August is always chock full of potato-focused events, including field days and other meetings in Michigan. This year is no different.
The calendar is filling up. Here are some key dates:
- Thursday, August 7 – Montcalm Field Day, followed by the MPIC Research Committee Meeting (details below).
- Wednesday, August 20 – Box Bin Trial Tour
- Tuesday, August 26 – Northern Michigan Grower Plot Tour
- Wednesday, August 27 – Upper Peninsula Field Day (details coming)
2025 Montcalm County Potato Field Day Held August 7
By Steve Whittington, Michigan State University Extension
MSU Extension and Michigan Potato Industry Commission to host the 2025 Montcalm County Potato Field Day at the Montcalm Research Center with a focus on integrated pest management in Michigan potato systems.
Weeds, pests, diseases and potatoes … oh my! You don’t want to miss this year’s annual Potato Field Day that will address a myriad of persistent issues in integrated pest management in potato systems, including what digital agriculture, drones and remote sensing can do in your cropping system.
Michigan State University Extension in partnership with the Michigan Potato Industry Commission is excited to host 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 are welcome to attend this free event. The event will begin at 8 a.m. with a check-in and light refreshments and coffee provided. The event will conclude after lunch around 1 p.m. with an optional potato research meeting immediately following the field day.
This year’s potato field day will consist of two breakout sessions centered around integrated pest management (IPM): digital technology and drones and agronomic management updates and practices.
The remote sensing and digital technology session will feature a drone application demonstration by Flying Acres Ag and Michigan State University (MSU) Extension educator Nicolle Ritchie, which will test the effectiveness of different drone application methods including evaluating the effectiveness of some adjuvants using a Swath Gobbler. Additionally, there will be a remote sensing technology demonstration by MSU Extension educator Richard Price, formerly of the Bruno Basso Digital Agriculture Lab. Price will showcase how digital agriculture can be used to bolster 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 next breakout session features the agronomic management component of a successful integrated pest management approach. We all know that there’s no substitute for a farmer’s footsteps in the field as a crop management strategy. This breakout will feature the top experts in the field of integrated pest management including Erin Burns, PhD, MSU weed scientist discussing potato volunteer management and herbicide resistance; Jaime Willbur, PhD, MSU potato and sugarbeet pathologist discussing late blight management strategies including the recent changes in chlorothalonil rate reductions; Zsofia Szendrei, PhD, MSU vegetable entomologist discussing Colorado potato beetle management; and a local grower’s perspective on aphid management featuring Stephanie Kipp of Kipp Farm Services.
The intent of these two breakout sessions is to showcase how emerging technologies like digital agriculture and effective on-ground agronomy can be used together to bolster crop management and address a myriad of IPM issues in Michigan potato production and cropping systems.
Registration is free but required.
Register for the 2025 Montcalm County Potato Field Day.