b'EYE ON THE NATION ALBERTA MANITOBATerence Hochstein, executive director ofDan Sawatzky, general manager,the Potato Growers of Alberta Keystone Potato Producers AssociationAlthough somewhat better than the 2021 crop, its looking likeFollowing a late start with spring planting, close to ideal growing the 2022 crop will come up short in some growers minds. Theconditions over most of the summer have helped the crop cold, dry spring in southern Alberta has left the crop a little bitgain some ground. A three-week delay in seeding is difficult short of expectations. Last winter once again left very little in theto overcome. The crop is still behind normal development as way of snow cover in the south, and with very little soil moistureevidenced by the direct Ranger Russet crop coming in with the spring didnt start out great. April and May were very coldbelow average yields. The off-field harvest began a few days and dry, and the crop did nothing until the irrigation and Junelater than normal and August deliveries tracked below last years rains came along. It appears a lot of the potential diminishedlevel. Processors supplemented local supplies with potatoes from with the dry conditions. We did get some July rains as well, butAlberta and North Dakota in the early harvest to allow for more the extreme heat returned again this summer and the crop oncegrowth and yield here in the province.again suffered from the hot, windy conditions. When you are stillEarly indications of the Umatilla crop being harvested appear reaching mid to high 30 C temperatures in September, theres notpromising. More time is needed for the main storage Russet a lot of good to come from that. The early crop had a somewhatBurbank crop to bulk up. Some growers are pushing back small profile, although the quality was second to none. Wellharvest a day or two, but too much more than that increases have to wait and see how the storage crop looks when its all inthe risk of frost damage at the end of season. The average date the shed. of a killing frost is Sept. 18, while last year that date was Oct. On the other hand, the seed industry had a very good20. These first frosts generally arent hard enough to damage growing season. The spring started off with great soil moisturetubers, but the memory of frozen potatoes left in the ground and planting conditions were ideal. Throughout the growingin 2018 and 2019 is still fresh on many minds. A target harvest season the rains were plenty, and in some cases there were acompletion date for most producers is still Oct. 1. This leaves a few acres that were drowned out, but most growers were happyvery short harvest period with the hope that there wont be too to lose only a few acres compared to last years extreme heatmany harvest delays due to weather interruptions or equipment and drought. As of mid-September indications are that the earlybreakdowns or labour shortages.harvest is showing good yields and excellent quality. They couldLabour continues to be more of an issue for farms especially use a bit of rain to soften things up to avoid bruising as harvestduring the harvest period. Good short-term help is hard to find. continues. Repeat labourers eventually age out and there are fewer people The annual Potato Growers of Alberta (PGA) Conferencein rural areas to replace them. and Tradeshow will once again be held in Red Deer, Atla. onGrowers are generally optimistic as harvest gets underway. Nov 15-17. After not having the opportunity to host this eventSome descent drying weather has allowed good progress with the last two years, everyone is looking forward to continuingsome of the rotational crops prior to the main potato harvest. the tradition. More details are available on the PGA website atThese crops have also been pushed back by the late wet spring. albertapotaoes.ca Wishing everyone a safe and bountiful harvest.Planning is underway for Manitoba Potato Production Days BRITISH COLUMBIA to be held Jan. 24-26 in Brandon, Man. This will mark the 50th anniversary of the show. All are invited. Registration should be Hugh Reynolds with Reynalda Farmsin Delta, B.C. open by late October.British Columbia potatoes are starting to move into storage with good quality but some inconsistent yields as of Sept. 13. Many fields have been top killed, but lots are still green as growers are looking for more bulking. Bigger potatoes mean higher yields but more importantly higher prices for count sized cartons.Heavy rain this spring has kept the Fraser River fresh water flow stronger than normal allowing us to irrigate right through August. B.C.s heavy delta clay allows us to grow some wonderful crops but this plays against us if the November rains come early.The potato variety trials on Aug. 24 surprised us with the sizing we saw. The wheels are in motion for harvest but weather is unpredictable. Good luck and work safe as we are hope for an open fall harvest.54SPUDSMART.COM Fall 2022'