No current practice in potato production provides more benefits than soil fumigation.
With potatoes, crop quality sells the crop.
However, crop production efficiency is what secures a sustainable farming operation. The health of the soil in which you’re planting your crops has one of the most influential impacts on crop quality and production efficiency. We are here to help you grow more, quality potatoes.
Pre-plant soil fumigation treatment with Strike is the first step in a successful soil health and pest management system.
Reduced soil borne disease and increased beneficial soil micro populations following Strike soil treatment leads to:
Shepody is a short-season russet-skinned variety used for early season processing. Shepody has many of the needed processing characteristics, however, it is notoriously known for a relatively low poor set and low yield. In 2018 in Aroostook County, Maine, Shepody was planted in a grower standard production system (non-fumigated) and ground that had fall applied Strike 85 (115 lb Strike 85/A). Potato plants grown in the Strike 85 treatment produced 80 and 75 cwt/A more total and marketable yield compared to potato plants in the grower standard treatment. Plants in the Strike 85 treatment produced 40 cwt/A more yield in the greater than 10 oz. size class. These yield increases were driven by a set increase in plants in the Strike 85 treatments. These plants produced 16,700 more tubers in a marketable class compared to plants in the non-fumigated areas. Plants grown in Strike 85 produced more tubers plant which translated into an increase of 75 cwt/A turning a relatively poor yielding, early-season, processing variety into a better economic proposition.
| Treatment | Stems/Plant | Specific Gravity | Culls | <1 7⁄8″ | 1 7⁄8″ – 6oz | 6 – 10oz | Bonus >10oz | GRD 1 1 7⁄8″ – 10oz |
Mkt Yield | Total Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedded – Non-Fumigated | 3.1 | 1.086 | 0.0 | 16 | 83 | 120 | 56 | 203 | 259 | 274 |
| Bedded – 115 lb ai Strike 85/A | 3.0 | 1.080 | 0.0 | 20 | 109 | 129 | 95 | 238 | 334 | 354 |
| Difference | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 26 | 9 | 40 | 35 | 75 | 80 |
| T-Test (p value) | 0.077 | — | 0.225 | 0.059 | 0.570 | 0.028 | 0.069 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
Table 2. Shepody Yield Data (tubers/planted A) for the 2018 Soil Fumigation Trial in Aroostook County, Maine
| Treatment | Stems/Plant | Culls | <1 7⁄8″ | 1 7⁄8″ – 6oz | 6 – 10oz | Bonus >10oz | GRD 1 1 7⁄8″ – 10oz |
Mkt Yield | Total Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| – 1,000 tubers/A – | |||||||||
| Bedded – Non-Fumigated | 3.1 | 0 | 17 | 30 | 25 | 7 | 55 | 62 | 79 |
| Bedded – 115 lb ai Strike 85/A | 3.0 | 0 | 22 | 39 | 27 | 12 | 67 | 79 | 101 |
| Difference | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 16.7 | 21.6 |
| T-Test (p value) | 0.077 | 0.277 | 0.049 | 0.504 | 0.028 | 0.026 | 0.001 | 0.016 | |
Strike improved tuber set.
Strike improved yield.
Yield dependent on weather and management.
Plants Grown in Strike Fumigated Soil Over Plants in Non-Treated Soil.