentations Speakers Trade Show Equipment Displays Demos Grower Panel www.mbpotatodays.ca JANUARY 26-28 2016 BRANDON MANITOBA MANITOBA POTATO