Potato Farmers Running Irrigation Early

Jul 08, 2020

The hot temperatures are causing issues for Manitoba's potato growers.

Vikram Bisht with Manitoba Agriculture says some of the crop is starting to sprout, which is not a good thing.

He adds irrigation is needed in many areas.

"Most cases the soil moisture or the rainfall has been significantly below normal. In the potato growing areas we have anywhere from 35% of normal to about 60/70% of the normal rainfall which means the growers have had to run the irrigation systems much earlier than normal."

Bisht says the risk for late blight is currently low.

He estimates Manitoba potato acres will be close to last year, somewhere in the range of 70,000 acres, adding demand for french fries is starting to pick-up with the economy re-opening.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.