Fruit ICM News

Volume 8,  No. 41                                                                                                     
November 10, 2004

February 16-19, 2005: North American Berry Conference, Nashville, Tennessee.  Conference of North American Bramble Growers and North American Strawberry Growers.  See Issue 34 for more information <http://ipm.osu.edu/fruit/04icm34.pdf>.

Dock Sawfly

Source: Art Agnello, Cornell Entomology, Geneva, New York,   <http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/scaffolds/2000/--7.31_insects.html>

A recent, post-harvest evaluation of apples from orchards enrolled in the North-Central Ohio IPM program turned up Fuji with very small side-entry holes.  These infested apples were from young, non-staked trees with drooping branches heavy with fruit.  Contact of branches with orchard floor vegetation was noted.  Following is an article which matches our observations.  Pictures of the entrance hole and of the bright green larvae are available from the web site listed with the source.

Before and during apple harvest in recent years, a number of growers and fieldmen have been unpleasantly surprised by the appearance of neat little (2 mm) holes bored into the side of their fruit, similar in appearance to those caused by a stem puncture. Although graders sometimes attribute this damage to apple maggot or European corn borer, cutting open these apples reveals a bright green worm with a light brown head, not feeding but lying inactive, in the burrow extending in from each hole.  These are larvae of the dock sawfly, Ametastegia glabrata, a highly sporadic but nonetheless well documented apple pest that has been known to show up in our area since 1908.

Dock sawfly probably confines its feeding almost entirely to plants belonging to the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae), including numerous docks and sorrels, the knotweeds and bindweeds, or wild buckwheat or alfalfa.  In feeding on any of these plants, the larvae devour the leaf tissue and the smaller veins, eating out irregular holes in the leaves.  Ordinarily, the midribs and the larger veins are untouched.  This insect should not be confused with the related European apple sawfly, Hoplocampa testudinea, which has a whitish larva that lives and feeds in young apples, particularly prevalent in the eastern apple regions of N.Y.

Injury to apples by the dock sawfly is known to occur only in the late summer and early fall, when the fruit is approaching maturity and the sawfly is searching for an overwintering site.

The greater hardness of immature apples probably deters the larvae from burrowing into these, so although 4 generations per year have been identified, only the last is of concern to apple growers.

The injury to apples consists externally of the small round holes bored by the larvae, which after a few days show a slightly sunken, brownish ring around them and occasionally may be surrounded by a larger discolored halo.  These holes may occur anywhere on the surface, but are most numerous around the calyx and stem ends, or at a point where the apple touches a leaf or another apple, since it is easier for the larva to obtain a foothold here.

Inside, the injury is usually more serious, since the larva often burrows to the core and usually hollows out a pupal cell somewhat larger than itself. 

Apples may have three or four, or sometimes even eight, holes in them of varying depths, but contain only one or two worms.

Since the dock sawfly does not feed upon any part of the apple tree, but must live on the above-mentioned succulent weeds, it becomes an apple pest only where these plants are growing in or around the orchard.  There is little danger from this insect in orchards where the food plants don’t exist.  Likewise, the possibility of the larvae coming into the orchard from neighboring meadows, ditch banks, or roadsides is slight, for the larvae are incapable of finding their way over any extent of bare soil.

The adults, though active, are not strong fliers, and it is not possible for the insect to travel far in this stage.  Now would be a good time to assess the weed situation in your orchard and make plans for such selective herbicide applications as may be appropriate regarding this insect.  Even though common wisdom says this sawfly is a pest only every 10-12 years, this is only an average estimation, and it’s not a bad idea to anticipate the unexpected when hardly any season is considered to be “average.”

(Information adapted from Newcomer, E. J. 1916.  The dock false-worm: An apple pest.  USDA Bull. 265, 40 pp.)

Apple Crop Insurance
Improvements Announced
(But time is running out for the 2005 crop)

Source: Jo Lynne Seufer, Risk Management Specialist, USDA/Risk Management Agency

USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) announced the modification of the current apple crop insurance program for the 2005 and succeeding crop years.  Changes to the current apple crop provision include raising the floor of the insurable grade from U.S. cider grade to U.S. No. 1 processing; revising the fresh fruit program to provide quality adjustment for fresh apples that do not grade as U.S. Fancy; and providing better coverage for all perils.

Producers are encouraged to contact a local MPCI agent as soon as possible to learn additional program details.  All perennial insurable crops (Apples, Blueberry, Cherry Pilot, Cranberries, Grapes, Pears, Stone fruit, and Raspberry/Blackberry Pilot) have a sales closing date of Monday, November 22, 2004 for the 2005 crop year.

If there are no actuarial documents filed (in your county) for a crop under the traditional MPCI program, please ask your agent whether you would be eligible for coverage under a written agreement.  A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers throughout the U.S. or at the web site address: <http://www3.rma.usda.gov/tools/agents/>.  

Editor’s note

When using this web site, the more information that you can provide (especially your town) the faster will be your search.  Agents may reside or have an office in one state/county but sell and service policies in other states/counties. 

So if you do not list a town, you may have to page down through agents licensed to do business in Ohio but with offices in Iowa, Indiana, or Michigan.  If your search with your town does not yield results, try a larger town or city near you.  Also, your local Farm Service Agency can provide a list of local agents.

Additional background material was provided by Dennis Janusick who presented “Risk Management in Orcharding: What Help is Available” during the 2004 Ohio Fruit & Vegetable Growers Congress. 

The Ohio Apple Crop Insurance Program counties are as follows: Ashtabula, Columbiana, Erie, Fairfield, Fulton, Jackson, Licking, Lorain, Lucas, Mahoning, Ottawa, Ross, Sandusky, Scioto, and Stark. The Ohio Grape Crop Insurance Program counties are Ashtabula, Lake, and Lorain.  Crops without a county actuarial table may be insured via a written agreement if the producer submits a timely Request For Actuarial Change, insurability requirements are met, and:

• 3 years of acceptable production records
• Adaptability along the dates the crop normally is planted and harvested
• Name, location, and distance to market
• Legal description and aerial photos or legible maps delineating field boundary
• Completed APH (Actual Production History),  Producer’s Pre-acceptance, and Perennial Inspections. 

For counties without a program for apples or grapes, but where a crop program is administered by RMA (Risk Management Agency) and having a crop policy, crop insurance coverage may be available by submitting a timely Request For Actuarial Change with supporting documentation.

Terminal Market Wholesale Fruit Prices - November 10, 2004

Source: Chicago <http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/HX_FV010.txt>

Detroit <http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/DU_FV010.txt>

Pittsburgh <http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/PS_FV010.txt>

	Chicago	Detroit	Pittsburgh
Apples, cartons 12   3-lb film bags U.S. ExFcy  (unless noted)	IL U.S. ExFancy Jonathan 2¼" up       12.00 U.S. Fancy Jonathan  2¼" up       12.00 MI ExFcy Gala 2¼" min     12.00 Golden Delicious 2¼" min     12.00 Jonamac 2¼" min     12.00 Jonathan 2¼" min     12.00 Red Delicious 2¼" min     12.00	MI Empire     2½" min              10-13.00 Fugi  2½" min    13.00-14.00 Gala  2½" min    13.00-16.50  G. Delic  2½" min   11-14.50 Jonathan  2½" min   13-14.50 McIntosh 2½" min   10-14.50 Rome   2½" min       10-13.00 R. Delic  2½" min    11-14.50 NY Empire     2½" min          14.50-15.50 McIntosh     2½"min           13.50-14.50 R. Delicious      2½" min          14.50-15.50 MI U.S. Fancy Empire 2½"min   11.50-12.00 McIntosh 2½" min   11.50-12 R. Delic 2¼" min     11.50-12
Apples, cartons tray pack, U.S. ExFcy  (unless noted)		MI Braeburn     80s      21.00     Cortland        56s      14.00     Fuji               80s      12.00     Golden Delic 88s      12.00     McIntosh       64s     14.00	NY Rome   72s     15.00                     88s    15.00 NY Fancy Honeycrisp 80s   27.50, 100s  42.00
Apples, cartons cell pack U.S. ExFcy  (unless noted)	NY McIntosh     80s         24.00     96s         22.00   100s    13-13.50    120s         12.00	NY U.S. ExFcy    Empire   80s     18.50-19.00                 100s    15.00-15.50    McIntosh 80s   19.00-19.50                  100s   18.50-21.00	NY ExFancy McIntosh        100s              21.00 NY Fancy McIntosh          80s              17.50         100s             17.50
Apples, bushel cartons loose U.S. ExFcy   (unless noted)	IL U.S. Fancy Red Delic   14.00	MI Empire  2½" up     8-9.00        2¾" up                  12.00    G. Delic   2¾" up 13-15.00         3" min             12-14.50      Jonathan   2¾" up      13.00    McIntosh  2¾" up 12-13.00    R. Delic    2¾" up      15.00          3" min         12.00-14.50    Rome       2¾"      8.00-9.00         3" min         10.00-15.00

The intent of listing terminal market prices is to provide information available in the public domain.  It is not intended for price setting, only to assist growers in evaluating the value of their crops.  Producers need to remember that the prices listed are gross;  consideration must be given to other marketing costs, i.e. commission, handling charge, gate fees, and lumper fees.

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The Ohio Fruit ICM News is edited by:

Ted W. Gastier
Extension Agent, Agriculture
Tree Fruit Team Coordinator
Ohio State University Extension Huron County
180 Milan Avenue
Norwalk, OH 44857
Phone: (419)668-8210
FAX: (419)663-4233
E-mail: gastier.1@osu.edu

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Information presented above and where trade names are used, they are supplied with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by Ohio State University Extension is implied. Although every attempt is made to produce information that is complete, timely, and accurate, the pesticide user bears responsibility of consulting the pesticide label and adhering to those directions.

All educational programs conducted by Ohio State University Extension are available to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, age, disability or Vietnam-era veteran status.

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Keith L. Smith, Director, Ohio State University Extension.

TDD # 1 (800) 589-8292 (Ohio only) or (614) 292-1868

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