Recent rainfall continues to favor the slow spread of late blight.
We continue to see new late blight lesions in many fields, but in general growers have late blight under control. In northern WI, the consensus is that while late blight is present is some fields, there is less late blight this year than at the same time last year. Some fields planted to early maturing varieties are already being killed with vine desiccant as the tubers reach optimum size. Prompt vine killing can further reduce the risk of late blight infection of tubers. In central WI, there is widespread exposure to late blight, but there is still excellent late blight control in most fields.