Late Blight Update Reveals Heightened Activity

UPDATE: Late blight has been confirmed in commercial potato fields in Minnesota’s Benton county. According to the North Dakota State University Potato Blightline August 28 report, growers in central Minnesota should be scouting fields and applying fungicides to reduce tuber infection.The disease continues to spread in southeastern Idaho.

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According to the August 15 late blight management update from Cornell University, the week was very active for late blight reports, which included multiple counties in New York as well as reports from New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Maine, and Ontario, Canada. Most, but not all, of the isolates identified in the Northeast this growing season are US-23 (affecting potatoes and tomatoes), which is sensitive to the fungicide mefenoxam, and conventional growers are encouraged to get an isolate identification.

To view a map of where late blight has been found this season and for instructions on submitting a sample for isolate identification, go to usablight.org.

Earlier this summer, the disease was identified in Michigan. Click here for more information from Michigan State University on recommendations for potato and tomato growers with small production areas.

For more information regarding northern states and the incidence of late blight and other potato diseases, go to ndsu.edu/potato_pathology.

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Source: Cornell University, usablight.org, North Dakota State University, Michigan State University, and the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association

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