8-12 IAN Potato Blight

 In the beginning of the potato growing season there were reports of potato blight occurring sooner than normal. Obviously, in the potato state, that was a little bit unsettling. As an example, in Jerome County the fungal potato disease was  discovered in some Ranger Russets from Hazelton, Idaho.  I recently called up Rupert crop researcher Dr. Jeff Miller of Miller Research to get the skinny.

 “So there is an early blight in potatoes? Yes but that really isn’t all that unusual. There might be an early notification. Early blight is caused by a fungus named alternaria solani which is very common and growers deal with it every year. It usually starts in the lower leaves and then tends to move up to the upper leaves and the plant. Most potato growers will do a preventative fungicide program to deal with it and the fact that we found it maybe a week or so earlier than we thought just encourages growers to make sure they are not late in putting their first spray out. What is the most commonly used spray? There are 90 products that are labeled for use on this and Endura is one of the most common ones. It has been very effective for us but we are seeing some resistance. The fungus is becoming resistant to Endura but there are other products that people can rotate to.