Seth Olson, conservation agronomist at Alsum Farms, oversees 2,700 acres in Arena and roughly 1,000 acres in Grand Marsh. Olson gives us a crop progress report from the potato field. He says 80 percent of the crop looks great, but moisture has been a limiting factor.
“There’s about 10 percent where the moisture is really causing some challenges for us,” he says. “And there’s another 10-15 percent that depending on what happens coming up soon here in the season could go either way.”
He explains that despite higher rainfall, irrigation has still been necessary for fast-draining sandy soils and to replenish nitrogen that may have leached away in the water.
Right now, he’s scouting the field for the Colorado Potato Beetle and potato blight. The mild winter has meant that the potato beetles didn’t die off as normal.
“We are seeing a little bit higher potato beetle pressures,” says Olson. “This year it’s been ahead of schedule as far as the pest life cycle.”
He also manages sustainability initiatives on the farm to prevent erosion with the increased rainfall and to meet the standards of the Wisconsin Healthy Grown Potato program.
