A P R I L 2 0 1 8 22 POTATO GROWER Certified Seed Potatoes In Southern Australia by Willem Schrage 800-437-4685 Fax: (701) 746-5767 The Choice is yours! SALES BY: Greg Holtman, Jeff Lazur & Tim Johnstone • Paul Dolan - Manager You’ll love our red potatoes For dependability and professionalism your choice should be Associated Potato Growers. With operations from three locations, Associated has been the largest packer of red potatoes in the Red River Valley since 1949. Make us your choice for all your red potato needs. Visiting Australia, I again became aware of the fact that different areas of the world have different chal- lenges and opportunities. In Southern Australia, warmer sum- mers and hardly any winter have influenced the approach to pest and disease control. In Australia plant quarantine has had its successes. The absence of Colorado potato bee- tles and the mild winters allow the growers to profit from beneficial or predator insects, to a far greater extent than we can. During a field day, entomologists showed that there were more beneficials on pota- to plants than aphids. Considering how much faster aphids multiply than their predators the general rec- ommendation is to postpone the application of insecticides as long as possible until the actual number of the insect pests warrants the use of a pesticide. Most importantly, when using pesticides, one should select one that is selective towards the pest and maintains the beneficial popu- lation. Tuber moth is one of the rea- sons why people apply insecticides there, and the recommendation is to use targeted insecticides when and wherever possible to limit the effect on the predators. I was informed that, several potato growers had not applied insecticides for over twenty years. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) seemed to have become a “no- brainer”. Late blight does not occur often and is still susceptible to meta- laxyl. However, early blight requires early control to have an effect. Australia has strict regulations con- cerning interstate transports of pota- toes. An example of this is suspen- Dr. Steve Johnson, University of Maine, helps out on one of the training days of Australian inspectors.