Johnson warns Maine seed potato growers of new bacteria, BDN reports
The Bangor Daily News reported a little-understood bacteria is bringing back Blackleg, an older potato disease, and threatening the reputation of Maine seed potatoes. Blackleg is caused by a number of bacteria, but the disease has been kept under control in Maine seed farms for more than a decade, making its emergence in the mid-Atlantic last year a bit of a mystery until the cause was identified as the bacteria Dickeya by Steve Johnson, a crops specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Presque Isle, according to the article. “This isn’t your daddy’s Blackleg,” he told farmers at the Maine Potato Conference in January. Johnson said seed growers will have to pay more attention to overall sanitation. “If growers start with seed free from Blackleg contamination, the disease can be kept at very low levels,” he said. Seed potatoes can be treated with fungicides, planted in soil that is not too wet and in fields that are regularly rotated between potatoes and other crops, the article states.