2025 Montcalm County Potato Field Day
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Michigan State University Extension in partnership with the Michigan Potato Industry Commission hosted the 2025 Montcalm County Potato Field Day on Thursday, Aug. 7 at the Montcalm Research Center located at 4629 West McBride Rd, Lakeview, MI 48850. Producers, agribusiness professionals and community members all came together to learn from MSU scientsts, industry experts, and each other about the latest developments in potato production in Michigan.
The day began early as Stephanie Kipp (Kipp Farm Services, CSS graduate and Michigan Potato Research Committee chair), discussed aphid management, followed immediately with a refresher on 4-part spraying chemistry and physics. “This part was so helpful to me,” said Tori Maynard, who is working with Walter Farms in this, her final summer as a CSS undergraduate student. “I came to learn more about agronomy practice in the potato industry, and this presentation really helped me visualize how the spray actually works.
Next, MSU Extension educator Richard Price, formerly of the Bruno Basso Digital Agriculture Lab, discussed how digital agriculture can be used to strengthen and assist with field monitoring and the development of IPM plans for producers through using remote sensing technology as well as some of the current limitations of digital technology.
The crowd also enjoyed a precision application demonstration by Flying Acres Ag and Michigan State University (MSU) Extension educator Nicolle Ritchie, who tests the effectiveness of different drone application methods and evaluates the effectiveness of some adjuvants using a Swath Gobbler.
Zsofia Szendrei, PhD, MSU vegetable entomologist presents latest findings in Colorado potato beetle management and works side by side here with Jaime Willbur, PhD, MSU potato and sugarbeet pathologist who discusses late blight management strategies including the recent changes in chlorothalonil rate reductions, with assistance from recent graduate Emily Jordyn Weedon (Willbur lab, right).
PSM Weed Scientist Erin Burns discusses potatoes as pests, and New PSM professor and chairperson Sydney Everhart takes the time to meet with colleagues including Jaime Willbur and David Douches, to learn about research at the Montcalm Research Center. “The best part of the event is having the time and space to think about the research in context.”
