The 2021 potato planting season has been far from smooth. Cold, dry and harsh weather in the south, west and east slowed crop development and resulted in some frost damage on early sown crops.
Continued broken weather in the north has turned this year’s potato planting campaign into a smash-and-grab exercise, with planting still ongoing this week.
In both cases, the likelihood is that the potato harvest could be later than planned because of the slow start.
The loss of the potato haulm desiccant diquat two years ago changed the potato harvesting landscape dramatically.
While a temporary derogation was granted last year, it remains to be seen if the same will happen this year.
Rapidly stopping potato growth is an important management tool when planning harvesting dates and logistics, controlling tuber size and ensuring a smooth harvest.
While alternative haulm desiccation methods are being trialled by growers, most will be using a combination of mechanical flailing along with the products Spotlight Plus (carfentrazone-ethyl) and/or Gozai (pyraflufen-ethyl) this year.
Planning for this desiccation strategy should already be under way. As the chances of broken weather increase as the year moves on, early planning is especially important given the likelihood of a late harvest.
Plan for topping
Topping is slow work and even in a good year, once the ground is broken it can leave a mess for the harvester. So, the quality of topping needs to be high, as you’ll only get one chance at it.
First and foremost, ensure machines match up. Many destoners and planters operate on a single bed, but flails may operate over two or three beds. Even a few centimetres out of line will make a difference.
Pay attention to headlands and make sure you leave room or gaps to turn. Drill planting angles should be taken into consideration.
Ideally, the crop should be in senescence when topping, meaning careful attention should be given to nitrogen rates, timing and varieties.
Potato crops need to be free of disease when topping, to avoid the transmission of spores by the machine or mulch. After topping, a fungicide will need to be applied within the following 48 hours to combat this.
One of the main weaknesses of the remaining halum destruction herbicides on the market is their weakness on foliage and speed of action.
However, they are good on stems, so it’s important to leave at least 20cm of the stem, as well as some leaves intact, to allow for fungicide and herbicide uptake.
Scalping the top of the drills will also leave the crop more exposed, both to the elements and bird damage.
Halum toppers now grant aided
The Department of Agriculture has added potato haulm toppers to the list of machinery available under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) II.
The machines are available under the latest tranche of the scheme. The Department has said that haulm toppers are available in different formats and are subject to these designations:
Fixed/rigid model, front- or rear-mounted with the option of side delivery of the haulm.Hydraulic folding all-rear model.Rear-mounted folding straddle model (which combines with a fixed/rigid front-mounted model).Extras
Optional extras, such as ridge wheels or hydraulic depth wheels, are also allowed. The Department explained: “Under Tams II, a single sub-investment will cover all types of potato haulm toppers.”
The reference cost can be calculated using the following equation: y = 4725x + 2654, where y is the cost of the topper and x is the amount of working width in linear metres of flail on the topper.
The 2021 potato planting season has been far from smooth. Cold, dry and harsh weather in the south, west and east slowed crop development and resulted in some frost damage on early sown crops.
Continued broken weather in the north has turned this year’s potato planting campaign into a smash-and-grab exercise, with planting still ongoing this week.
In both cases, the likelihood is that the potato harvest could be later than planned because of the slow start.
The loss of the potato haulm desiccant diquat two years ago changed the potato harvesting landscape dramatically.
While a temporary derogation was granted last year, it remains to be seen if the same will happen this year.
Rapidly stopping potato growth is an important management tool when planning harvesting dates and logistics, controlling tuber size and ensuring a smooth harvest.
While alternative haulm desiccation methods are being trialled by growers, most will be using a combination of mechanical flailing along with the products Spotlight Plus (carfentrazone-ethyl) and/or Gozai (pyraflufen-ethyl) this year.
Planning for this desiccation strategy should already be under way. As the chances of broken weather increase as the year moves on, early planning is especially important given the likelihood of a late harvest.
Plan for topping
Topping is slow work and even in a good year, once the ground is broken it can leave a mess for the harvester. So, the quality of topping needs to be high, as you’ll only get one chance at it.
First and foremost, ensure machines match up. Many destoners and planters operate on a single bed, but flails may operate over two or three beds. Even a few centimetres out of line will make a difference.
Pay attention to headlands and make sure you leave room or gaps to turn. Drill planting angles should be taken into consideration.
Ideally, the crop should be in senescence when topping, meaning careful attention should be given to nitrogen rates, timing and varieties.
Potato crops need to be free of disease when topping, to avoid the transmission of spores by the machine or mulch. After topping, a fungicide will need to be applied within the following 48 hours to combat this.
One of the main weaknesses of the remaining halum destruction herbicides on the market is their weakness on foliage and speed of action.
However, they are good on stems, so it’s important to leave at least 20cm of the stem, as well as some leaves intact, to allow for fungicide and herbicide uptake.
Scalping the top of the drills will also leave the crop more exposed, both to the elements and bird damage.
Halum toppers now grant aided
The Department of Agriculture has added potato haulm toppers to the list of machinery available under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) II.
The machines are available under the latest tranche of the scheme. The Department has said that haulm toppers are available in different formats and are subject to these designations:
Fixed/rigid model, front- or rear-mounted with the option of side delivery of the haulm.Hydraulic folding all-rear model.Rear-mounted folding straddle model (which combines with a fixed/rigid front-mounted model).Extras
Optional extras, such as ridge wheels or hydraulic depth wheels, are also allowed. The Department explained: “Under Tams II, a single sub-investment will cover all types of potato haulm toppers.”
The reference cost can be calculated using the following equation: y = 4725x + 2654, where y is the cost of the topper and x is the amount of working width in linear metres of flail on the topper.
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: