The 2020 potato harvest is well under way, with earlies now cleared, salad crisping and early main crops about to start.

This harvest is proving to be a challenging one for growers, due to the loss of the herbicide diquat. Diquat was a fast acting, non-selective herbicide used to desiccate potato haulms before harvest.

As well as managing the crop canopy, the herbicide was a key agronomy tool to control tuber size, accelerate skinset and stolon separation and control weeds.

From 4 February 2020, diquat is no longer authorised for use on EU farms.

Growers are now assessing their options for managing haulms this year. The dry spring, followed by the wet summer, likely resulted in a late flush of nitrogen, making canopy management a challenge.

Options for canopy desiccation this season include mechanical topping and the use of the herbicide carfentrazone-ethyl (Spotlight Plus), although growers are trialing a number of alternative methods.

The Irish Farmers Journal recently spoke to UK-based Jeff Fieldsend, Commercial Agronomy Manager with FMC, about potato haulm desiccation strategies this season.

Jeff has carried out extensive work in this area. Watch the full conversation below: