b'ROUNDTABLE Expert views on best management practices in potato production.Navigating Storage from Harvest to ShedStoring your potatoes until shipping can be just as important as the growing season, which is why you need to keep spuds in the best possible condition from harvest to shed. BY: ASHLEY ROBINSONRON HOWARD Editors note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.plant pathologist with RJH Ag Research Solutions Ltd. Spud Smart (SS): What storage problems could growers face this year based on growing season conditions?RON HOWARD (RH): We had hot, dry growing conditions on the southern Prairies of Western Canada towards the latter part of the growing season, which has stressed some of our potato crops and resulted in some disappointing yields. But most of the early STEVEN JOHNSON maturing varieties have been dug and harvesting of the main crop varieties is just nicely crops specialist and extensionunderway. Quality has generally been average, but there have been reports of some abnor-professor at the University of Maine malities such as secondary sprouting, and knobbiness, which we usually associate with heat stress. Some of the extension specialists Ive spoken to are concerned about the dry soil conditions that could result in lumps, and of course, that can lead to tuber bruising during digging and predispose them to dry rot and other infectious diseases which could show up in storage. In addition, if were bringing in warm tubers, theyre going to need to be cooled to remove that field heat.STEVEN JOHNSON (SJ): I have a fear this year in the eastern part of Canada and Maine where I am, were going to not be able to supply enough humidity (in storage). This is reminiscent of 1995, when we had one of the driest years that Ive been here for. We could not get enough humidity to suberize the potatoes and we had a lot of fusarium that came in because we could not get enough moisture into the air because it was so dry. Even soaking the concrete floors and adding humidity didnt help. The potatoes came in so dry that they just couldnt get moisture on them enough to suberize. They looked okay when they came in, but when the storage was opened, there was a lot of fusarium.SS: Any harvest tips to help with storage?RH: We want to make sure that weve desiccated our vines, which allows the skins to set up. Intact skins are a natural barrier to infection by pathogenic bacteria and fungi. We want to delay harvesting until that happens and until pulp temperatures have cooled SUPPORTED BY:50 SPUDSMART.COM FALL 2020'