Lucky Lancaster County tomato farmers seem to have escaped a disease that threatened to devastate this summer's crop.

"We've had a good year so far," said Steve Groff, of Cedar Meadow Farm near Holtwood.

"The summer hasn't been without its challenges," Groff said of his crop of 30,000 tomato plants, but those challenges have been more weather-related than disease.

A month ago, the concern was that disease, known as "late blight" — the same one that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s — could wipe out the county's tomato crop.

"I've been dodging thunderstorms and irrigating, worrying about hail," Groff said.

But as to the "late blight," disease, Groff said, "guess you could say I dodged the bullet...I'm OK so far."

Beth Gugino, vegetable pathologist in Penn State's Department of Plant Pathology, said commercial farmers "are definitely staying on top of the problem' and using fungicides to control the disease.

"I think most home garden tomatoes succumbed to the disease," Gugino said, and when the plant was removed and disposed of, "it really reduced the problem."

Gugino said she is frequently asked by backyard growers if they need to treat the soil to prevent the disease from returning next year.

The answer is no.

"It doesn't winter over. The pathogen can't survive," Gugino said. "So when the diseased plant is removed," there is nothing more that needs to be done.

Earlier in the summer, state Department of Agriculture inspectors found infected plants being sold at big-box stores here.

But, Gugino said, those plants were voluntarily removed, and now the time for selling tomato plants is over.

Tyler Rohrer, co-owner of The Tomato Barn along Route 999 in Washington Boro, said they also escaped any serious problems this season.

"We cover most of our tomatoes,"  Rohrer said, which blocks out the wet conditions that spread the disease.

The family-owned operation specializes in producing tomatoes early in the summer, Rohrer said, "so our crop is petering out about now anyway."

Eric Stauffer, chief operating officer of the supermarket division for Stauffers of Kissel Hill, buys Washington Boro tomatoes from The Tomato Barn.

"Right now, the selection is absolutely the best of the entire year,"  Stauffer said, "and they're super nice."

Stauffers also buys from the Leola Produce Auction, he said, where the firm gets a good supply and variety of tomatoes, from large slicing to small salad-sized.

Stauffer said he was not concerned about the possible threat of disease after local growers assured him that quality and supply would not be a problem.

Gugino, farmers and produce experts agree blight-infected tomatoes are not harmful if eaten.

"They may not taste very good," Luke LaBorde, a Penn State associate professor of food science, said, "but the fungus itself doesn't harm people."

"Our motto is, 'When in doubt, throw it out,' " he said.

The problem with blemished fruits and vegetables, LaBorde said, is that they can be a host to other organisms that could be harmful.

And such produce should never be used for canning, because any sort of fungus or disease could change the acid level and make it unsafe for consumption.

"Considering it's going to taste bad anyway," LaBorde said, "go ahead and dump it."

E-mail: jkelley@lnpnews.com