A Newsletter for Commercial Potato and Vegetable Growers Prepared by the University of Wisconsin Madison Vegetable Research and Extension Specialists
Hello,
It was great to see so many of you at our winter education events! Our WPVGA/UWEX Grower Education Conference had record participation, and we ran out of A3422 books (Commercial Vegetable Production in Wisconsin-2026). A bookmarked, searchable digital version can be found here: https://vegpath.plantpath.wisc.edu/documents/a3422/
For those wanting a hard copy, I will be leaving a few boxes of these books at the UW Hancock Agricultural Research Station main office tomorrow (March 3, 2026). Please pick up the books you need for your operation.
The proceedings of the WPVGA/UWEX Grower Education Conference including the power point presentations of most of the talks can be found here: https://wpvga.conferencespot.org/
The UW Madison Division of Extension Vegetable Crop Updates Newsletter will continue into 2026. If you would like to add any email addresses to the email listserve, please send me a message at gevens@wisc.edu. Archived newsletters can be found here: https://vegpath.plantpath.wisc.edu/category/newsletter/
In this issue, I am addressing Rhizomania, a new disease for Wisconsin beets. Rhizomania is the name of a beet disease caused by Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) which is transmitted by the persistent soilborne organism Polymyxa betae. In 2025, the disease was confirmed for the first time in Wisconsin table beet production. Preventative action is essential to limit movement of the pathogen to new locations. The attached document summarizes the situation and management.
Please contact me with any questions regarding this or other vegetable diseases.
Best regards,
Amanda
Amanda Gevens
Associate Chair, Professor & Extension Specialist
Administrative Director of the Wisconsin Seed Potato Certification Program
Fritz Friday Chair for Vegetable Production Research
Plant Pathology Department
1630 Linden Drive Room
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI 53706
gevens@wisc.edu/608-575-3029
