The province's potato growers gathered last week in Brandon for Manitoba Potato Production Days Conference and Trade Show.

One of the guest speakers was Andy Robinson, extension potato agronomist for North Dakota State University and the University of Minnesota.

He talked about the impact of cut seed size on yield and quality.

"Previous research that's been done has shown more or less the larger the seed piece, the more yields you could get and it's probably more or less a result of; you have more engery in that seed piece, you get that plant growing faster. The thing is the grower has to balance that with the cost of seed because seed is not cheap."

Another point made by Robinson was that they've done research that shows that if seed potatoes are exposed to dicamba during the growing year, that dicamba can carry over and cause stand reduction and yield loss the next year.