Fruit ICM News

In This Issue:

Calendar
Stinger Tolerance Extablished for Strawberry
Court Blocks Washington Apple Law
Ohio Report for Midwest Fruit Workers
Market Loss Assistance
Famers Market Facts
Famers Market Study - 2000 Statistics
Soft Scald - A Problem for Honeycrisp Apples
Terminal Market Wholesale Fruit Prices
Monthly Climatological Data for September

Calendar

Jan. 27-29, 2003: Indiana Horticultural Congress; Planning is currently underway for next year's Hort Congress, which will be held January 27-29, 2003 at the Adams Mark Hotel in Indianapolis.

Stinger Tolerance Established for Strawberry

After years and years and years of waiting, Stinger (clopyralid) has received an official tolerance on strawberry. This means the product can be legally used. For growers with severe thistle and groundsel problems, there will be an opportunity to use the product this fall. Expect exceptional control and excellent crop tolerance. Label directions will be published in this newsletter as soon as they are available. Stay tuned!

Court Blocks Washington Apple Law

The measure, passed to ensure that quality fruit is always on store shelves, prevents fruit over 12 months old from being marketed. According to Jim Hazen, Executive Director of the Washington State Hort Association, the association's Grade and Pack Committee hoped to boost repeat sales and apple consumption by increasing the consistency of apple quality.

The hort association pursued the cutoff date through legislation, and the new laws were put into effect in March 2002. Washington's new regulations governing fruit standards and carryover stipulate that the apple industry cannot carry over previous year's apples past October 1. All apples shipped prior to October 1 from the state will be required to have an 11% brix level. Gala and Jonagold will be required to have 11 pounds of firmness year round, as well.

Ohio Report for the Midwest Fruit Workers Meeting October 2-3, 2002

Tree Fruits

General

Fruit size was reduced, and the degree depended on the severity of the drought. Thinners worked well. Disease pressure was low. Apples were injured by the late frost May 21-23 on low sites. Bird damage high on all crops, especially peaches.

Concern

Many trees were wilted, carrying a full crop and major leaf loss occurred on cherry and some peach cultivars. We are concerned that we are getting a lot of leaf fall now without any frost. These conditions do not bode well for winter survival if we get a normal Ohio winter with below 0 temperatures.

Arthropod Report

Caterpillars: The apple pest season appeared from the start to be challenging for codling moth. Codling moth emergence began at the normal time but flight was more prolonged than usual, due to cool weather; at our research orchard in Columbus, there were 8 weeks (early May until late June) with weekly catch above 8 moths per trap.

Some apple growers began to notice codling moth damage after the first generation and tried to switch from organophosphates to Avaunt or others for second generation. Problems are occurring both in IPM orchards where some cover sprays have been skipped during periods between codling moth generations, and in conventional orchards where no cover sprays were skipped. Similar complaints are made by some peach growers about oriental fruit moth control. By harvest time, we are hearing about difficulty in control of fruit-feeding caterpillars as a widespread phenomenon all over the northeastern and midwestern USA. Resistance to organophosphates is suspected. However, in a research block where only pyrethroids were used, control was also poor.

In most cases in Ohio we think the guilty species is codling moth (such as our research orchard where specimens of larvae have been kept), but some lesser appleworm might be involved. The occurrence of lesser appleworm might reflect a difference in insecticide susceptibility rather than a timing difference; timing of lesser appleworm should be about the same as for codling moth. In mid-August we set up some pheromone traps for lesser appleworm and got high catches through early September. At the same time we took a closer look at the moths caught in the oriental fruit moth trap (in nearby peach block) and noticed that all moths in the OFM trap were actually lesser appleworm. Thus our trap data for OFM for the entire season is unverified as to true species.

Woolly apple aphid continues a recent trend of being more common. We need to emphasize early detection of this pest, as timing varies a lot.

San Jose scale continues a trend of being more common, but responds very well to Esteem.

European red mite was a bigger problem than usual this year in many orchards. Its development was slowed down by cool, wet weather in May. This was a year in which acaricides that are usually best at first cover (Apollo, AgriMek) should have been delayed 1 to 2 weeks, as the mite population was not yet at the best stage by first cover.

Periodical cicada: Predicted emergence in a small part of northeast Ohio occurred but was heavier than expected.

Predatory mites: A research trial was conducted on transfer of predatory mites into commercial apple orchards where they were not already present. The phytoseiid T. pyri was seeded in 3 blocks and the stigmaeid Z. mali was seeded into another 3 blocks. Final samplings are not yet summarized and species verifications are not yet completed, but we think there is success at establishing T. pyri and failure with Z. mali. Disease Report

Due to the drought we did not have a lot of disease pressure later in the season. Scab pressure was moderate early and fire blight was severe in places. Fire blight was not as bad as in 2000 or 2001, but it was quite severe in southern Ohio. We had some problems with anthracnose on strawberry, especially under plastic culture. We had a strange problem with yellow plums all across the state - a fruit blemish of unknown causes. Also rusty spot (powdery mildew) on peach was a problem last year and this year (2002). We saw a great deal of winter injury in brambles all across the state. Growers want to call it everything but winter injury, but we feel strongly that it is winter injury.

Berries

Winter and spring temperatures have affected Ohio berry production. The record warm temperatures of November and December 2001 and January 2002 were of little concern for Ohio berry growers. However, long term records for thornless blackberry production indicate that early warm winter 2002 temperatures could have resulted in one of the best yields in as many as 40 years. March temperatures dropped below 5F and are believed to have caused cold damage to red and black raspberries. Summer type red raspberries were most affected, while fall type red raspberries are normal.

In April, a week of unusually warm temperatures and advanced plant growth was observed, particularly in raspberry, strawberry, and blackberry. Early May brought advanced blooms. On May 22, record low temperatures froze 80% of the exposed strawberry and some raspberry and thorny blackberry blooms. However, developing fruit were not damaged. Frozen black raspberry blossoms were observed for the very first time in over 50 years. However, this was less than one percent of all flowers in Columbus. The frozen blossoms were due to the warm April temperatures and then the May 22 freeze.

In July thornless blackberries had more fruit ready for harvest than ever observed in Ohio. These berries bloomed after May 22 and then had more berries than leaf surface. Some growers indicated less sweetness than last year. Sugars are improved with a balance of fruit to leaf ratios, full sunlight, and cool morning temperatures 3 to 5 days before harvest. Some blackberry fruit need an extra 1 or 2 days after turning black to achieve full flavor. Therefore, to detect a difference in fruit sweetness one needs to compare an equal level of fruit maturity.

Ohio strawberries were severely affected by the May 22 freeze. It is projected that 2002 yields will be 50% below those of 2001. Many growers did not expect temperatures to reach 27F and did not protect blooms with overhead irrigation. The low temperature was a 100-year record.

Ohio black raspberry plants were affected early in March, and yields were lower in some cultivars due to cold temperature damage after the plants came out of dormancy. Both black raspberry and strawberry plants have recovered and should grow normally. However, with the recent drought from Route I-70 north, plants need irrigation to produce a full crop for 2003. Many water sources are now stretched beyond their capacity to irrigate without considerable rainfall on a weekly basis.

All berry plants that were set in 2001 and 2002 suffered from being planted late or sitting in water- soaked soils in May 2001 and May 2002. Root growth was severely restricted, due to low soil oxygen. In both years, the weather turned hot and dry and root growth was again affected if no irrigation was available. Therefore, some fields will be abandoned in 2002, particularly where irrigation was not available or an insufficient amount of stored water was not on hand.

Ohio berry growers should consider irrigation for all berry types, and particularly where raised beds are used. Secondly, growers need to design a system that can be irrigated over a period of several weeks. July and August have been the two most important months for berry plant development and fruit size over the past 10 years.

Ponds should have enough water to irrigate berry crops for at least 28 days without significant rainfall (recharge the supply). In recent years, more than 35 days have been needed between sufficient rainfall to recharge ponds.

Grapes

Disease pressure was low. Grapes were injured by the late frost May 21-23 on low sites. Concord crop reduced as well as some wine grapes. Grape quality very good with little rot but have some sunburn on exposed clusters. Bird damage high on all crops, especially grapes. There are approximately 5 to 10 table grape growers in Ohio that are producing from 1/2 to 1+ acres of table grapes for commercial sale. There is, however, growing interest in producing table grapes for the fresh fruit market.

Dr. Steve Prochaska, OSU Extension Agent - Crawford County, and Dr. Maurus Brown, OSU Extension Agent - Richland County, are conducting a research trial on table grape varieties under little or no pesticides. Included in the trial the varieties of Mars, Concord Seedless, Canadice, Vanessa, Einset Seedless, Himrod, Lakemont, Reliance, Marquis, Neptune, Jupiter and Steuben. The trial was established at the OSU Unger Farm, Bucyrus, OH in 2000. Grapes are being evaluated for yield, vigor, winter hardiness, disease and insect resistance, and fruit quality.

Market Loss Assistance III

The U.S. Department of Agriculture opened the sign-up period for the $94 million apple market loss assistance program effective October 1. According to USDA, the sign-up period for this program will close November 8. Apple growers interested in participating in this program should contact their local Farm Service Agency office immediately to sign up for the program.

As a point of clarification, this program is separate from the $75 million market loss assistance program, which was recently closed by USDA. To qualify for participation in the $94 million program, growers must reapply during the October 1 - November 8 sign-up period. USDA will not automatically enroll apple growers in the $94 million program based on their participation in the $75 million program.

Farmers Market Facts

Direct marketing of farm products through farmers markets continues to be an important sales outlet for agricultural producers nationwide. Farmers markets, now an integral part in the urban/farm linkage, have continued to rise in popularity, mostly due to growing consumer interest in obtaining fresh products directly from the farm. The number of farmers markets in the US has grown dramatically, increasing 79 percent from 1994 to 2002. According to the 2002 National Farmers Market Directory, there are over 3,100 farmers markets operating in the US. This growth clearly indicates that farmers markets are meeting the needs of a growing number of farmers with small- to medium-size operations.

USDA Farmers Market Study 2000 Statistics

• Farmers markets are an important source of revenue. 19,000 farmers reported selling their produce only at farmers markets.
• Eighty-two percent of markets are self-sustaining; market income is sufficient to pay for all costs associated with the operation of the market (not including grant or in-kind support).
• Fifty-eight percent of markets participate in WIC coupon, food stamps, local and/or state nutrition programs.
• Twenty-five percent of markets participate in gleaning programs aiding food recovery organizations in the distribution of food and food products to needy families.

Soft Scald A Major Problem for Honeycrisp