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  • Weekly Update: Clemson Extension Agents Provide Crop Updates

    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-4/12/21

    Statewide

    Dr. Matt Cutulle reports, “I am starting to see some goosegrass popping due to soil temperatures being 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Goosegrass will typically be problematic in more compacted areas of the field. In most broadleaf crops, a Select or Poast post-emergent application will control emerged goosegrass. PRE-herbicide options include Curbit and Dual Magnum (If crop is labeled). In rice, it is important to remember that Quinclorac products will kill crabgrass but not goosegrass. The best rice product that will control goosegrass effectively in SC is Clincher.”

    Coastal

    Rob Last reports, “Crops are generally doing well in the area, with strawberries coming off with good volumes. On the whole, row covers or icing protected 97% of the susceptible flowers leading to 1% to 2% losses of flowers. The damaged flowers can increase grey mold pressure in the crops so maintaining both sanitation and fungicide applications to strawberries will be crucial. As berries ripen, sanitation also becomes essential for reducing pest pressure from sap beetles. In some crops, where row covers were utilized, we see spider mite populations increasing and a few active thrips feeding on both flowers and berries. Other fruit crops in the area, such as blackberries and blueberries, look very good with low levels of damage from the freeze event last weekend. Peaches in the area are being thinned, with scouting being maintained for scale and plum curculio. Early planted watermelons did suffer from the frost in places, leading to 10% to 15% plant loss and hence the need to replant in a few areas. Other crops are moving slowly away from the injuries. Luckily, a lot of crops were not beginning to vine and survived the worst of the damage. These plants are stressed, so care will be needed with any applications as well as scouting for pest and disease issues. Conversely, cantaloupes in the area were direct seeded and have survived unscathed.”

    Zack Snipes reports, “I was out and about last week as things are moving rather quickly in the fields. Spider mites are alive and active in every strawberry patch that I was in last week. You will see the translucent mite with two distinct spots as well as a reddish colored mite. The reddish colored mite is actually a two-spotted spider mite. We see this red form early in the season. Get out and scout, as the weather is perfect for them. I am also seeing strawberry plants wilting down and dying. If you cut the crown you will see a brown/red rot in the center of the crown. Send these plants off for diagnosis. Most of what I have seen has been Phytophthora. We lost some cucurbit crops to the frost last weekend, but some areas had no damage at all or slight damage. For some positive news, we are cutting some beautiful broccoli right now.”

    Lower lying areas of fields or areas where the drip tape was nicked is where I am seeing some root rot issues. Photo from Zack Snipes.
    Cutting the crown of wilting strawberry plants can help detect the pathogen responsible.  Sending off to the lab is the only way to get a 100% diagnosis of the problem. Photo from Zack Snipes.

    Midlands

    Justin Ballew reports, “Strawberry picking started on a wider scale this past week. This conveniently coincided with spring break for a lot of the public schools in our area, so U-pick operations have been busy. The weather was very mild last week, so everything is looking great. Spider mite and grey mold activity seems to be very low. There are a few thrips in certain places, so that’s something we need to keep an eye on. Brassicas are growing well. Caterpillar populations are still pretty low in most spring planted crops. There was a little injury to sweet corn from the recent frosts, but we expect the plants to grow out of it. Sweet corn’s growing point is underground until the 6 leaf stage. Since pretty much all the sweet corn was at the 3 leaf stage or younger, the growing points were protected and the damage is just superficial.”

    Strawberry season has finally arrived in the Midlands. Photo from Justin Ballew.

    Sarah Scott reports, “We are still assessing peach crop damage from freeze events happening between April 1 and April 3. It looks like anywhere from 1/4 to 1/3 of fruitlets were damaged by the cold event, but with no additional damage we should still be on track for a good crop this year. Strawberries were delayed a bit from the cold but are recovering nicely. Planting continues for crops like kale and other spring greens.”

    Peach fruitlets at shuck off. Photo from Sarah Scott.

    Pee Dee

    Bruce McLean reports, “Strawberries are really starting to come off. The quality is very good, and the plants are in good health. Disease is relatively low, and spider mite activity is moderate. Damage was minimal from the freeze before Easter. We did see some damage on blueberries, though. Blueberries without frost protection (in especially cold locations) did see some significant injury to both early southern highbush and early rabbiteye cultivars. Injury of 80% was observed in Star and O’Neal (southern highbush) and Premier (rabbiteye). Blueberries with frost protection fared much better. This shows the importance of having well-designed frost protection if you are going to grow early-blooming cultivars. Muscadines, being at budbreak, did not show any significant injury. Farmers are taking advantage of this absolutely beautiful weather to plant vegetables. Sweet corn, peas, butterbeans, cucumbers, squash, melons, tomatoes, etc. are going in the ground as fast as they can. Blueberries are being planted now, too.

    Black and brown seed and tissue within the berry shows that the fruit was injured from the freeze and will not develop. Photo from Bruce McLean.
    Damage to early fruitlets on rabbiteye blueberry. Photo from Bruce McLean.

    Tony Melton reports, “Most strawberries are doing well and really starting to produce a lot of fruit. Cabbage is starting to head and is growing well. Brassica growers are applying products for diamondback moth and Sclerotinia. Some pickles are emerging and many acres will be planted this week. Some butterbeans are up, and more are being planted. We will start to plant peas this week. Cool temperatures slowed sweet potato slip growth a little, but most beds are covered with slips. Collards, turnips and kale are growing fast. Hundreds of acres of tomatoes and peppers are already planted. A few acres of watermelons and cantaloupes are planted, but our main market is after the 4th of July.”

  • Fried: We are Losing a lot of Farms

    The economics of farming in Florida is not adding up for some vegetable and specialty crop producers. With land prices continuing to increase across the Sunshine State and imports continuing to flood the U.S. markets, it has created a crossroads for some growers, explains Florida Ag Commissioner Nikki Fried.

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    Nikki Fried
    Florida Agriculture Commissioner

    “When our growers can’t compete and they are seeing job losses, they’re seeing economic losses and the demand for land here in the state of Florida continue to increase. We have 1,000 people moving to the state of Florida every single day. With those types of increases, we need to build infrastructure and urban development in our state,” Fried said. “It’s become a crossroads for a lot of our farmers; whether to stay with their generational farms and continue trying to make ends meet while they’re seeing imports coming into Florida really devastate the marketplace.”

    Fried testified on Thursday during the U.S. International Trade Commission hearing about the impact squash and cucumbers are having on the Southeast domestic industry. Some producers have already hinted that they see the end of their agricultural careers. Not because of choice but due to an inability to compete. It only continues to worsen.

    “We are losing a lot of farms, just because they can’t compete, can’t keep their farms going and the price of land continues to increase. It’s a really hard crossroads,” Fried said. “I’ve spoken to hundreds of thousands of farmers across our state who have to make these tough decisions because agriculture and farming is just not making ends meet.”

  • Weather a Key Factor in IPM Plans

    A farmer may have a certain Integrated Pest Management (IPM) plan to utilize during this year’s growing season. Mother Nature may have other ideas, however.

    Ayanava Majumdar

    Ayanava Majumdar, Extension Professor in Entomology and Plant Pathology at Auburn University, stresses that weather can challenge IPM plans.

    “The local weather patterns are really challenging agriculture. Not just now, it’s been happening for a long time,” Majumdar said. “What I want to show you is how we’ve cycled between drought, a prolonged drought and then we had a very wet year and then we had a flash drought. These weather patterns are really impacting how insect populations are growing, how they’re behaving and then our effectiveness with insecticides, whether it be organic or conventional.”

    Insect Impact

    In the summer of 2016, a prolonged drought led to an increase in moth activity for fall armyworms, beet armyworms, squash vine borers and cabbage loopers. The following summer was a wet year, which led to major decreases for moth activity.

    In the summer, 2019, a flash drought occurred. It led to a sudden increase in moth activity for soybean loopers, corn earworms, fall armyworms, lesser cornstalk borers, cabbage loopers, tobacco budworms, beet armyworms and squash vine borers.

    “To me, I think that flash drought is very dangerous. In 2019, I saw two acres of tomato plots for research, that flash drought increased insect pressure so suddenly that we were just unaware of the high population that suddenly the crop was looking really bad with insect outbreaks. I think we are better situated for handling a prolonged drought. We have drip irrigation systems most of the time. But if you have a flash drought, you just don’t know, it comes suddenly, affects the crop and increases the insects,” Majumdar said.

    He added that a flash drought can cause more than 70% crop loss in late-season tomatoes.

  • Georgia is Nuts About Pecans

    Samantha McLeod photo/Georgia Governor Brian Kemp designated pecans as the official state nut for Georgia.

    Brian Kemp is nuts about pecans. So is the rest of Georgia for that matter. Just call Georgia the “Pecan State.”

    Georgia’s Governor designated the pecan as Georgia’s official state nut on Friday at an event at Ellis Brothers Pecans in Vienna.

    According to the USDA Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook, Georgia reclaimed the status as the largest pecan producer in the country after last season’s output, after being bested by New Mexico the previous two years.

    Last year’s harvest rose 95% to 142 million pounds. Statewide bearing acreage remained steady at 129,000 acres, with yields per acre estimated at 1,100 pounds per acre.

    According to the UGA Extension, pecans were ranked as the top state for pecan production by the 1950s. It’s a status that’s still true today.

    For more up-to-date information about pecan production in Georgia, see https://site.extension.uga.edu/pecan/.

  • Secretary of Ag Discusses Timely Issues Facing Southeast Vegetable Producers

    Tom Vilsack

    Two issues at the forefront of vegetable and specialty crop producers in the Southeast is H-2A and imports from countries like Mexico. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack discussed both issues and sympathizes with growers in the Southeast.

    “We’re looking at ways in which we’re able to provide some help and assistance to them under the COVID relief packages that were not specifically targeted to them. No. 2, in terms of labor, no question, serious issues, serious challenges that agriculture faces,” Vilsack said. “That’s why I’m certainly happy to see the House of Representatives pass the Farmer Worker Modernization Act, which essentially creates an avenue for a stable, mature and predictable workforce that makes improvements to the H-2A program that makes it easier for farmers to have that stable workforce, dependable workforce. At the same time, it allows those workers the opportunity to basically come out from the shadows.”

    Vilsack said he hopes the Senate will take the legislation up, noting it is a bi-partisan issue.

    “These are the workers that folks in the Southeast are depending upon. These are folks that are essentially responsible for picking a lot of our fruits and vegetables in a number of different areas across the country. It just makes sense that farmers have that stable and secure workforce,” Vilsack added.

    Increasing Imports

    As for imports, it’s an issue that seems to worsen daily. Southeast farmers accuse Mexico of dumping produce and creating a competitive disadvantage that growers can’t compete with.

    “On the issue of imports, look, it’s always a delicate balance. We want to make sure that we are able to ensure that our producers have market opportunities. But at the same time, part of what we do, obviously, is to export. We want to make sure that there’s a balance relationship there,” Vilsack said.

  • Whitefly Infestations Surge Across South Florida Region

    According to the most recent South Florida Pest and Disease Hotline, whitefly pressure continues to build across the region, with populations reaching high numbers. This is especially true in older cucurbit and fruiting vegetables at or close to harvest.

    Whiteflies feed on various hosts but the crop that’s proven to be most vulnerable is older tomato fields that should have been terminated by now.

    Growers and scouts on the east coach report that pressure is building in older eggplant and tomato. Whiteflies are migrating out of these crops and putting pressure on nearby fields. Whiteflies are also causing problems in some pepper.

    In Homestead, whitefly numbers are high in tomato and other crops. Tomato yellow leaf curl virus, which is vectored by whiteflies, is also high in most tomato fields. Some hotspots are also present in beans.

    A few hotspots of adults and nymphs have been reported in snap benas in Pahokee and Clewiston, Florida.

  • FFVA Issues Statement Following USITC Hearing on Cucumbers, Squash

    The Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association (FFVA) issued a statement following Thursday’s U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) hearing regarding the impact of imports on the Southeast domestic cucumber and squash crops. The statement read:

    “Today’s hearing was a positive development in our ongoing efforts to secure trade relief for Florida growers. For decades, unfair trade practices from Mexico and other foreign sources have caused immense harm to produce growers in Florida, including significant lost sales and market share, unsustainably low unfair prices, and shuttered family farms.

    “Trade relief is desperately needed, not only for our cucumber and squash growers, but for our bell pepper, strawberry, blueberry, and other Florida produce sectors that are also facing harmful impacts and a highly uncertain future due to unfair imports. We continue to see imports from Mexico crippling growers of more than 20 other specialty crops in Florida.

    “We commend the International Trade Commission for working to help solve this longstanding and growing threat to the Southeast produce industry. Effective, swift relief is needed to give our Florida produce growers a future and ensure that American families are not dependent on foreign imports for their produce supplies during the winter and spring months of the year.”

  • Florida Farmer: We Need Relief and We Need it Now

    Florida farmer Marie Bedner said it best: “We need relief, and we need it now.”

    The Florida farmer testified on Thursday during the U.S. International Trade Commission hearing regarding the impact that imports of squash and cucumbers are having on the domestic industry.

    Dumping Produce

    Bedner cited Mexico’s low labor costs and government subsidies for how Mexico can sell its produce for a fraction of what growers like Bedner need. One of her biggest gripes, though, is the act of dumping produce.

    “Our sales team has been told by one of the large buyers that truckloads of Mexican cucumbers will be delivered to his dock during our season with an open ticket. This means that a buyer can pay whatever price they want per box,” Bedner said. “Our operation cost per box of cucumbers is substantially more than what it is for growers in Mexico. A box of our produce has a set price that we simply cannot drop below because of what our expenses are to produce that box. Not surprisingly, the buyer stops purchasing American grown produce from us and takes that Mexican grown produce at a fraction of the cost of our load.

    “It’s a classic case of dumping that occurs frequently, and it’s getting much, more worse.”

    It’s gotten worse because nothing has been done to curtail the practice. Hopefully, for Florida and Georgia producers that will soon change. It needs to if American agriculture is going to survive.

    “Their costs to produce that box of produce is significantly less than ours. This puts us at an extreme disadvantage on a playing field that doesn’t come close to being level,” Bedner said. “The future of farming in our area in South Florida is very bleak. Up and down the road from our location, growers have made the decision to sell their land because they simply can’t compete.”

  • Increased Imports: U.S. Too Reliant on Foreign Produce?

    It’s a disheartening scenario but one that farmers face every day due to rising imports from Mexico.

    Sam Watson

    “Every morning I start my day by spending hours on the phone with produce buyers across the country, trying to sell my product. I get the same answer, ‘No, we don’t need any,’ they would say,” said Georgia farmer Sam Watson. “At least they’re honest, they tell me they can get it cheaper in Mexico. Maybe try us next week.”

    For some growers, they’re running out of weeks.

    Few Choices

    Watson, along with other producers in Georgia and Florida, testified in a U.S. International Trade Commission hearing on Thursday about the impact that imports of cucumbers and squash are having on the domestic industry. One of Watson’s main points of emphasis is that the American consumers are not being offered any choices anymore. Grocery stores are becoming more and more reliant on supplying foreign produce.

    “What’s interesting is the American consumer is still paying the same price at the grocery store. I firmly believe that if American consumers were given a choice between U.S. grown and imported produce, they would choose to buy American. Problem is they have no choice anymore,” Watson said. “We cannot become a country that’s dependent on others for our food supply. Watch all the farmers go under and that is exactly what will happen.”

    Cheap labor, low input costs, subsidization by the Mexican government and less regulatory environment contribute to a rise in imports.

    “When you combine all of these advantages, I find it hard to believe that anyone can say that the American farmers participate in fair trade,” Watson said. “We’re not saying we want to stop the importation of fresh fruits and vegetables into this country. We just want protections and safeguards put into place to provide for fair trade.”

  • Fresh Produce Association of Americas: Mexico Cannot Be Blamed

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    Not everyone believes there is a problem with Mexican imports and their impact on the domestic industry. In fact, Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of Americas, believes “Mexico cannot be blamed” for many of the issues Southeast farmers are trying to overcome.

    “In reality, many of the problems facing the Southeast growers – labor, hurricanes, real estate development, consumer demand – have nothing to do with Mexican imports but everything to do with the growers’ inability or unwillingness to supply that market as demanded,” Jungmeyer said.

    Labor

    Labor rates play a significant role in comparing the Florida vs. Mexico. It was established during Thursday’s ITC hearing regarding the impact imports have on the Southeast domestic market, that Mexico’s minimum wage is $10 per day. Florida just voted to increase its minimum wage that will increase to $15 per hour over the next few years.

    Jungmeyer was also critical of Florida and Georgia’s usage of the H-2A program and believes their lack of available workers has led to quality issues.

    “Mexico cannot be blamed for U.S. farmers not having labor, agricultural workers, to work in their fields. Perishable products such as cucumbers and squash are labor intensive crops, particularly for the harvesting and packing. Without adequate labor, Southeast growers are at a severe disadvantage in how they grow and pack. Their products result in a distinct quality disadvantage that U.S. retail customers clearly recognize,” Jungmeyer said.

    Industry leaders in Florida and Georgia insist, though, there is not a labor shortage.

    Weather Issues

    Jungmeyer’s defense of Mexican imports also centered on hurricanes that are an annual threat to Florida production.

    “Mexico cannot be blamed for the hurricanes and tropical storms that cause damage to crops. The threat of bad weather is reason alone why many retail customers seek Mexican suppliers to at least backstop the risk of Florida suppliers running into weather-related supply problems. This happens in Georgia as well. The risk of hurricanes is also a significant disincentive for southeast growers to pursue using protected agriculture to grow cucumbers and squash,” Jungmeyer said.

    He also mentioned real estate development for a reason that many Florida producers have sold land instead of continuing the family business.

    Consumer preference was his final point of defense. Jungmeyer claims consumers just prefer Mexican produce compared to American producers.

    “Consumer choices have evolved to favor premium produce items like fancy squashes and cucumbers. This is in a way similar to how consumers choose bell peppers that are grown in protected agriculture because of the variety and color of peppers available and even the perfect appearance of those green protected agriculture peppers. We also have a perfect appearance in Mexican squash and cucumbers,” Jungmeyer said. “The extreme high quality in imported Mexican produce (distributors) sell gives them a significant demand edge in the market.”