UGA CAES Photo/Phylloxera inside gall from a dissecting microscope.
There’s beginning to be budbreak in pecan orchards throughout the Southeast. As trees start to break dormancy, producers need to begin protecting their crop from one pest who impacts trees this time of year, says Lenny Wells, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension pecan specialist.
“We’re just starting to see it now. This is the time they need to (spray), if they’ve had problems with phylloxera, which is a little small insect that’ll cause those little warty bumps on the leaves and they can also deform the stems. Another species of them can deform the stems and really cause some serious problems there, because it’ll also deform the nuts and cause them to fall off really early,” Wells said. “The time to spray for them is right at budbreak. It’s getting about time to spray those. That’s the main thing they probably need to be looking for right now.”
According to UGA Extension, pecan leaf phylloxera is an insect comparable to aphids. Their feedings can lead to abnormal growths of leaf tissues, and the tissue forms a gall that surrounds the insects. Once it forms, no insecticide can penetrate to the insect.
Site selection remains a pivotal decision for all potential blueberry producers. Alabama Regional Extension agent David Koon discussed various site-selection factors that will impact whether a grower experiences success.
“When we think about site selection of where you’re going to plant your blueberries, just like every other vegetable or fruit producing plant, full sun is a must. Partial shade, you can still grow them and get some fruit, just not near as much,” said Koon during a webinar on the Alabama Extension Commercial Horticulture Facebook page. “Full sun should be the No. 1 factor for any kind of production for a vegetable or fruit crop.”
It is also important to remember that freeze damage may occur in low areas.
“Think of low areas, just like water. Water flows downhill. If there’s a dam at the bottom of the hill, it’s going to pool. That cool air does the same thing,” Koon said. “If it’s in a low spot that’s got high ground all around, that cool air tends to settle in that hole. When you’re thinking two to three degrees difference between 32 and 29 degrees when you get damage, that low place can give you some problems.”
Producers may need to consider planting on the south side of a slope.
Water is Essential
Water accessibility is also an important factor. Blueberries need moisture but won’t tolerate standing water. Raised beds may be required.
“Blueberries do need water. They like to be watered, but they do not tolerate wet feet. If you’ve got some drainage problems or some areas that don’t drain well, you may want to look at some raised beds,” Koon said. “Anytime we talk vegetable production or fruit production, how are you going to get the water to it? Is there a water source readily available? Will it supply enough water for the number of plants that you’re considering?”
In the ongoing war between supporting local farmers against the influx of imports, American farmers need consumers to fight back.
The significance of where food originates may never be more important than it is right now. With imports continuing to flood markets for various commodities, the end result is farmers contemplating selling their land. Others are wondering what else can be done to slow the decline of the American farmer.
“As long as the decision of what’s in the grocery store is based on the consumer, I think we’ll be okay,” said Wade Purvis, who farms in Immokalee, Florida and is part of the Farmers Alliance. “But the problem is the decision that’s being made is, there’s an intermediate group of marketers that stand between the growers and the chain stores. They may have ‘family farms’ in their name or ‘something farms’ in their name, and the chain stores either don’t bother exploring it and figuring it out or are just too lazy to even worry about it.”
The deception continues to have a negative impact on local producers.
“The country-of-origin labeling is so adulterated in the grocery stores. It’s basically piled up in there with domestic stuff and there’s a little bitty captioning at the bottom back of the bag that says product of Mexico. It’s placed on a shelf under ‘Jimmy John and his family farms’ in Cairo, Georgia, and it’s clearly giving the perception that’s his stuff there when it absolutely isn’t,” Purvis said.
Year-Round Service
Chain stores need produce year-round, so the problem is exacerbated. Purvis said most farmers can’t invest millions of dollars into producing a crop 12 months out of the year. These deceivers are able to take advantage.
“Most farmers are regional. They have crops in Immokalee (Fla.), they have crops in South Georgia, they have crops in Central Florida. There’s just a small handful that have the wherewithal to have product 12 months out of the year,” Purvis said. “That being said, these marketers that I’m describing, they’ve got ‘x-y’ farms in their name and they have solved a problem for the chain stores. They’ve got a number they can call 12 months out of the year. They’ve got the product. They source it from anywhere and everywhere. That’s how that evolved.”
Consumers Asking Questions
Purvis believes that one positive from the ongoing pandemic is the consumer awareness of where their food originates. Now more than ever, they are asking about where their vegetables and specialty crops are coming from.
“I think you would find unanimous feedback from the chain stores that the consumer is becoming very much aware. They’re asking questions and putting pressure on them. ‘Why have I got Honduran watermelons in my supermarket in Naples when there’s watermelons in Immokalee that they can’t get rid of,’” Purvis said. “If we keep the heat on and the awareness out there, I think the consumer will put enough pressure on the retailer that it’ll make the difference.”
Enzymes are an essential element in the cells of all living plants. University of Florida research is tailored towards getting more mileage out of this essential component. Longer lasting enzymes could lead to increased yields in plants that are produced for food, fuel and fiber.
“Replacing enzymes is a huge energy cost to organisms, but no one had ever really asked, ‘How long do enzymes last and what determines that?’ If you want to improve enzymes’ lifespans, you need to know which enzymes to target,” said Hanson to UF/IFAS. He is the lead author of a new study in which researchers present a new benchmark for evaluating the durability of any enzyme.
Hanson compares the parts in a car and the enzymes in a cell to better explain CCR.
“If you’re bringing your car into the shop all the time to replace parts, that’s a big investment and it’s not very efficient. But plants we grow as crops, they spend a lot of energy on enzyme maintenance, which leaves less energy for growing the grain or other parts we harvest,” Hanson said. “Many enzymes in plants could be improved, and with the CCR, we know where to start.”
Photo by UGA’s Chris Tyson: Shows a saturated onion field.
What was expected to be warm and dry turned out to be cold and wet for most of the Southeast. Don’t blame La Nina, says Pam Knox, University of Georgia Extension Agricultural Climatologist.
“It’s unusual, but it’s not unprecedented. I think the last time it happened was early in the 21st Century, close to 20 years now. We did have a similar kind of winter that was cold and wet even though it was a La Nina. It has happened before, but statistically, it’s pretty rare,” Knox said. “That’s why when we know when a La Nina’s coming, we usually go with the statistically most likely prediction which is more warmer and drier. It just didn’t work this year, and it wasn’t the fault of La Nina, it was because we had a Sudden Stratospheric Warming that just threw things off.”
Sudden Stratospheric Warming
According to blog by Knox, the SSW shoved the cold polar vortex that is usually around the North Pole off center, pushing the storm track back down south towards us and bringing the unexpected cooler, cloudier and wetter conditions that we experienced this winter, especially in southern Georgia.
For the most part, farmers aren’t complaining. The cooler temperatures helped peach trees accumulate enough chilling hours that could produce a bountiful crop in Georgia and Alabama.
Excessive rainfall in January and February also provides hope for producers that there won’t be a summer drought this year. Again, it’s not something farmers would normally experience in a La Nina. But it’s definitely been an atypical weather season so far.
“What we often see in a La Nina in early summers, we don’t recharge the soil over the winter, and then as soon as the plants come out of dormancy and the temperatures rise, we get really dry conditions,” Knox said. “We can have a pretty quick onset drought in late spring or early summer in a La Nina summer, after we’ve had the La Nina all winter.
“This year that’s not going to be a problem. There’s been so much moisture that I think the soils are really. In some places they’re saturated, although in other places, not so much.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced on Tuesday there will be $5.3 million in funding for the Micro-Grants for Food Security Program (MGFSP). The MGFSP was authorized in the 2018 Farm Bill and is designed support communities that have significant levels of food insecurity and import significant quantities of food.
Grants are awarded non-competitively to eligible states and territories including agricultural agencies or departments in Alaska, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Hawaii, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, and the United States Virgin Islands. Eligible applicants competitively distribute sub-awards to those entities that are eligible to increase the quantity and quality of locally grown food through small-scale gardening, herding and livestock operations.
AMS encourages applications that serve smaller farms and ranches, new and beginning farmers and ranchers, socially disadvantaged producers, veteran producers, and/or underserved communities. For grants intending to serve these audiences, applicants should engage and involve those beneficiaries when developing projects and applications.
Applications must be submitted electronically through www.grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, May 24, 2021.
Temperatures are starting to warm considerably in South Florida. Vegetable farmers need to be mindful of various insects that thrive in hot conditions.
“It’s been warming up so you kind of expect to see a flush of pests in the near future. It’s kind of hit and miss in some places with whiteflies and things,” said Craig Frey, University of Florida/IFAS Hendry County Extension Director.
Conditions are certainly favorable for insect pressure to increase. According to the US Drought Monitor, Hendry County and most of South Florida are listed as abnormally dry.
“The life cycles of the insects tend to shorten some. It’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve had cold weather. Instead of it being moderate for a little while, it’s been pretty hot,” Frey said. “They’re just reproducing quickly and starting to become more of an issue in different areas.”
“Pepper weevils, definitely, if you’re growing peppers; whiteflies for a lot of different things. They can be an issue on beans, even. Thrips are an issue on beans and tomatoes. Really, thrips and whiteflies on most crops. They’re two of the big ones.”
Farmers of squash and cucumbers will have their say with the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) in two weeks. But don’t count Georgia farmer Jason Tyrone as one who is optimistic about farmers’ chances of convincing the USITC that imports are inflicting serious injury on the domestic crop.
He just points to the USITC verdict regarding blueberries.
“I hope I’m wrong, but the way the blueberry thing went, it took all the wind out of my sails,” Tyrone said. “Honestly, I think blueberry guys in South Georgia have as big of a gripe as anybody. I think they’re hurting them worse than anybody, from what I hear. If they didn’t stand a chance, I don’t see where we do. Even though we are being greatly impacted, it’s not any worse than what’s happening to the blueberry guys.”
Tycor Farms
Tyrone farms with Brian Corbett at Tycor Farms in Lake Park, Georgia. They produce squash, cucumbers, bell peppers, hot peppers, cabbage, egg plant and green beans.
USITC Investigations
The USITC is investigating both cucumbers and squash with a focus on the U.S. Southeast. According to the USITC, it is examining the effect of imports on the domestic seasonal markets of both commodities in separate but concurrent investigations and will produce two separate reports. The reports will provide, to the extent practical:
descriptions of the effects of imports on the domestic seasonal markets of the products in question, with particular focus on production and the competitiveness of cucumbers and squash grown in the Southeastern United States;
information on recent trends in trade in these products between the United States and its trading partners, including information on seasonal patterns of trade; and
descriptions of monthly price trends for these products in the United States, including an analysis and comparison of the prices of domestically produced and imported products in the U.S. market, with a focus on the 2015-2020 time period.
The USITC will host a public hearing in connection with the investigations on April 8, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
“(Imports) does impact us. I won’t say that it impact us as heavy; obviously, the south Florida window that’s in right now, they’re in more direct competition,” Tyrone said. “Mexico definitely impacts us on squash and cucumbers. That’s what hits me the hardest; pepper as well, which is probably our main commodity is bell pepper. They do impact us on that, but I would say they are capable of crushing the squash and cucumber markets pretty easily.”
Increasingly More Problematic
What’s especially problematic is how imports have skyrocketed in recent years. According to Zhengfei Guan, University of Florida Associate Professor, Florida production of bell peppers doubled what was imported from Mexico in 2000. But in 2019, Mexican imports totaled more than a billion pounds, compared to Florida which totaled a little more than 300 million.
“It’s escalating. As long as I’ve been in the industry, it’s been affecting south Florida. They just would catch us on the tail end of a season because we don’t overlap quite as much. I haven’t been to Mexico and haven’t, with my own eyes, seen what’s going on but what I hear, I think they’re adapting to grow outside the windows they used to be in by changes in elevation; by using shade cloths during the hot times,” Tyrone said. “I think they’re overlapping with us more and more and with more commodities.
“Pepper used to never be a problem for us with Mexico, and now it is.”
Official portrait of Vice President Joe Biden in his West Wing Office at the White House, Jan. 10, 2013. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann).
MARCH 22, 2021
On National Agriculture Day, we recognize the unique and irreplaceable value that farmers, ranchers, foresters, farmworkers, and other agricultural stewards have contributed to our Nation’s past and present. America’s agriculture sector safeguards our Nation’s lands through sustainable management; ensures the health and safety of animals, plants, and people; provides a safe and abundant food supply; and facilitates opportunities for prosperity and economic development in rural America.
Over the last year, workers and other leaders across the agriculture sector have stepped up to ensure a stable food supply in the face of incredible challenges prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Farmworkers, who have always been vital to our food system, continued to grow, harvest, and package food, often at great personal risk. Local farmers helped to meet their communities’ needs by selling food directly to consumers. Small meat processors increased their capacity as demand for their services skyrocketed. Restaurants found creative ways to bring food to members of their communities. Grocers and grocery workers also navigated new models, such as curbside pickup and online sales.
These collective efforts helped get food to the millions of adults and children in America experiencing nutrition insecurity. Programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children; school meals; and others focused on eliminating nutrition insecurity play an integral role in making sure that every family has enough food on the table.
As we overcome the pandemic and build back better, we will advance an agriculture sector that works for everyone. When I took office, I made a commitment alongside Vice President Kamala Harris to put racial equity at the forefront of our Administration’s priorities. For generations, Black, Indigenous, and other farmers of color have contributed to sustaining this Nation. They fed their communities, gave the country new food products, and nourished communities with rich food traditions. Yet for generations they have faced the harmful effects of systemic racism. On this National Agriculture Day, I remain determined to address racial inequity and create an equitable space for all to participate in the great American enterprise of agriculture.
I also made a commitment to tackle the climate crisis. Farmers, ranchers, and foresters play a critical role in combating climate change. From sequestering carbon in the soil to producing renewable energy on farms, we will continue to innovate and create new revenue streams for farmers and ranchers while building a resilient agriculture sector.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 23, 2021, as National Agriculture Day. I call upon all Americans to join me in recognizing and reaffirming our commitment to and appreciation for our country’s farmers, ranchers, foresters, farmworkers, and those who work in the agriculture sector across the Nation.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.
Pollinators play an important role in the production of crops around the nation. Different crops rely on different techniques for pollination. Corn, for example, uses wind to carry pollen to female flowers, whereas watermelon depends on pollinators to deliver pollen. Pollinators include insects, birds and bats.
Many fruits and vegetables result directly from pollinators such as honey bees. In apple, cranberry, melon, broccoli and almond production, honey bees are the most common pollinator. Honey bees are responsible for a significant portion of the world’s food production and contribute nearly $20 billion to the crop industry by providing pollination services all over the United States.
In Florida, the hot, humid climate is ideal for crop production throughout the year, but this favorable environment also paves the way for various pests that negatively impact crops year-round. Growers use integrated pest management (IPM) to consider the risks and benefits associated with cultural, chemical, biological or physical control methods to combat pests. Typically, as a last resort, a chemical control is utilized to save a crop. When selecting a pesticide, growers should consider a chemical’s efficiency of pest control and potential impacts on pollinators when applied.
PESTICIDE EFFECTS
Bee hives. UF/IFAS Photo by Tyler Jones.
There are many factors that contribute to honey bee and pollinator stress, one being the use of insecticides. Effects of certain pesticides on bees can vary from no harm to acute harm (bee or single colony death) to chronic harm (altered bee behavior or physiology, reduced reproduction, colony decline or death). Suspected pesticide exposure is one of many biological and environmental factors associated with bee colony loss. Bees are likely exposed to pesticides outside the hive when foraging during the day. Plant foliage, pollen, nectar and soil can all contain potential toxins after direct application or drift from certain pesticides.
Reading and properly interpreting pesticide labels and exposure warnings to honey bees and pollinators is vital. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, if a product is intended for foliar application to crops and contains a pesticide toxic to pollinators, the label must include appropriate cautions. Examples of bee and pollinator hazard warning statements are:
“This product is toxic to bees exposed to treatment and for more than five days following treatment.”
“Applications to all crops may be made at any time. Fenpyroximate is practically nontoxic to bees and wasps when used according to this label.”
PROTECTION PRACTICES
Protecting pollinators from pesticide exposure is on the forefront of many growers’ minds when considering pest control methods. For crops that require bees for pollination, it is in the best interest of the grower to protect bees. Without proper pollination, the grower’s crop production and yield are negatively impacted. There are a variety of best management practices that growers utilize every day to minimize impacts on honey bees and pollinators. These include:
Following the label – THE LABEL IS THE LAW
Obtaining a pesticide license to legally spray pesticides
Applying pesticides only when necessary
Employing IPM practices and using chemical control as a last resort
Spraying pesticides at night (label permitting) to maximize safety of honey bees and other pollinators
Utilizing target pesticide application such as injecting, rather than broad application
Selecting pesticides that require fewer applications, minimizing risk potential
Applying less toxic formulations and compounds
Developing a pest management plan that considers bee foraging during bloom
Understanding a crop’s pollination requirements to minimize exposure
Planting beneficial plants along field edges to provide additional resources for honey bees and other pollinators
Maintaining a good relationship with beekeepers and notifying them in advance of an application
Consulting with fellow producers, beekeepers and Extension professionals for recommendations
EXTENSION’S ROLE
Through services and educational efforts offered by Extension services, growers are provided appropriate tools to combat pest issues while also protecting pollinators, the environment and human health. Extension provides educational classes to enhance grower knowledge of pollinator protection on topics such as IPM (i.e. monitoring techniques, pest and plant knowledge, and pesticide selection) and best management practices regarding pest control.
If pesticide application is necessary, Extension provides the training, testing and necessary certifications required to apply pesticides legally. In addition, Extension highlights up-to-date pollinator protection label changes during trainings and classes. Additional efforts of Extension agents and specialists include providing updates throughout the growing season to inform producers on potential pest issues, pesticide recommendations, and notifying producers of possible impacts on pollinators of certain products.
Understanding the importance of pollinators on the food system has brought increased awareness for pollinator protection programs and trainings. Growers can make a difference by making informed decisions to select and utilize chemicals with pollinator protection in mind. By building positive relationships between beekeepers and growers, an open dialog of communication can be established. As a result, growers can rely on Extension services when questions on chemical safety regarding honey bees and other pollinators arise.
See Minimizing Honey Bee Exposure to Pesticides at edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/IN/IN102700.pdf for more information on sustainable production practices and guidance on risk-reducing strategies to protect honey bee and pollinator populations.
Sylvia Willis is the University of Florida (UF) Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension agriculture agent in Suwannee County. Amy Vu is an Extension coordinator and Jamie Ellis is the Gahan endowed professor, both at the UF Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory in Gainesville.
