Late blight hits southern Idaho potato crops

Idaho potato growers are worried that late blight could already be appearing in the state’s prized cash crop. First reported in Bighman County near Blackfoot on July 10th, samples are now testing positive from three additional fields in northern Minidoka County. Testing revealed the sample in Bingham County are the US23 late blight strain – the most common type and the same strain that surfaced in the area last fall. In the three Minidoka County fields, experts found scattered infection in the upper canopy of the plants, suggesting spores were blown in by thundershowers during the previous week. Experts advise growers with confirmed late blight cases to spray every weeks, and those with late blight confirmed in their counties of growing areas to spray every 10 days. (Source: KMVT.com)