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Iris Potato Fungus Attacks Local Tomato Crop

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Aug 13, 2009 5:20 pm US/Eastern

Iris Potato Fungus Attacks Local Tomato Crop

Reporting
Ron Sanders
SUDBURY (WBZ) ― The destructive fungus that caused the Irish Potato Famine in the 19th century is attacking farms in the eastern United States like never before, wreaking havoc with tomato and potato crops on local organic farms.

"On a normal year, we'd be harvesting all summer and fall," says Chris Kurth, but his Siena Farms in Sudbury is under attack by "late blight," otherwise known as Irish Potato Famine Fungus which thrives in wet, cool weather which has been overly abundant in New England this summer.

The plant disease makes Heirlooms look as if they could star in "Attack of The Killer Tomatoes" except it's the tomatoes being killed. "I've never seen any kind of agricultural disease like this before," says Kurth.

Many non-organic farms use fungicides. Siena Farms has tried copper but that only slows the disease and does not stop it. Agriculture experts suspect late blight has spread through tomato plants sold at big box store garden centers and then through the air from garden to garden and farm to farm.

Siena Farms grows many other crops but expects to lose $50,000 to $60,000 in tomatoes and potatoes this season.

Those that have been salvaged are being distributed to Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, members of the farm. Kurth says late blight is expected to drive up prices of organic tomatoes and potatoes.

He's keeping his fingers crossed that we get a good hard freeze this winter so late blight won't winter-over here and ruin next year's crops.

Agriculture experts have found that petunias, which are related to tomatoes and potatoes, can also be infected by late blight.

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