Potato blight taking toll on farmers

September 30, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - A highly destructive micro-organism continues to plague Mat-Su potato fields, raising fears among pest management officials and farmers that the disease, which caused the notorious Irish potato famine, could decimate the bulk of Mat-Su potato crops during winter storage.

Spread by wind and water, the highly virulent and still unknown strain of late blight disease has contaminated crops of at least five out of seven of the Valley's commercial potato growers.

Caused by a water-mold micro-organism, the blight first showed up in Mat-Su fields in early August. It can travel as far as 80 miles through microscopic wind-blown spores. When they land on wet potato leaves, they initiate a takeover of the plant, rotting the leaves, stems and ultimately the underground potatoes.

Cool, rainy weather in August and September only exacerbated the problem, said Bill Campbell, disease control specialist for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources .

"The spores can also swim through the water and into the soil," he explained. "They have sensors, too, that tell them which way to go to get to the potatoes."

Farmers who harvest their fields before the blight works its way into the potatoes can avoid the contamination, but Campbell said the disease could spread through an entire warehouse from one infected potato.

"The crisis of the moment is whether the potatoes will store," he said Tuesday. "We are finding contaminated [potatoes] in cellars."

It wasn't until 1995 that blight first showed up in Alaska. Since then, it has struck three times. In 1995 and 1998, farmers sprayed fungicides on their fields and successfully treated the blight before it grew widespread. This year, however, the blight has resisted all treatment efforts, causing farming officials to believe the strain is different from previous years.

Farmers and state officials are still waiting for test results to determine the strain.

"It's been wild and crazy trying to track this thing down," Campbell said. Twice now, Campbell has sent samples to Lower 48 labs for testing, but results have still not arrived.

In the mid-1990s, a resistant strain of blight wreaked havoc on Lower 48 fields and led to new approaches to fighting blight.

In the next week, Alaska Division of Agriculture Director Larry DeVilbiss plans to meet with local farmers to come up with a strategy to deal with blight this winter and next summer.

"While we wait for the test results, we are moving ahead with a late blight plan for next summer," he said. "Farmers have to decide how to handle it next summer and how to handle winter storage."

The strategy will have to include treating all potatoes that are used for seeds, Campbell said. Regular spraying, every 10 days, is also a likely necessity. In addition to spraying, Campbell said a weather monitoring system could help farmers determine when to harvest and when to spray.

Late blight needs an extended period of cold wet weather to bloom. If farmers keep track of the weather, Campbell said they would have a better idea of when to begin spraying chemicals.

For now, local farmers can only wait to see what the disease does over the winter. Longtime Valley farmer Bob Boyd said heavy losses could put some growers out of business.

"I've heard a couple say they might throw in the towel and not do this anymore," he said. "We are waiting to see if the Division of Agriculture declares this a disaster. If they don't, I think there will be a lot of them that go under."

Boyd's son, Adam, is only in his mid-30s and is one of the youngest full-time farmers in the Valley. Harvesting a contaminated field earlier this week, he said he's determined to farm next summer but admitted that he might shrink his operation.

"This may downsize me," he confessed. "I'd probably have to get a part-time job if I downsize. At some point, you just get too small."

DeVilbiss said his division is still investigating the damage before deciding whether to declare the summer outbreak a disaster, which would entail financial aid for the farmers.

"It is something that is being considered," he said. "We're waiting to see the yields and the actual damage during winter storage."

Contact Joel Davidson at 352-2266, or joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.