b'EYE ON THE NATION NEW BRUNSWICK BRITISH COLUMBIAJean-Maurice Daigle, director of marketHugh Reynolds with Reynalda Farmsinformation for Potatoes New Brunswick in Delta, B.C.Growing conditions were ideal and although not quite last yearsPotato inventories are down, and our sheds will be mostly empty record crop, the 2022 crop year produced slightly above averageby May. Demand is good and local agents will be eager to get the yields overall. Processors have been busy attempting to utilize allnew crop in as soon as possible. This is due to lower yields from the volume with some of the raw headed west again this year toa wet spring followed by dry conditions into the fall of 2022.alleviate shortages.Quality and payables at the processing plants are trendingMANITOBAslightly lower than the five-year average but overall, processors are happy with the quality of the 2022 crop. Packers are alsoDan Sawatzky, general manager,running to meet demand and prices have been strong. Keystone Potato Producers AssociationSeed potatoes are showing excellent quality and are storing well with no issues. We are keeping an eye out on virus levels asWith final crop production numbers available since my last preliminary lab results have shown slightly higher than averagereport, the late spring planting dates have resulted in a short crop virus levels. once again in Manitoba. We fared a little better than the previous Potatoes New Brunswick welcomed the return of our annualyear when drought was the limiting factor. The crop is likely to conference and trade show this year! The event took place atbe off by approximately 10 per cent and has a smaller profile the AYR Center in Woodstock, N.B. on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023.than normal. Incidents of hollow heart are higher than normal The agenda was packed with interesting topics and a sold-outmainly due to the sporadic plant stand on some fields with tradeshow floor was full of excited exhibitors who presentedexcessive rain in the spring. The processing plants have been what they had to offer.running hard over the first quarter of the year except for one of the McCain plants taking some down time for maintenance.Imports of potatoes to replace the shortfall are in short supply this year, but some have been sourced to keep the plants running Make your plantermore efficient, get a higher marketable yield,and make more money.Bluefield Seeding Solutionsis introducing its new patented Seed Sensing Technologyutilizing existing Press Wheel systems that improve plant spacing uniformity, but featuring enhanced press wheels that sense the contact with each seed piece while its being locked in place by the press wheels during planting. OUR SEED SENSING TECHNOLOGY WILL: Monitor the seeding rate (cwt/ac) and average seedDeliver real-time feedback of average seed spacing andplacing in real timeplanters actual performance, allowing assessment and Eliminate digging behind planter to evaluate performancecorrective action Monitor individual press wheels for slipAllow farm managers to monitor planters performanceremotely in real time via BSSIs mobile appAutomatically upload all seeding information to a secure data storage platform where farmers can access their own data at any time, from anywhere LIMITEDAVAILABILITYAccumulate all seeding data for each field or seed lot: totalRESERVE YOURS NOW!planted, total seed weight, doubles, misses, less than ideal, and ideally planted seed Craig McCloskey, President North Wiltshire, PEI, CanadaAllow for more efficient land use, minimizing plant foot- (902) 626-7107prints and enabling better use of crop inputs bluefieldseedingsolutions.comcraig@bluefieldseedingsolutions.com56SPUDSMART.COM Winter 2023'