Interest rates are low and should remain that way for the foreseeable future. Adam Rabinowitz, Assistant Professor and Extension Economist at Auburn University, says vegetable and specialty crop producers may have an opportunity to capitalize.
Rabinowitz
“Interest rates are extremely low, and they are forecast to remain low. That is certainly an opportunity to where if there’s interest on any kind of capital equipment or land, in terms of loans that have interest on that; looking at refinancing that is an option, if you can secure a lower rate,” Rabinowitz said.
“But also, it certainly might be an opportunity, if you have a sound financial position long term, to look at buying some of the equipment that is needed for where you’re going to have a loan that will obviously have a lower interest rate at this point.”
Interest Rate Background
The Federal Reserve Bank oversees setting the interest rate, which rises and falls depending on the outlook of the financial market.
The interest rate is typically high when economic times are good but is low during economic downturns. Such is the case amid the coronavirus pandemic, which led to massive shutdowns and a spike in unemployment when COVID-19 impacted the country in mid-March.
The interest rate is near zero percent and is expected to remain that way through 2022.
Proceed with Caution
But Rabinowitz also cautions farmers to really consider if taking on more debt is the right tactic to take with regards to their farming operations.
“I would stress, though, it’s important to look at it within the context of the entire operation to make sure the financial position is a sound financial position before taking on that additional debt. We’re still looking at very volatile markets in terms of pricing,” Rabinowitz said.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty in a lot of other aspects. Taking on more debt is not necessarily the best thing to do either.”
According to N.C. State Extension, the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), has announced a new round of grant funding that specifically includes support for hemp projects. The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Competitive Grants Program is intended to fund projects related to research, extension and education. The purpose of AFRI’s Sustainable Agricultural Systems (SAS) grants is to increase agricultural production while reducing the environmental impact of agriculture. The request for proposals (RFP) specifically states that projects should take a systems approach.
Grants can be used to address a number of goals. One goal is the development of rural economies. In particular, the RFA states that, “Of interest in this theme are industrial hemp projects that examine the supply chain as a system, including breeding, cultivation, feedstock logistics, industrial processing of products and market analysis.” https://nifa.usda.gov/sites/default/files/rfa/FY21-AFRI-SAS-RFA-508.pdf
Funding for projects ranges from $1-10 million. Letters of intent are due by Jan. 7, 2021. The deadline for the full application is April 1, 2021.
Blossom-end rot, which manifests in the first few weeks of growth after tomato flowers are pollinated, causes black, rotted areas on the blossom end of the fruit, opposite the stem.
By Maria M. Lameiras for UGA CAES News
Home gardeners and commercial farmers alike can attest to the disappointment of seeing a beautiful tomato ripening on a vine, only to discover that the fruit has dark, sunken pits at the blossom end of the fruit. Called blossom-end rot (BER), this physiological disorder is prevalent in fruit and vegetable crops, including tomatoes, and can cause severe economic losses.
Through a $475,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), University of Georgia researchers are looking for the genetic and developmental factors of BER with goals of investigating causal mechanisms and developing prevention and mitigation strategies for the disorder.
Research Specifics
Led by Savithri Nambeesan, an assistant research scientist specializing in ripening and postharvest physiology in the UGA Department of Horticulture at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), the study will compare the genetic traits of tomato lines that are susceptible and resistant to BER through genetic mapping to try to identify the regions in the genome that cause BER. It will also examine developmental and molecular contributors to the disorder.
“If we can find the factors that lead to BER, we can use that information to tailor management practices to minimize the disorder,” said Nambeesan, who is working on the project with horticulture professor and plant geneticist Esther van der Knaap, who has done extensive work on tracing tomato genomes.
Tomato Crop’s Value
The U.S. tomato crop was valued at more than $1.6 billion in 2019. In severe cases, BER can cause crop losses of up to 50% of the total yield in affected fields, resulting in a significant economic loss.
Nambeesan said the disorder, which manifests in the first few weeks of growth after tomato flowers are pollinated, is influenced by genetic, developmental and environmental factors. The study will combine molecular and developmental approaches to understand potential causes.
“Currently, the underlying cause of BER is thought to be due to calcium deficiency, but current field management strategies to correct that via irrigation and calcium fertigation have met with limited success. Generating more basic information on this disorder will help with breeding cultivars that are BER-resistant or provide more tailored management strategies to minimize this disorder,” she said.
“We will determine if BER can occur in fruits that grow relatively fast during their development and therefore have higher demand for calcium. Fruit receive their calcium through vascular tissues such as xylem, and therefore investigating how the xylem develops during fruit development may be critical in understanding calcium translocation into the fruit.”
MultiModel Approach
The multimodel approach to finding the underlying cause of BER in tomatoes will be useful in translating the information to other crops including vegetables and fruits such as pepper, watermelon, squash and eggplant. Because there are greater genetic and genomic resources available in tomatoes, it is the best model system for research that can translate into knowledge applicable to other crops.
“If we can tackle the problem using two approaches in molecular physiology — how fruit growth rates and xylem development tie into subcellular calcium localization — we can find the causative factors for it and we can address it more effectively,” she said. “We also are taking a two-pronged genetic approach, identifying certain loci that are involved in blossom end rot and finding genes in the genome to develop lines that are resistant.”
Ayanava Majumdar, Extension Professor in Entomology and Plant Pathology at Auburn University, cautions all vegetable producers one insect to be wary of right now is the yellowmargined leaf beetle.
Unlike some insects that thrive only during the summer, or warm conditions, the yellowmargined leaf beetle likes cooler weather and will impact brassica crops.
“It’s a small beetle that when you scout for it, it may drop off the plant. Farmers may miss it and think it’s a caterpillar but it’s actually this leaf beetle that likes the cool weather,” Majumdar said.
“It does a massive amount of damage, not only this time of year, but the population just gets worse in spring. Farmers who already have yellowmargined leaf beetles will probably get worse in spring. We need a timely intervention, chemically or organically speaking, to stop the yellow margined leaf beetle.”
Identification Important
Majumdar said the first step in yellowmargined leaf beetle management is to make sure farmers identify it correctly.
“The beetle and the larva, they feed together on the leaves. They especially love turnips, turnips and napa cabbage. They will tear up the turnips and cabbage at first before moving on to other brassicas,” Majumdar said. “The one thing to remember is BT products … they don’t work against the beetle. It will take care of the caterpillars but not the beetles. Diagnosis is very important before farmers take off with control.”
Another concern that producers need to be mindful is insecticide resistance. Majumdar stresses that growers not overspray, because it could lead to resistance issues.
The additional rainfall South Florida received earlier this week is not going to help vegetable and specialty crop producers still drying out from a wet November.
McAvoy
Gene McAvoy, University of Florida/IFAS Regional Vegetable Extension Agent IV Emeritus, estimated his area in Immokalee, Florida had received almost three inches by the end of Monday.
“(The rain’s) not going to help, especially on the muck soils, they’re much harder to dry out than the sands. We can pump water off fields that are on mineral soils, and they’ll dry down in a couple of days. That muck is like a sponge so even if you pull the water off, it stays wet,” McAvoy said.
“We’ve already seen stand loss, and we’re going to continue to see more of that; increased disease in things like lettuce, damping off in beans.”
Bloom Dropping
McAvoy said producers are already seeing bloom dropping in peppers and tomatoes, as well as higher incidences of bacterial spot as a result of increased moisture in the soil.
Weather has been a challenge the last couple of months in South Florida. The region has experienced multiple months of excessive rainfall. McAvoy estimated in mid-November that in the Fort Lauderdale area it had received 26 inches over the previous month.
Fortunately for Florida growers the upcoming forecast looks dry. According to weather.com, Immokalee is expected to receive little to no rain for the next 10 days, except for Saturday, which is only 35%.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Chew on this the next time you eat a blueberry: Every single blueberry is the result of a flower that was pollinated by a bee.
In other words: no buzz, no berry.
With that in mind, it’s no wonder blueberry growers bring in hives of honey bees or bumble bees when their blueberry bushes are in flower.
“We are big believers in pollination on blueberries. We believe pollination helps increase berry size and weight and increases the overall crop yield,” said Ryan Atwood, co-owner of H&A farms, which owns, leases and manages more than 350 acres of blueberries in north and central Florida.
But pollinating blueberries with bees isn’t an exact science — yet.
Successful pollination depends on a variety of factors, such as when beehives are introduced or how much buzz a blueberry flower needs to release its pollen.
Moreover, blueberry growers across the United States report that ineffective pollination is a top concern for their business, as it directly affects the amount and quality of product they can bring to market, said Rachel Mallinger, an assistant professor in the UF/IFAS entomology and nematology department who specializes in pollinators.
This is why Mallinger and several other researchers from blueberry-growing states have teamed up to develop recommendations and tools to help growers optimize pollination.
In addition to Mallinger, the research team includes scientists from Michigan State University, Oregon State University and Washington State University. Rufus Issacs, a professor in the department of entomology at Michigan State University, will lead the project, which is funded by a $2 million grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Some years blueberry pollination goes well, other years not so much, so we are looking to help growers take some of the guesswork out of it,” Mallinger said. “Our ultimate goal is to provide a tool we’re calling the pollination planner. The pollination planner will help growers decide how many bees to use and when to bring them in based on their location, climate, size of their farm, and varieties of blueberry they grow.”
Mallinger and her research team will partner with Florida blueberry growers, including Atwood, to run their field experiments. The Florida blueberry industry is a $60 million-a-year business, and this research on pollination will help support this growing commodity.
“This research will help us understand the economic benefits of honey bees for pollination and what number of hives are needed to properly pollinate,” Atwood said.
The multi-state project has several components, Mallinger said.
“Our contribution in Florida will be to look at our modern southern highbush blueberry varieties and determine their pollination needs and what makes them attractive to bees. Some varieties need to be pollinated with pollen from a different blueberry variety to achieve optimal yields, while others are more self-compatible. Some varieties may hold on to their pollen tightly, others less so. Even the color or size of the flower, or how much nectar it produces, might impact how attractive that flower is to a bee,” she said.
Identifying those traits is just the first step, Mallinger added.
“Blueberry breeders are usually trying to develop varieties that have good taste, resistance to pests, things like that. But we don’t think about how likely a blueberry variety is to be pollinated. If we can identify those traits that lead to more pollination, we can inform breeding efforts,” she said.
Other researchers on the project will develop recommendations for the number of bees — called stocking density — needed to pollinate modern varieties of blueberry. Another component of the project will investigate how weather conditions, such as extreme heat, influences pollination success.
Sales of real Christmas trees are breaking records this season. Conversations with tree shoppers may reveal why. (Gary Crawford. Tim O’Connor with the National Christmas Tree Association and several intrepid tree hunters)
RALEIGH – Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler announced the addition of three new members to the N.C. Agricultural Hall of Fame – John Holman Cyrus of Raleigh, Fred N. Colvard of Jefferson and Marshall W. Grant of Garysburg.
Troxler
Established in 1953, the Agricultural Hall of Fame posthumously recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to agriculture in the state and beyond. All three men had broad agricultural backgrounds and have made lasting contributions to the industry.
“North Carolina’s agricultural roots run deep and our state has been looked to as a model for others because of a long history of outstanding leadership,” Troxler said. “The scope of contributions all three of these men have made is truly impressive, and it is an honor to recognize them.”
Fred N. Colvard
Fred Colvard was a progressive and entrepreneurial farmer who helped develop crops suited to the North Carolina mountain areas. He was one of the first to commit 40 to 50 acres of land to growing Christmas trees in the area, ushering in a new crop on a commercial scale. He also was among the first to use irrigation in the area to ensure high quality crops.
But Colvard was better known for developing the blight-resistant Sequoia potato, which is credited with ending a potato famine in Peru.
In nominating Colvard, Sam Shumate wrote, “when I decided to write an article on Colvard Farms for a monthly series, my research revealed a progressive farmer far ahead of his time.”
In developing the potato, Colvard leased an island off the coast of Florida where he planted the potatoes. The sub-tropical climate there allowed him to plant two crops of potatoes in a season, cutting his experiment time in half.
When potato blight threatened a variety that was significant part of Peruvian diets, an agricultural delegation from the country went to the Colvard Farm to see more about his work with a blight-resistant potato. The delegation returned to Peru with some of the newly developed seed potatoes, leading to the end of the famine.
John Holman Cyrus
John Holman Cyrus was a pivotal figure with regards to the state’s tobacco industry, serving for 37 years with the N.C. Department of Agriculture in various capacities, including Tobacco Program Administrator.
During his tenure, tobacco was the state’s top commodity and top crop grown by thousands of farmers statewide. The industry’s influence stretched well beyond the farms and rural communities to larger cities where tobacco manufacturing and warehouses employed many workers and supported hospitals, universities and cultural programs.
In the early 1950s, Cyrus established an annual comprehensive tobacco market report. Later, he planned and developed a service program focused on improving quality and marketing practices. That program also encouraged closer cooperation and understanding between tobacco growers, warehousemen, dealers and manufacturers.
In nominating Cyrus, N.C. State Grange President Jimmy Gentry noted that he “helped facilitate change in the growing and marketing of tobacco, working with growers to keep lower stalk leaf off the market to improve prices, and in the transition from selling tied tobacco to loose leaf tobacco. The loose-leaf system lead to innovative handling and packaging practices at the warehouse.”
Following his retirement from NCDA, Cyrus continued his work on behalf of the industry, serving with the Tobacco Advisory Council, the Tobacco Tax Council and N.C. State University Tobacco Foundation. He also served as a lobbyist and consultant on tobacco issues for the N.C. State Grange for over 20 years.
Marshall W. Grant
Marshall W. Grant’s name will likely forever be linked to cotton, thanks to his vision, drive and leadership in helping establish the Boll Weevil Eradication Program, a voluntary assessment program for cotton farmers which continues today.
In nominating Grant, David Parrish, chief operating officer of the N.C. Cotton Producers Association, credits Grant’s work to leading “to the eradication of the most destructive pest in the history of cotton, thereby restoring the economic viability of cotton production for generations of farmers in North Carolina and across the Cotton Belt.”
By the late 1970s, North Carolina had seen cotton production drop from a high of almost 2 million acres to around 40,000 acres because of the destruction by the boll weevil.
Grant organized a group to hire cotton scouts and began regional control efforts, but soon realized that to be effective these efforts would need to be broader to keep the boll weevils from migrating to nearby fields, other regions and other states.
When the National Cotton Council decided to proceed with a full-scale boll weevil eradication trial, Grant volunteered for North Carolina to be a trial location and then traveled extensively across the state helping organize eradication committees and educating producers on the program’s importance and the need for grower funding.
That early trial helped establish the foundation and structure for the Boll Weevil Eradication Program that exists today. In 1985, North Carolina declared the state boll weevil free and cotton production today has returned to a 500,000-acre level. Today, monitoring and trapping of cotton fields continue to ensure any re-emergence of the destructive pest is dealt with quickly.
The economic benefits of the Boll Weevil Eradication Program to producers are estimated at $644 million annually. It is also estimated that 10 million pounds fewer insecticides are used to produce the U.S. cotton crop.
All three nominations received unanimous approval from the Hall of Fame Board of Directors. A ceremony honoring the three will be held at a later date.
Picture from Adam Bertolla/Shows pecans and limbs on the ground, knocked over by Hurricane Sally.
Two counties in Alabama known for pecan production had little to zero pecans harvested this year after being hit hard by Hurricane Sally.
Unfortunately, it is likely to have a ripple effect on pecan production in Baldwin and Mobile Counties for years to come, says Bryan Wilkins, Alabama Extension Research Associate.
Extension Testimonial
“This was the biggest crop some of them ever had but there was probably, in Baldwin and Mobile Counties, there was probably 3.5 million pounds on a rough guess. Everything was loaded,” Wilkins said.
“We’re going to be in an alternate bearing year next year. You can figure that a lot of these trees got damaged, and the ones that didn’t get blown over, they’re going to have to have some pretty severe pruning on a lot of them. You’re probably looking at three or four years before Baldwin County is back to doing anything terribly, terribly significant.”
The Category 2 storm hammered Alabama pecan producers like Gary Underwood on Sept. 16. Underwood, who is based between Mobile, Ala. and Pensacola, Fla., lost a substantial amount of his pecan crop, as he estimated he lost 600 trees.
Loss to This Year’s Crop
Wilkins said Baldwin County experienced a complete loss of its pecan crop this year. Mobile County experienced a 50% to 60% loss in its crop.
However, the more pressing concern right now is cleaning up all of the debris left behind.
Lot to Clean Up
“We’re going to be cleaning up on into the new year. They’re slowly making some progress but the trees, a lot of them weren’t completely broke off at the roots. They were still attached, just blown over. Those trees haven’t started drying out yet,” Wilkins said.
“They’re still green for the most part. Even once they get them up, they’re not going to be able to just start burning. They’re going to have to let them dry some. The time you get everything burnt and cleaned up and limb raked and picked up and holes filled in, it’s going to be doggone close to spring, bloom time.”
The Georgia Foundation for Agriculture, Georgia Farm Bureau, Georgia Department of Agriculture and UGA Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development are jointly sponsoring a second survey to document the impact of COVID-19 on the agriculture industry in the state. (photo from Georgia Farm Bureau)
A survey is now being conducted by the University of Georgia (UGA) in an effort to get a year-end perspective of the impact of the pandemic on Georgia’s agricultural industry.
The Georgia Foundation for Agriculture, Georgia Farm Bureau, Georgia Department of Agriculture and UGA Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development are jointly sponsoring the survey. Organizers will use the data to document the needs of the agriculture industry and share the summary at the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ 2021 Georgia Ag Forecast, which will be held online Friday, Jan. 29.
All sectors of Georgia’s food and fiber industry have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, more than 850 producers completed a survey describing the early impacts of the disease on agriculture in Georgia, and 82% of respondents reported lost revenue. Livestock was the hardest-hit sector in the earlier assessment.
The approximately 10-minute survey covers potential impacts on producers such as commodity prices, disposal or loss of products on farm, lack of markets, access to working capital, farm labor issues, availability of farm inputs, transportation, closure of sale barns or processing facilities and international trade.
There is no personal compensation provided for participation. All sensitive information will be kept strictly confidential by the principal investigator. Published results will be presented in summary form only with aggregated data.
