Flewelling Farms uses fumigation to suppress verticillium wilt and increase crop quality.
When Verticillium wilt became an escalating issue for the potato crop at Flewelling Farms, Bruce Flewelling and his family were in search of a solution that would give them a more productive crop, year after year. Flewelling Farms has been growing potatoes in the Easton, Maine, area for five generations and was one of the first operations in the area to grow for the processing industry, particularly McCain Foods, the world’s largest frozen potato processor.
Due to the presence of Verticillium wilt, the Flewellings’ potatoes were staying too green for too long, and the plants were dying down too early, directly impacting their yield and productivity. After research and a few conversations with their local AMVAC® representative, the Flewellings began fumigating their soils with Vapam® HL™, a metam sodium product optimized to suppress pests. They started application on a small 50-acre field to experiment and quickly saw success.
Within five years, the farm expanded to applying Vapam HL on nearly all of their 1,000-acre operation due to how the product suppressed Verticillium wilt and minimized the effects of early dying on their fields.
“We were struggling with Verticillium wilt. Vapam HL cured it; it smoked it,” said Bruce Flewelling. “At Flewelling Farms, we are committed to Vapam HL.”
With proper application and placement in the soil, Vapam HL is proven to provide best-in-class return on investment with a consistent yield increase for potato operations like the Flewellings’.
There is no question that Vapam HL gives you an advantage,” said Bruce Flewelling. “Vapam HL gives us a larger [potato] profile and more yield. I would say it’s been a 10-20% [increase].
In recent years, Flewelling Farms has been recognized for their success and potato quality by McCain Foods Easton, receiving the Grand Champion Grower award.
“Bruce is a very progressive farmer and is willing to take the risk to be more successful,” said Mike Herrington, high value crop specialist at AMVAC. “The Flewelling family has been acknowledged as a leader in the industry in the Maine area.”
Find out more about how Vapam HL can build a strong soil foundation for potatoes and other crops at amvac.com/potatoes.
About AMVAC Corporation
AMVAC Corporation is a subsidiary of American Vanguard Corporation. American Vanguard Corporation is a diversified specialty and agricultural products company that develops and markets products for crop protection management, turf and ornamentals management, and public safety and animal health applications. American Vanguard is included on the Russell 2000® & Russell 3000® Indexes and the Standard & Poors Small Cap 600 Index.
The Company, from time to time, may discuss forward-looking information. Except for the historical information contained in this release, all forward-looking statements are estimates by the Company’s management and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ from management’s current expectations. Such factors include weather conditions, changes in regulatory policy and other risks as detailed from time-to-time in the Company’s SEC reports and filings. All forward-looking statements, if any, in this release represent the Company’s judgment as of the date of this release.
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VAPAM HL is a Restricted Use Pesticide.