M A R C H 2 0 1 8 POTATO GROWER 11 Mr. Brett Miller from Syngenta gave an update on new and existing products. He mentioned: CruiserMaxx Vibrance® as a new combination seed treatment. Elatus® fungicides mixture with a new fungicide in furrow against Rhizoctonia, black dot and silver scurf. Orondis® is a new fungicide against late blight and pink rot and is now available in mix- tures. Mr. Miller emphasized resistance management with Minecto pro® a non- neonic mix insecticide against many insects. Miravis Prime®was mentioned as a fun- gicide mix against white mold, grey mold and early blight. Unfortunately, it is not registered yet for potatoes. Mr. Miller concluded saying that Revus® is now available for seed piece treatment for late blight infected seed. Mr. Daryl Ritchison, NDAWN, talked about inversion monitoring. The web- site for more information and alerts is “Ndawn.org.” Mr. Ritchison gave the definition of inversion: “The atmos- phere is cooler down than up”. Inversions are frequent in North Dakota. They most often occur in the spring and summer before row closure, in the afternoon, when the soil is warmer than the air above it. Inversions are an evening problem and wane overnight. They go down before sun- rise. Light windspeed favors inversions. Your late blight sensors may be too high. Inversions allow foliage to be wet when your sensor is at three feet and shows a low RH. The potato late blight app. has an inversion alert if the rele- vant field has sensors. Mr. Steve Nicholson of Rabo AgriFinance gave a Global Perspectives on Agricultural Commodities. He gave a macro view and mentioned that a strong global economic growth is posi- tive for agriculture. “There is a reduc- tion in global feed grains stocks”, he said. The increased dispersion of global grain and soybean trade to South American and the Black Sea region has taken market share away from the US. Because trade is very important to all in agriculture, a disruption in trade is not welcome. He did not expect that there would be a potential for positive mar- gins in US until 2019. He expected that interest rates will go up, but that may not be too big an issue for agriculture. Post Harvest Tests in Minnesota and North Dakota. Jeff Miller from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture gave an overview of the Minnesota post- harvest test. He said that 28 growers entered 441 lots totaling 6,559 acres for summer certification. Not all of these lots went to the post harvest test. Some are commercial fields only and must cer- tify because they are in restricted grow-