Potatoes
Potatoes are grown all across NYS, though the largest farms tend to be located in Western NY, the Finger Lakes Region and on Long Island, on deep, fertile, light- to medium-textured mineral soils, and on muck (organic) soils. Potatoes are grown on small, medium and large farms, for retail, wholesale (east of the Mississippi) and organic markets, for both fresh market and processing into chips, and for certified seed potatoes. Most growers store some of their crop for winter sales. Varieties include round whites, red-skinned potatoes, yellows, and a smaller acreage of a wide variety of specialty types, such as those with blue or red skin and flesh, fingerlings, etc. Potatoes are one of the highest value vegetables in NY, grown on about 17,100 acres, with an average value of about $74.4 million recently.Potatoes have many serious insect and disease pests. Late blight can be a devastating disease, capable of completely destroying an unprotected crop within 3 weeks in wet weather, and rotting the tubers. Late blight was the major cause of the Irish Potato Famine. It also affects tomatoes. New, more virulent strains of late blight fungus began showing up 20 years ago and the disease has been harder to predict and control ever since. Early blight is a common fungal disease on both potatoes and tomatoes which survives over-winter in the soil. Colorado potato beetles can cause serious defoliation if crops are not rotated up to a quarter mile from where they, tomatoes or eggplant were previously planted. They can rapidly become resistant to commonly used insecticides. Tiny, sucking leafhoppers move up from the south each June on weather systems, and can cause severe leaf burn and yield reduction. Aphids can also be a production problem as well as carrying viral diseases that can affect potatoes grown from saved seed.
Interseeding Summer Cover Crops Between Vegetable Beds, Trial Results
Chuck Bornt, Team Leader, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
Managing weeds between vegetable beds remains an on-going issue for vegetable growers, both organic and conventional. It is common practice for vegetable growers to transplant crops into beds covered with black plastic mulch. This strategy provides excellent weed control in the planted row but leaves soil between beds exposed and vulnerable to erosion, compaction, and weed growth. Conventional growers often use herbicides for weed control, but herbicides applied at crop establishment do not provide season long control. Organic growers can mow or use tillage to control weeds, but this can be difficult between beds with plastic mulch and the soil is continuously disturbed decreasing soil health over time. Planting cover crops to protect and improve soil health is not new and the potential benefits of cover crops are well known.
Interseeding Summer Cover Crops Between Vegetable Beds, Trial Results Yr2
Chuck Bornt, Team Leader, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
Managing weeds between vegetable beds remains an on-going issue for vegetable growers, both organic and conventional. It is common practice for vegetable growers to transplant crops into beds covered with black plastic mulch. This strategy provides excellent weed control in the planted row but leaves soil between beds exposed and vulnerable to erosion, compaction, and weed growth. Conventional growers often use herbicides for weed control, but herbicides applied at crop establishment do not provide season long control. Organic growers can mow or use tillage to control weeds, but this can be difficult between beds with plastic mulch and the soil is continuously disturbed decreasing soil health over time. Planting cover crops to protect and improve soil health is not new and the potential benefits of cover crops are well known.
2021 Potato Variety Trial
Chuck Bornt, Team Leader, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
2020 Potato Variety Trial
Chuck Bornt, Team Leader, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
Managing Wireworms in Root Crops
Teresa Rusinek, Vegetable Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
2019 Potato Variety Trial Results
Chuck Bornt, Team Leader, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
2018 CCE ENYCHP Potato Variety Trial Results
Chuck Bornt, Team Leader, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
The CCE ENYCHP evaluated 34 fresh market potato varieties in 2018 for yield, quality and other characteristics. There was a wide range of skin and flesh colors making for a very colorful trial.
Approved Potato Desiccants in NYS
Chuck Bornt, Team Leader, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
Insecticides Labeled for Colorado Potato Beetle
Chuck Bornt, Team Leader, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
Best Practices for Seed Potato Handling
Chuck Bornt, Team Leader, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
| How you handle your seed potato can impact yield, disease severity, and emergence timing. Get the most out of your potato crop by following these best practices for handling and cutting seed potatoes. |
2017 Potato Variety Trial
2018 Eastern New York Fruit & Vegetable Conference Vegetable Presentations
Presentations from the 2018 ENYCHP Eastern New York Fruit & Vegetable Conference held February 20th and 21st for the vegetable sections.
Winter Storage Keys to Success - Vegetable Crops
Key topics covered:
- Growing a healthy Crop and keeping it that way in storage
- Storage conditions
- Construction of coolers
- Controls and Thermostats
- Monitoring and more advanced controls
2017 NYS Certified Seed Potato Crop Directory
The 2017 NYS Certified Seed Potato Crop Directory is now available. There is a wealth of information on NYS potato seed certification, as well as on the varieties grown for certification in 2017.
Organic Production Guides
Robert Hadad, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Cornell Vegetable Program
Organic Production Guides for fruits, vegetables and dairy are available through the NYS Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. They outline general practices for growing vegetable and fruit crops using organic integrated pest management techniques.
Potato Leaf Hopper Managment
2016 Conventional Potato Variety Trial Results
Anne Mills, Field Technician
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
View this slideshow for user friendly data and photos from the conventional potato variety trial held in Schoharie County, NY.
Control of Colorado Potato Beetle & Insecticide Resistance Management
Carol MacNeil, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Cornell Vegetable Program
The CPB is known for its ability to quickly develop resistance to insecticides. There are alternatives to insecticides for managing CPB, but for growers with large fields and a limited ability to rotate fields, insecticides remain key.
O-zone Injury on Vegetables
Crystal Stewart-Courtens, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture
Hot, humid weather with stagnant air masses may lead to ozone damage on crops. Ozone warnings were recently issued for much of New York. These warnings are intended for people with respiratory problems and let them know they should limit their outdoor activity and try to stay as much as possible in air-conditioned locations. These warning are also a good indicator that ozone damage may occur in plants.
Nightshade Management Reduces Crop Loss
Julie Kikkert, Team Leader, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Cornell Vegetable Program
Depending on the crop, nightshade can reduce crop yields, harbor diseases, and cause crops to be rejected by processors. Learn about the species of nightshades in NY, physiological differences between them, emergence and growth information, and control strategies.
Buckwheat Strips to Attract Beneficial Insects in Potato Production
Robert Hadad, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Cornell Vegetable Program
Download a report of field plot strategies for using buckwheat strips to attract beneficial insects for the control of Colorado potato beetle in potato production (2009/2010). This project was funded by the Organic Farming Research Federation.
Apples
Apricots
Asparagus
Beets
Blueberries
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Cherries
Cucumbers
Dry Beans
Eggplant
Ethnic Vegetables
Garlic
Grapes
Horseradish
Kohlrabi
Leeks
Lettuce / Leafy Greens
Melons
Nectarines
Onions
Parsnips
Peaches
Pears
Peas
Peppers
Plums
Potatoes
Pumpkins / Gourds
Radishes
Raspberries / Blackberries
Rhubarb
Rutabaga
Snap Beans
Squash - Summer
Squash- Winter
Strawberries
Sweet Corn
Sweet Potatoes
Tomatoes
Turnips
Upcoming Events
Agricultural Supervisory Leadership Certificate Program
June 17, 2022
June 23, 2022
June 30, 2022
July 7, 2022
July 14, 2022
July 21, 2022
July 28, 2022
Supervisors are critical to the success of farm businesses. They have a major impact both on employees' daily work experiences and on the production performance of the business. The agricultural Supervisory Leadership certificate helps farm supervisors and managers learn and apply human resource management practices and leadership skills that foster rewarding workplaces and drive business results. Confident managers who thoughtfully apply leadership and management skills improve employee performance, develop teams, reduce employee turnover, and increase employee engagement. The courses within the certificate program will offer extensive practice and engagement activities to build confidence and skill sets.
Getting the Most Out of Every Pass - Calibrating Airblast Sprayers for Best Results
June 29 - June 30, 2022
University of New Hampshire Extension Field Specialist Emeritus, George Hamilton will demonstrate the importance of and best techniques to calibrate air blast sprayers. Proper calibration will ensure effective, efficient, economical and legal spraying. Inadequate spray coverage is usually the cause of poor spray efficacy and additional spray applications. Overuse of some sprays results in unhealthy residues and can lead to fines.
Calibration should be done several times each season, or when you incorporate any new equipment or repairs - from the tractor to the nozzle. Join us for a refresher or send new employees for training. This workshop is open for any grower that relies on an airblast sprayer to deliver plant protectants to fruit or vegetable crops.
Peru Weed Management and Soil Health Field Day
July 20, 2022
Peru, NY
Join us in Peru on July 20th as we discuss orchard weed and soil management! Speakers will be joining us from across Cornell's research and extension teams. Topics will include the results of our herbicide timing trials, new vision-guided technologies for orchard weed spraying, organic weed management options, soil health demonstrations, and a discussion on our statewide orchard soil health survey. DEC credits are pending for this event.