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  • Mighty Mites: UGA Extension Encourages Scouting for Strawberry pests

    UGA CAES photo shows two-spotted spider mite.

    It won’t be long before strawberries will be ready for harvest in South Georgia. University of Georgia Extension encourages producers to scout for spider mites, especially as strawberries begin to ripen and bloom across the state.

    The two-spotted spider mites are typically light yellow in appearance with a spot on either side of their abdomen. Their piercing-sucking mouthparts can cause damage while feeding on the plant cells. Scouting is important since feeding usually occurs on the underside of the leaf.

    If left undetected, infestations can cause the leaves to become brittle with a bronze tint.

    Early detection is important since this is the time that strawberries are most vulnerable. According to the UGA Extension Strawberry News blog, strawberries can tolerate higher numbers of spider mites as the season progresses. The threshold now for strawberries if five per leaflet. The threshold moves up to 20 further into the season.

    The blog states, “There are several miticides on the market that work well on two-spotted spider mites. It is important to understand that some miticides are only effective on certain life stages. Using a product that is effective on eggs and juveniles will do no good if only adults are present.”

    Complete coverage is critical since mites feed on the undersides of leaves. Rates of 50 and 100 gallons of water per acre are common for controlling mites.

    UGA Extension advises farmers who need assistance or recommendations to call their local county agent.

  • Crop Updates From the Palmetto State

    Clemson Extension agents provide updates in the The South Carolina Grower this week about the status of various crops being produced throughout the state.

    Weekly Field Update

    Coastal

    Rob Last reports, “Strawberry crops in the area are developing well with good fruit set. I am seeing a little gray mold around, so sanitation is going to be key as well as fungicide applications. There are also a few thrips in some crops, so scouting for these pests will be very important. Peaches and blueberries are blooming with little evidence of any chill injury from last week’s overnight lows in the upper 20’s. Asparagus crops are beginning to come to market with some chill affected spears early last week. With the dry weather conditions, field work and land prep is going well with plastic being laid for melon crops.”

    Zack Snipes reports, “Great week of weather in the Lowcountry which has really improved the way things are looking. Greens, lettuces, root crops and strawberries are looking good. The strawberries are absolutely loaded up with blossoms right now and are still putting on crowns. Fall planted cover crops are finishing up and being turned under. A bit of sad news this week as Author “Ikee” Freeman passed away. Ikee was a huge supporter of Clemson Extension and the farming traditions in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. His friendship, mentorship, leadership and sense of humor will be missed by many.”

    A fall planted daikon radish cover crop is flowering which provides early season nectar, pollen, and habitat for beneficial insects and bees. Photo from Zack Snipes.

    Midlands

    Justin Ballew reports, “We had another beautiful week of weather last week that really pushed plants along. Strawberries have a ton of blooms on them now. The weather has been pretty dry the last two weeks, but with a few days of rain in the forecast for this week, now would be a good time to throw one of the site specific fungicides into your fungicide rotation. Temperatures are still in the perfect range for Botrytis spore development (60-70 degrees F), and with moisture returning, we could see a lot of Botrytis in the next week or two.

    Lots of blooms present now that we need to protect from Botrytis. Photo from Justin Ballew.
    These are the site specific fungicides listed on the MyIPM app with the best efficacy for Botrytis control on strawberries. It would be a good idea to apply one of these ahead of the rain this week.

    Sarah Scott reports, “Last week’s warm temperatures have pushed peaches into bloom. There was a significant increase in open buds from the beginning to end of the week. Early varieties are near 90% bloom. Temperatures look like they will level out in the next seven days which is good, as temperatures that are way above normal can lead to developmental damage for fruit set. Some pruning is still underway, as well as bloom sprays for blossom blight using products like Captan or chlorothalonil.”

    Upstate

    Andy Rollins reports, “So far peach season is off to a great start. We got all of our chill hours in and are between pink and 5% blooms on all large scale varieties, with a few oddballs further along. Plum growers are even further along and many are preparing for bloom fungicide applications with primarily Bravo (Chlorothalonil). I will be repeating last year’s testing of new biological, Ecoswing, in bloom this week, compared with Bravo. Strawberry production is progressing nicely. This week looks good as far as frost but things change quickly, so all growers will be intimately aware of every weather change at this point. I was very happy to help with a new 10 acre pecan orchard planted last week. It encouraged me because several local growers, a University of Georgia specialist, a retired NRCS conservationist, and myself all worked together to help a widow in need. Her planning and execution was impeccable and diligent.”

    Ten acres of new pecan trees planted last week. Photo from Andy Rollins.

  • Good Read: Vegetable Crop Handbook Important for Alabama Producers

    File photo shows potato plants.

    Alabama Extension encourages its producers to utilize the 2021 Southeastern U.S. Vegetable Crop Handbook during this year’s production season.

    Not only does it provide expertise from specialists from 12 land-grant universities, including Auburn University, it provides information pertaining to various disciplines. These include entomology, agricultural engineering, vegetable production, soil science, plant pathology, postharvest physiology and weed science.

    Four Alabama Extension specialists contributed to this year’s handbook, including: Steve Li, weed scientist; Ayanava Majumdar, entomologist; Ed Sikora, plant pathologist; and Joe Kemble, vegetable specialist.

    For more information on the 2021 Southeastern Vegetable Crop Handbook, visit www.aces.edu or access the handbook online here.

  • Taking its Toll: Strawberry Imports Creating Strain on Farmers

    The International Trade Committee’s (ITC) decision regarding blueberry imports was shocking to Florida’s blueberry producers. It was no less surprising to the state’s strawberry farmers who have their own ITC investigation under way.

    “Our jaws dropped. We know how bad the blueberry deal is and they said they were 5-0 voting against it,” said Matt Parke, farm manager of Parkesdale Farms in Plant City, Florida. “I scratched my head to that and was like, ‘Well, I don’t think strawberries even have a chance.’”

    The ITC deemed in February that imports of fresh, chilled or frozen blueberries are not a serious injury to the domestic industry. It goes against what members of the American Blueberry Growers Alliance testified about during the virtual hearing with the ITC in January.

    “We were in a board meeting when we got the news. If they didn’t get one person to rule in their favor, we ain’t going to get none. To me, blueberries were in a worse position than we were,” Parke said. “The problem is, too, if it was regional; they’re taking a nationwide perspective, but if they would have done a southeast perspective from the Carolinas down to Florida, I don’t see how they could vote against it. It should have been unanimous.”

    In early December, the ITC instituted two monitoring factfinding investigations into U.S. imports of fresh or chilled strawberries. This was made in a request from the U.S. Trade Representative.

    Statistically Speaking

    According to a presentation by UF’s Zhengfei Guan, Florida strawberry production was approximately 220 million pounds in 2000, while strawberry imports from Mexico totaled approximately 70 million pounds. In 2019, Florida production maxed out at 200 million pounds, compared to Mexico’s approximate 400 million.

    How can producers like Parke compete when everything is stacked against them?

    “Mexico has really affected our industry since NAFTA. The first couple of years NAFTA wasn’t so bad. People were still figuring out they could go down there and still invest their money and produce berries a whole lot cheaper,” Parke said. “The third or fourth year of NAFTA, we used to have maybe 200 growers here in Plant City. Between then and now we’re down to probably 50 growers. It’s just because a lot of people went belly up and couldn’t compete.

    “Here in Florida, my guys average $100 a day picking berries. In Mexico, they pay them $5.20 to pick every day. Two-thirds of my cost is harvesting. How can I compete with that?”

    Parke said the market is not great right now. Along with Mexico’s strawberry imports, Florida is picking a pile, and California’s picking a pile. The market is reflecting the increased supply.

    “Mexico has really taken a toll on the American farmer,” Parke said.

  • Insect Report: Pests Currently Light for Georgia Vegetable Producers

    It is planting season for Georgia vegetable producers. They can take solace in knowing that insect pressure appears to be light right now, minus some pepper weevils. This is according to University of Georgia Cooperative Extension vegetable entomologist Stormy Sparks.

    UGA CAES photo/The pepper weevil is one of the most serious pests of peppers.

    “There’s concerns about pepper weevil as we’re getting peppers in the ground. We’re running traps in various counties, got county agents running traps in the major pepper growing regions and we’re still catching significant numbers,” Sparks said. “It’s not anything like it is early in the year. They drop off this time of year, but they’re not going to zero. We know we’re overwintering pepper weevil.”

    Sparks believes insect pressure will increase as Georgia vegetable producers head into April, specifically with thrips.

    “As we get into April, all this pollen that we’re seeing right now is just food for thrips. That’s why we always tend to have thrips populations in April. That’ll be popping fairly soon, probably,” Sparks said.

    Insect infestations increase as temperatures continue to heat up. Growers also need to be mindful of squash bugs.

    “Temperatures control insects so much; reproduction and everything, overwintering. We’ll have squash bugs coming out of overwintering in the next few weeks or month also,” Sparks said. “The cool weather just keeps them slowed down. We do have some whiteflies out there, but I don’t think there’s anything of significance. Again, the temperature keeps them low.”

    The exception to that rule is the diamondback moth.

    “It can explode or disappear anytime of the year. I’ve had a few reports of some diamondback moth activity but nothing of alarming levels,” Sparks said.

  • Another Tool in the Toolbox for Citrus Producers?

    UF Glow variety of citrus. Photo taken 11-17-17

    LAKE ALFRED, FLA — University of Florida researchers continue to study ways to combat Huanglongbing (HLB), or citrus greening disease.

    One discovery brings the potential of another tool for citrus growers to control Asian citrus psyllid, the insect that transmits the disease-causing bacterium, and protect infected trees from further damage.

    Kirsten Pelz-Stelinski, an associate professor of entomology and nematology at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Citrus Research and Education Center, discovered that 2’-deoxy-2’-flouro-d-arabinonucleic acid antisense oligonucleotides (FANA ASO) (small-sized single-stranded nucleic acids) can be used to silence essential genes within the psyllids and in the bacterial pathogen that causes citrus greening.

    Pelz-Stelinski and her team reduced the citrus greening disease pathogen in the psyllid and in citrus. This led to less transmission and a potential reduction in disease severity.   

    “The intent of this research was to find alternative, environmentally-friendly tools for psyllid management as current pest management strategies have led to the development of resistance among Asian citrus psyllid populations,” said Pelz-Stelinski. “Understanding the relationships of essential bacteria needed for insect survival provides potentially important targets for control strategies that use bactericides. By disrupting how the psyllid acquires and processes the pathogen while impacting the nutrition and fitness of the psyllid may provide an alternative management tool in controlling transmission of the HLB pathogen”

    The research was recently published in the online Nature Scientific Reports.

    For more information see UF/IFAS News.

  • Regenerative Agriculture on the Rise

    By Sarah Bostick

    Regenerative agriculture is fast becoming a buzz phrase in America. You may have heard about it on the news, in feature films or in farmer forums online. You may have seen the words “regeneratively grown” on a box of mac and cheese, a tub of yogurt, a container of oatmeal or even a case of beer.  

    DEFINING THE TERM

    But what is regenerative agriculture? There is not one single working definition of regenerative agriculture, but at its core is the idea that virtually all agricultural farmland in the world has been damaged over time and that growers can actively improve the health of the land.

    Regenerative agriculture is best thought of as a collection of land management practices that restore soil health. The list of land management practices generally includes the use of diverse cover crops, managed grazing, the creation of on-farm fertility, no or minimal use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, and no or minimal tillage.

    INSIDE THE SOIL

    We often think of soil as simply soil, but soil is actually a very complex system. If you pick up a handful of healthy soil, approximately 45 percent of the volume is mineral (sand, clay or silt), 25 percent is water, 25 percent is air, and 5 percent is organic matter. Organic matter is a small part of most soil, but the services it provides to your farm are vast.

    Organic matter is anything that is or once was alive. Organic matter is the part of soil that most effectively captures and holds nutrients, prevents erosion and lessens the impacts of both flooding and drought. Organic matter is what makes soil the most biologically diverse ecosystem on the planet. It is also the part of soil that captures and holds carbon.

    It is this last bit — carbon capture and storage — that has caught the attention of people from every walk of life and recently put agriculture on the big screen.

    In the book “Soil as World Heritage,” soil scientists estimate that since the start of agriculture, approximately 320 billion tons of soil carbon have been lost worldwide from clearing land for agriculture. That is equal to the weight of 107 billion standard-sized pickup trucks.

    According to the book, most agricultural soils worldwide have lost 12 to 16 tons of carbon per acre. That’s equal to 25 to 75 percent of what existed before the land was first cleared.

    Where does soil carbon go when it is released? It goes back into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide.

    Tillage releases carbon stored in the soil back into the atmosphere. By minimizing tillage and focusing on building organic matter, soil can store the huge quantities of carbon that plants pull out of the atmosphere through photosynthesis.

    The higher the organic matter level in the soil, the more carbon it is storing. According to Paul Hawken’s book “Drawdown,” for every 1 percent increase in soil organic matter, about 8.5 tons per acre of carbon are stored.

    Most of the attention that regenerative agriculture is receiving boils down to the idea that agriculture can be a powerful force in removing the top greenhouse gas (carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere.

    Farmers are clearly seeing the benefits. An estimated 108 million acres of farmland worldwide currently practice regenerative agriculture, according to “Drawdown.”

    If you are interested in learning about regenerative agriculture directly from farmers who practice it, here are a couple videos to get you started:

    REGENERATIVE ORGANIC CERTIFIED

    As of fall 2020, there is a new certification: Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC; regenorganic.org). The certification is overseen by a nonprofit organization called the Regenerative Organic Alliance. Rather than creating a different set of rules and regulations, ROC certification is based primarily on ensuring that a farm has a collection of other certifications.

    The three pillars of ROC are soil health, animal welfare and farmworker fairness. The soil health pillar requires that farmers be U.S. Department of Agriculture Certified Organic. The animal welfare and farmworker fairness pillars are proven through certifications such as Animal Welfare Approved and Food Justice Certified.

    CONCLUSION
    Regenerative agriculture doesn’t have a clear-cut definition, but it does have a growing following amongst both farmers and consumers. Regenerative agriculture is not an all-or-nothing concept. As you learn more about it, you might start with giving just one of the ideas a try. Regenerative agriculture is a process of learning what works on your unique piece of land.

    Sarah Bostick is a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences sustainable agriculture Extension agent in Sarasota. 

  • Record-Setting Populations: Asian Bean Thrips Spiking in Some Florida Fields

    UF/IFAS photo

    It was a record-setting week on some South Florida farms with respect to Asian bean thrips (ABT) populations.

    According to UF/IFAS, across most farms in southeastern Hendry County, ABT populations averaged 0.2 ABT per bud and ranged from 0.3 to 1.5 per bloom (at full bloom). But in an isolated located, reports were as high as 10.0 ABT per bloom (at full bloom).

    This was the highest population levels reported at this stage in Hendry County. Damage appeared to occur to the blooms.

    Whereas in northeastern Hendry County, populations varied considerably. No ABT populations were reported in some plantings, while others reached as high as 5.0 ABT per bloom at early pod development.

    In the central part of Hendry County, populations stabilized after increasing over the previous few weeks, dropping to 0.3 to 0.6 ABT per bloom (at full bloom).

    Other Counties

    Scouted beans are older in northern Collier County, and populations of 1.8 ABT per bloom were reported.

    In eastern Palm Beach County, reports indicate populations have steadied at 0.1 to 0.5 ABT per bloom or per plant. Aggressive insecticide programs include 1 to 2 spray pre-bloom to keep populations from building early and more aggressive sprays at bloom and later appear to keep ABT at moderate levels. Similar populations are reported in western and north western Palm Beach County.

    Beans were close to harvest, and ABT was not reported in southern Glades County.

  • Florida Grower: Why Even Do This?

    Florida vegetable farmers are tired of voicing their displeasure with imports from Mexico. Some are seeing the writing on the wall; the end is nearing for American farmers.

    Kim Jamerson, whose husband grew up on a family farm and has been farming since age 6, is ready to sell her farm.

    It is not because she doesn’t enjoy the work she’s called a career for 17 years. It is because Mexican imports of vegetables and specialty crops have made it impossible for her to remain competitive.

    “I see an end coming because I’m going to sell the farm. It’s not going to be instant. I’m fortunate that I have a good piece of property that’s going to go into a good real estate sale eventually. Am I going to sell the farm today? No. Am I going to list the farm probably in the next two months? Yes, I am,” Jamerson said.

    Not the Last

    She’s not the first and likely won’t be the last to call it quits due to imports.

    Just a couple of weeks ago, Sam Accursio, a vegetable farmer in Homestead, Florida who produces pickle and cucumber, green beans and yellow and green squash on about 4,400 acres, said he “sees it ending,” in the next couple of years.

    Jamerson farms approximately 1,280 acres of produce in the Fort Myers area. This includes eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, cucumber and green pepper. It costs her almost $10 per box to break even, whereas Mexico is importing pepper at around $1.95.

    Statistics support Florida farmers’ claims that imports are driving them out of business. Florida produced 1.6 billion pounds of tomatoes in 2000, 20% higher than Mexico. But now Mexico imports (3.6 billion pounds) five times more than what Florida produces (750 million pounds). Mexico’s imports of bell peppers totaled more than a billion pounds in 2019, compared to Florida, which totaled a little more than 300 million.

    It is hard not to empathize with Florida vegetable farmers who have slowly seen their livelihoods being taken away.

    “I can tell you right now, I loved farming. My family liked farming; they love it. It just gets harder and harder every year. It’s getting to the point where it’s like, why even do this?” Jamerson said.

  • Devastating Disease: Bacterial Spot a Problem for Some Florida Producers

    UF/IFAS picture shows bacterial spot on tomato.

    According to the South Florida Pest and Disease Hotline, bacterial spot disease is active in tomato and pepper fields on the east coast and around southwest Florida.

    It is present at moderate levels in older hot pepper plants. Bacterial spot disease flares up after rain events and with fog in tomatoes and non-resistant peppers across the southwest region of Florida.

    Reports from the Manatee Ruskin indicate low levels of bacterial spot in susceptible peppers. Farmers and scouts in Homestead, Florida report the disease is present in tomato and susceptible pepper varieties.

    Bacterial spot is a serious threat to tomato and pepper production in Florida. It spreads quickly during warm periods with wind-driven rains. Fruit symptoms lead to reduced marketability.

    Symptoms on tomatoes include distinct spots with or without yellowing. Fruit spots often begin as dark specks with or without a white halo. As spots increase, they become raised and scab-like.

    Click here for additional information on bacterial spot.