The high-stakes horticulture business involves a combination of new technology, products and services, growth and profit – from Dow AgroSciences. We provide support to help fruit and vegetable growers like you reach your profit potential through higher performance. Call our Solutions Center at 1.800.667.3852 or visit www.dowagro.ca today.
May 2014 Volume 70, No. 4
Editor
Margaret Land
mland@annexweb.com
519-429-5190 • 888-599-2228 ext. 269
Advertising Manager
Sharon Kauk skauk@annexweb.com
519-429-5189 • 888-599-2228 ext. 242
Account Coordinator
Mary Burnie mburnie@annexweb.com 519-429-5175 • 888-599-2228 ext. 234
Media Designer
Kelli Kramer
Group Publisher
Diane Kleer dkleer@annexweb.com
President Mike Fredericks mfredericks@annexweb.com
PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT #40065710
RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT., P.O. BOX 530, SIMCOE, ON N3Y 4N5
e-mail: subscribe@fruitandveggie.com
Fruit & Vegetable Magazine is published five times a year (January/ February, March, April, May, November/December) by Annex Publishing & Printing Inc., P.O. Box 530, 105 Donly Dr. S., Simcoe, ON N3Y 4N5
Like every good Canadian, there’s nothing I enjoy more than griping about the weather. And, like every good farmer’s daughter, there’s usually a sound agricultural reason behind my tirades.
Growing up, my father always told me to be a good farmer you need to possess the heart of a gambler. You might be the most gifted crop producer in the county, but if the weather doesn’t cooperate, it just doesn’t matter.
Of course, a lot has changed since I was a youngster. Technology improvements help farmers “cheat” Mother Nature, including drip irrigation, frost protection, wind machines, row covers, hoop houses, hail cannons and netting, just to name a few. But really, once the wind dies down and the snow settles, the weather always seems to find a way of spinning around and biting you in the butt.
The winter of 2013-2014 will certainly be one I won’t easily forget, providing me with a lovely new term to whine and cuss about – polar vortex. As I watched growers posting photos on social media depicting -30 C temperatures in their orchards, I shivered in sympathy and felt strangely happy that my thermometer was only showing -28 C.
With the snow now melted and temperatures beginning to warm seasonally, it’s time to take stock of what that winter has meant to fruit and vegetable producers across Canada.
In the Maritimes, snowstorms in March resulted in high snow levels that even at mid-April were still causing issues. In New Brunswick, apple producers forecast at least
a 30 per cent drop in yields for 2014 due to damage caused by deer browsing on buds, unable to reach vegetation under the snow. In Nova Scotia, a wet and cold spring resulted in delays for many apple growers who could not access orchards for pruning.
In Ontario, extremely cold temperatures in January and February decimated peach production outside of the Niagara Region. According to Murray Porteous, who grows about 40 acres of fresh peaches in Norfolk County, the cold resulted in the destruction of about 90 per cent of his 2014 crop.
“Peaches are in bad shape,” he said in an interview with the local newspaper, The Simcoe Reformer. “They just can’t handle this cold.”
Meanwhile, field surveys in the Niagara region showed a normal crop is still expected, according to the Ontario Tender Fruit Producers Marketing Board.
On the vinifera grape front, the Wine Spectator reported a 40 per cent loss of crop across Ontario with spotty damage in Niagara but complete decimation in some other growing regions. In light of the damage, researchers with Brock University’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute released several strategy papers helping growers deal with vine management issues relating to cold injury.
Interested in joining South Central Ontario Region (SCOR) Food Hub?
The South Central Ontario Region (SCOR) Food Hub is seeking farmers and food producers who are interested in being part of the SCOR Food Hub project. The demand for Ontario food has never been stronger, with consumers applying pressure on retail, institutional, and foodservice operators to have an increase of local and regional options available. In order to meet this demand at a competitive price, the SCOR Food Hub project is working to establish efficient and cost-effective ways of bringing more of Ontario’s diverse, high-quality products to these markets. Anyone interested in supplying product or learning more about the opportunity should contact Bernia Wheaton, the Food Hub Project Manager at 226-921-5576 or email foodhub@scorregion.com or contact Art Lawson at gm@scorregion.com (519) 842-6333.
But now that the winter weather is behind us, what can growers expect for the rest of the 2014 season?
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), two words –El Nino.
Based on a report released in mid-April by the WMO, sub-surface water temperatures in the tropical Pacific are warming to levels normally observed during an El Nino event. According to climate models surveyed by WMO researchers, an El Nino may develop around the middle of the year.
“Model forecasts indicate a fairly large potential for an El Nino, most likely by the end of the second quarter of 2014,” the report states. “For the June to August period, approximately two-thirds of the models surveyed predict that El Nino thresholds will be reached, while the remaining models predict a continuation of neutral conditions. A few models predict an early El Nino onset, such as in May.”
The strength of the possible event cannot yet be estimated, although we might be relieved to know that no model is suggesting a La Nina event in 2014.
“If an El Nino event develops – and it is still too early to be certain – it will influence temperature and precipitation and contribute to droughts or heavy rainfall in different regions of the world,” said WMO secretarygeneral Michel Jarraud. “El Nino has an important warming effect on global average temperatures, as we saw during the strong El Nino in 1998. Only two out of the past 15 years were categorized as El Nino years, and yet all were warmer than average. The combination of natural warming from any El Nino event and human-induced warming from greenhouse gases has the potential to cause a dramatic rise in global mean temperature.”
So, it’s looking like a warm growing season in 2014. But then again, maybe not. ❦
Reif Naturals Kiln Haus Raisins
Gourmet Ontario-grown raisins attract attention and add to winery bottom line
By Treena Hein
Gourmet Ontario raisins – who would have thought?
This unusual story officially starts in 2008, but the origins go back another two decades. It began in 1986, when Klaus Reif and his staff at Reif Estate Winery in Niagara started working with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) on improved development of ice wine, low sulphite wines and optimal bottle closure options.
“In 2008, we had a general meeting with the NRC at our winery to discuss possible new projects and the availability of surplus tobacco kilns came up,” Reif explains. “We discussed how they might be used.”
By 2009, Reif had purchased two kilns from former tobacco farms in southwestern Ontario for the purpose of making appassimento-style wine (which involves outdoor grape drying to concentrate the fruit). This would serve to compliment and expand Reif Estates’ offerings.
“In terms of the raisins, that same year, a neighbouring farmer came by and asked if we had a need or use for a tonne of his surplus Sovereign Coronation grapes,” says
Reif, “which he had not been able to sell to supermarkets.”
Reif Naturals Kiln Haus gourmet and preservative-free raisins were the eventual result. They now come in milk chocolate, dark chocolate and chocolate-cinnamon varieties. Making and marketing these premium products also means that the winery can also support an extra two to three employees every season. In 2013, the company produced five tonnes of raisins.
Fitting with the local food craze that has swept the nation, the sweet treats have garnered a lot of attention, starring in articles in Maclean’s, Food and Drink Magazine and many other publications. Director of operations Wade Ruddle says the packaging highlights the local aspects of the product.
Historic winemaking tradition
The history of the Reif family has long been intertwined with grapes. Members of the family have been in the winemaking business for nearly 500 years over twelve generations. They originate from (and still have strong ties in) the small town of Neus-
tadt, Germany, in the Rhine River Valley. In 1977, Ewald Reif decided to immigrate to Canada. He purchased land along the Niagara River and began uprooting the existing grape vines native to Ontario, replacing them with premium vinifera varieties such as Riesling, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Ewald was a pioneer in the Niagara wine industry in his planting of the finest Vitis vinifera varietals alongside French hybrids. He gradually expanded the acreage of his vineyard, eventually growing it into a 125-acre farm.
Back in 1978, his brother and his nephew Klaus visited.
“During that summer trip, I fell in love with the beauty of the region, and soon after I decided to embark on a career in winemaking,” Klaus explains.
The following year, he enrolled in business school in Germany and later worked at a government research winery. In 1984 (the year after Ewald had officially opened Reif Estate Winery), Klaus was accepted into one of Germany’s most prestigious winemaking schools, the Geisenheim Institute.
A close up of the dried-up grapes produced during the kiln drying process. Photo courtesy of Reif Estate Winery
Pristine® fungicide delivers exceptional broad-spectrum disease control, resistance management & the benefits of AgCelence® With AgCelence, increased growth efficacy & stress management result in improved quality and higher yield potential, allowing you to get the most from your vegetables. For more information on Pristine fungicide, call AgSolutions® by BASF at 1-877-371-BASF (2273) or visit www agsolutions ca Always read and follow label directions.
Armed with degrees in viticulture and oenology, Klaus immigrated to Canada, purchasing the winery from his uncle in 1987. In 1990, University of Guelph microbiology graduate Roberto DiDomenico joined the team as master winemaker. Reif and DiDomenico still focus on creating small batches of exceptional wine, letting nature lead and using traditional techniques, but also employing innovative technologies. Using former tobacco kilns to create gourmet raisins? Innovative indeed.
“When the farmer with the excess grapes came by in 2009, he asked Roberto and I what we might be able to do with them, and I said to bring some by and we can throw some in the kilns and see what comes of it,” Reif explains.
It took a couple years of testing and trying different techniques to get things right, and it was confirmed again and again that the delicious sweet seedless Sovereign Coronation grapes were the best.
“We’ve refined the drying process in terms of finding the correct combination of humidity, air circulation and temperature, and so by far the greatest challenge these days is our supply of grapes,” Reif explains. “At the moment, the Sovereign
TOP LEFT: Reif Estate Winery winemaker Roberto DiDomenico shows the grapes entering one of the farm’s old tobacco kilns. RIGHT: The dried-out grapes after they leave the kiln. BOTTOM LEFT: A sample of Reif Naturals’ Kiln Haus raisins, cinnamon chocolate covered flavour. Photos courtesy of Reif Estate Winery
Coronation variety is in the stages of being an endangered species in Ontario. Imports are becoming the main source for many retail chains, and Ontario growers are looking to replace this variety with others.”
In addition to the wine and gourmet raisins, Reif Estate Winery is also involved in agritourism. They offer a Legacy Tour and Tasting, Sensory Garden Exploration, plus a Artisan Wine and Cheese Experience and other delicious options during the warmer months. Again this year, they held Days of Wine & Chocolate on weekends throughout February, an exploration of the art of pairing wine with chocolate-infused dishes. Other initiatives include private tours, intimate cellar dinners pairing regional cuisine with estate wines, and winery weddings. They also offer both a membership and a rewards program.
As far back as 1987, the winery’s Vidal Icewine was named by renowned wine critic Robert Parker Jr. as one of the year’s top 10. In all, Reif’s Icewines have received more than 100 Gold Awards. In 2009, Reif received a grant and award as a Canadian Innovative Leader from the National Research Council of Canada for demonstrat-
ing specific advances in research and development within its industrial sector and linking scientific research to commercialization, jobs, and economic growth. The winery received $194,600 to support improved ice wine filtration, developing production methods for new products, and research into new techniques for improving the wine production process.
In 2013 came the Premier’s Innovation Award for Kiln Haus Raisins.
“Recognition for the hard work and investment into the project is, of course, always valued and appreciated,” Klaus says.
When asked for his views on of the importance of innovation in Canadian agri-food and thinking outside the box, he says: “It’s very important. Innovation not only keeps us current in the marketplace, but helps us defray the high production costs in Canada by creating great niche market high-value products.
“The chocolate-covered raisins in particular have been a great success, as many consumer prefer them to naked,” Klaus adds.
Keep your eyes peeled for the next innovative delicious Reif treat – all-natural wine gummies made with the estate’s VQA (Vitner’s Quality Alliance) wines. ❦
Pristine® fungicide delivers exceptional broad-spectrum disease control, resistance management & the benefits of AgCelence® With AgCelence, increased growth efficacy & stress management result in improved quality and higher yield potential, allowing you to get the most from your apples. For more information on Pristine fungicide, call AgSolutions® by BASF at 1-877-371-BASF (2273) or visit www agsolutions ca Always read and follow label directions.
Heavy load
Researchers discuss crop load management on several different systems during Nova Scotia orchard tour
By Dan Woolley
Crop load management was a hot topic at several farm stops during the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers Association’s 2013 orchard tour.
At Eisses Farms Ltd. in Centreville, John Eisses has a newly established fruit wall, one of the first in the Annapolis Valley. In cooperation with Perennia, the provincial agricultural consulting agency, a crop load management trial is underway on his fruit wall. Eisses has 140 acres of orchard and active replanting program on semi-dwarf rootstocks. Some of the new blocks he is planting are on land that previously was not in orchard.
At the trial site, on the fruit wall, the trees are Ambrosia on the M9 rootstock in a two-foot by 12-foot tree and row spacing.
The closely planted trees in the wall are pruned closely to maintain a narrow canopy to encourage sunlight penetration to promote apple production.
Chris Duyvelshoff, a tree fruit specialist said he and his senior colleague at Perennia, Bill Craig, used hand-held powered
hedge trimmers to prune the tree wall at certain times during the growing season to encourage annual fruit production.
Duyvelshoff added that during the summer of 2013, they examined the timing on pruning to encourage fruit bud production.
He suggested the optimal time for pruning to encourage fruit bud growth would be between the six and 10-leaf stage of canopy growth.
Duyvelshoff and Craig pruned portions of the wall at various leaf stages, on June 24 at the six-leaf stage, July 5 at the eight-leaf stage and July 10 at the 10-leaf stage. The 10-leaf stage on July 10 “looks like it may be too late,” remarked Duyvelshoff. “July 5 looks like it may be the best date.”
At another pruning trial site using Gala, the response was very similar, he noted.
In their hedging of the Eisses fruit wall, there was very little damage, reported Duyvelshoff.
“The overall amount we cut off was quite small because the trees were already quite narrow.”
He added they also hand thinned the fruit wall to encourage colour in the fruit from increased sunlight exposure.
“We will be also looking at the timing of hedging to see if it encourages flower bud development and more fruit next year.”
Duyvelshoff hopes in 2014 they will be looking at tractor-mounted hedging trials.
Crop load management trials on blocks of Honeycrisp on EM 26 and Ambrosia planted in 2006 are underway in the Noggins Corner Farm orchard in Greenwich of Andrew Bishop.
Doug Nichols, a tree fruit researcher with NSFGA is working on the trials with Dr. John DeLong of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Kentville research centre, said the trials block produced a nice crop of Ambrosia in 2012.
Dr. John DeLong describes his crop load management research at Noggins Corner Farm. Photo by Dan Woolley
That Ambrosia crop, however, required a lot of hand thinning, he said.
“We haven’t yet got the formula for thinning just yet.”
The Ambrosia also received an application of Promalin at petal fall and Maxcel at the 10 to 12 mm size of the fruitlets to reduce crop load and increase fruit size and quality.
Dr. DeLong added crop load management and the maturity of the fruit as it enters storage are important factors in crop quality.
He said their plant growth regulator trial used new, experimental thinners –ACC and Protone – that are not yet registered and available in Canada.
Dr. DeLong observed three-six fruits per square centimeter of (TCSA) trunk cross-sectional area are the ideal fruit load, therefore, the thinning regime is critical for Honeycrisp.
“ACC is a hot thinner,” he said. “ACC and Protone together mercilessly thinned the fruit.”
Dr. DeLong added researchers will have to work on the application rate and rate of efficacy in trials next year.
Nichols added the ACC and Protone were applied 15 days after full bloom and within seven days after the application fruitlet and leaf drop were observed on both treatments with ACC and to a lesser extent with Protone alone.
He noted, however, Protone applied with Fruitone, prevented leaf and early fruit drop.
Currently, Protone is only registered in the U.S. for colouring in grapes and there is no registration for ACC, said Nichols.
“If we can encourage Valent (the manufacturer of ACC and Protone) to fast track registration, it will be to our advantage,” he added.
ACC, an aggressive thinner, stressed fruitlets, “like anything we have ever seen before,” Nichols said.
Applied with Protone, the July fruit drop results showed “trees that were all but completely de-fruited,” he added.
He has a crop load management trial underway at Andy and Gail Parker’s farm, applying the Valent products as well as MaxCel 30 days after full boom.
Nichols tried MaxCel to see how it would work in a late thinning environment.
ACC, he observed, thinned even more aggressively 22 mm fruitlets than 13 mm fruitlets, which suggested to him they should look at reducing its appli-
cation rate. Seven days after the ACC treatment, leaves and fruitlets were on the ground and this concerned Nichols because leaf loss can mean reduced fruit set next year.
“We will be assessing fruit that goes into storage for any ACC carryover.”
In passing, Nichols noted there was a problem with tree collapse in one row of Royal Gala dead from collar rot, “which
is a problem in wet sites but this is a very dry soil.”
He attributed the tree mortality to a phytophthera organism and the susceptibility of the EM 26 rootstock to collar rot
Robert Haynes, general manager of the Mori Essex Nurseries of Niagara-on-theLake, Ont., who was on the NSFGA orchard tour, observed that Geneva rootstocks are resistant to phytophthera root rot. ❦
Doug Nichols explains his crop load management trial at Andy and Gail Parker’s orchard to the NSFGA orchard tour visitors. Photo by Dan Woolley
Chris Duyvelshoff of Perennia explains the ongoing pruning trial on the fruit wall at John Eisses Orchard. Photo by Dan Woolley
Preparing for SWD in Nova Scotia wild blueberry plantings
By Dan Woolley
The Wild Blueberry Producers Association of Nova Scotia were recently informed there are still many unanswered questions about spotted wing Droisophila.
“We’re still learning a lot about this pest,” admitted Peter Burgess, a pest control specialist with Perennia, Nova Scotia’s government extension and advisory service.
A high infestation rate of spotted wing Drosophila larvae makes berry fruit unmarketable, said Burgess, observing the warmer the growing season becomes, the faster the life cycle of SWD becomes.
“This is the problem with this pest; it reproduces faster as the temperature warms up.”
He added that SWD lays eggs in all soft fruit and is particularly attracted to ripening berries.
“In Nova Scotia, we are not seeing emergence of the fly until the end of July in the last couple of years,” he said.
As for a control strategy for this Drosophila species, Burgess advised wild blueberry growers to pick their fruit early, “and pick your best fields first.”
SWD larvae populations build rapidly in August, with a harvest in September being at the greatest risk of SWD larvae infestation, he added.
When monitoring for SWD, look for the males, he continued, with monitoring traps placed in wild blueberry fields by mid-July. Monitoring is important and the traps should first be placed in the tree line beside fields as SWD flies like the shade. Traps in the fields should be placed at 20 metre intervals.
“We use apple cider vinegar with or without yeast baits,” for bait traps he said, adding by 2015 an apple cider vinegar bait with a synthetic lure will be commercially available.
“It works as well as any current bait.”
Apple cider vinegar can be combined with red wine and unrefined sugar in a trap after the fruit is harvested as the flies will
LEFT:
A male Spotted Wing Drosophila fly. Note the dark spots near the tips of the wings.
be drawn to the trap since there is nothing else to feed on, Burgess said.
“If the field is two weeks away from being harvested, you likely will need a pest control application, or if it is the 15th of August and you will not be harvesting until September, you probably need a control,” he advised. “But if you will be picking within a week, you can probably omit an application.”
As for insecticides registered for SWD, Burgess said there is a new product registered for spotted wing Drosophila – Exirel from Dupont. However, he added, “there are MRL restrictions on it in the Japanese and EU markets.”
Exirel has a maximum of four applications during the growing season, Burgess noted, and it is not yet fully registered – it can only be used as an emergency application.
Delegate and Malathion can also be used against SWD with a maximum of three applications during the season, he said, adding that Ripcord is also registered but should not be applied during hot weather “as it will burn the fruit.”
Assail will work well on blueberry maggot, Burgess remarked, but “it is not
Spotted wing drosophila larvae (maggots) in damaged blueberries. Photo courtesy of Bob Koch, Minnesota Department of Agriculture
spectacular on spotted wing Drosophila.”
Entrust is also registered as an organic product, he added.
Spotted wing Drosophila, “will not be a one and done treatment,” said Burgess. “For control, you need to look at seven day intervals until harvest.”
Timing of the application is also important, as applying the control product just after a rainfall will reduce the application’s efficacy, he said.
SWD spreads from field to field and from fruit crop to fruit crop but wild blueberry fields are generally isolated at some distance from other berry crops, Burgess stated.
This past cold winter, which resulted in a lot of snow, will most likely protect and insulate the pest, he said, but a cold spring will delay the pest’s emergence.
“Across North America, we are seeing larvae in the fruit before we catch it in the traps,” he said.
The challenge for most growers is distinguishing between the blueberry maggot and the SWD larvae.
“Take a sample from firm berries,” Burgess said. “If a larvae is there, it is spotted wing Drosophila.” ❦
Photo by M. Francisco
Dalhousie University student Robyn McCallum is all abuzz about her research project reexamining ways to encourage native bees to proliferate.
Going native
Researcher looking for ways to attract natural pollinators
By Dan Woolley
“I am really conscious, because I am a farmer, that bee management techniques have to be simple, yet successful to work for producers because of time management constraints,” says the Faculty of Agriculture graduate student.
Buckwheat is a key component of her research project, entitled Improving Native Bee Abundance Through Operation Pollinator. It is also an annual flowering crop that is easily established in nutrient-poor soil and smothers encroaching weeds. Its long flowering period provides bees with a good food supply of nectar and pollen, McCallum recently explained during the Wild Blueberry Producers Association of Nova Scotia’s winter meeting. Through her research project, she will be using trap housing to monitor Osmia (native bee species) plus testing and monitoring buckwheat as a food source for native bees compared to non-buckwheat plants.
McCallum plans to monitor the abundance of native bees during the buckwheat feeding trials but will also be keeping an eye open for bumblebees. She believes more bumblebee queens will be found the following spring on wild blueberry fields adjacent to buckwheat plots.
Bumblebees are good pollinators, but they require feeding throughout the growing season, she explained, adding that five of the wild blueberry fields she will be using in her study will have adjacent buckwheat planted plots, while five fields will not. All 10 fields are to be tested in the spring of 2015 to try and net all bumblebee queens, she added, which will be difficult since sampling conditions have to be at least 15 Celsius with little or no clouds.
McCallum’s overwintering strategy calls for roofed trap housing with two styles of roofing, one of which will extend
the edge of the roof to help keep precipitation out of the bee entrance holes in the trap/houses. She will also char the surface of some of the houses, which will cause them to absorb sunlight better to warm the housing for the bees. Charring also helps the bees to see and locate their home.
“If tests go the way we think they will, there is a potential to increase bee populations, with less reliance on managed (honey bees),” she said.
Buckwheat can be planted close to wild blueberry fields without ill effect on wild blueberry production, she added, but it is very important to schedule buckwheat flower production after the wild blueberry bloom.
“We do not want to distract the bees from wild blueberry pollination,” said McCallum.
She is also urging any wild blueberry producers who spray for spotted wing Drosophila to not spray on buckwheatplanted plots. ❦
Robyn McCallum plans to monitor the abundance of native bees during the buckwheat feeding trials but is also keeping an eye open for bumblebees.
NO BED FOR BUGS!
Ban bugs from your fruit and vegetable crops with MANA Canada!
MANA Canada offers four insecticides, featuring the same active ingredients that you already rely on, to protect your fruit and vegetable crops and maximize your production.
Protect your investment and achieve the results you deserve with products from MANA Canada. Support choice: ask for MANA Canada products by name.
Weed woes
Protect potatoes by controlling weeds
By Peter Mitham
Growers face a two-pronged challenge when trying to defeat weeds in a potato field. On the one hand, they want to kill the weeds; on the other, they want to grow potatoes.
This challenge was highlighted in two presentations Pam Hutchinson, an associate professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Entomological Sciences at the University of Idaho, delivered at the recent Pacific Agriculture Show in Abbotsford, B.C.
Hutchinson made two key points to growers: herbicides should be matched to soil conditions to ensure developing tubers are adequately protected against competition, while being sure that the materials they’re using don’t stunt the growth of potato plants while they’re doing what they’re supposed to – suppress weeds.
Hutchinson came packing a tonne of data from research trials that underscored how tightly managed herbicide applications need to be for maximum effectiveness. The information reviewed work with Chateau, Outlook, Prism, Prowl H20, and the new offerings Lorox and Reflex.
Hutchinson said sandy soils may offer good drainage, but the same quality also lets highly soluble herbicides like Matrix and Outlook leach out of the rows, allowing weeds to take hold. She recommended Chateau and Lorox, which are not as soluble, in these conditions.
A less soluble herbicide, such as Prism or Metribuzin, can also provide adequate coverage in fields with heavier soils and prone to clodding.
She also encouraged growers to time herbicide applications as close to emergence as possible. While weeds can be taken out with a cultivator when potatoes have put out a couple of leaves, Hutchinson advised applying herbicides when the potatoes are hilled, which usually occurs four to eight weeks after planting.
“You’ll get the herbicides down where you need them and they’ll last into the growing season until a little beyond row close, when you start having a crop to help compete with those weeds,” she said.
But there’s another variable – the weather. Suppressing weeds is desirable, but potatoes are also susceptible to the effects of some materials. While they can metabolize products as diverse as Roundup and Chateau, little will happen without a good run of sun.
“The only way the potato can be safe ... is to metabolize that herbicide, break it down to a non-herbicidal chemical,” Hutchinson said. “So if it’s cloudy or cool, the potato is not growing very fast and not metabolizing anything very fast.”
Hutchinson’s trials indicate that the plants can recover, but even a brief slowdown in the plant’s metabolism can lead to short-term stunting and a slight reduction in yield.
Outlook presents a different scenario. It’s typically applied at a higher rate, particularly on coarse soils, and this can lead to early season injury – leaf crinkling and chlorosis – if the weather at application is cold and cloudy. But once it warms up and the potatoes are growing, Hutchinson said there’s no reduction in yield.
A particular challenge for growers in Idaho, however, is protecting potatoes from the carryover effects of Roundup (glyphosphate) as well as dicamba and pyralids. The problem particularly affects seed potatoes, which get a dose late in the season when
Roundup is applied in adjacent grain fields. Roundup drifts on to foliage, and from there, travels to the tuber.
Carryover of the material has dogged growers. It persists for up to eight months in tubers, stunting growth the following season. While potatoes can metabolize the herbicide, the process requires sunlight and warmth –something the tubers don’t get in storage.
While a high concentration can prevent sprouting, even small concentrations can inhibit emergence and be expressed in low vigour and foliar injury.
Recovery is possible, of course. Tests of seed stock from treated Russett Burbank and Shepody plants stayed hard and intact throughout the growing season –until the eight-month window required for metabolizing the glyphosphate was up. Then they started sprouting. Similarly, the granddaughters of affected tubers were fine.
To protect themselves, Hutchinson told growers to avoid cross contamination of their equipment, having equipment dedicated to Roundup if at all possible. Talking with neighbours whose fields abut their own is also a wise move, so that everyone knows when, where, and what concentration of Roundup is going on fields. ❦
Pam Hutchinson, an associate professor at the University of Idaho, encouraged potato growers to time herbicide applications as close to emergence as possible.
The answer is black and white.
The unique, locally systemic and translaminar chemistry of ASSAIL® gives growers broad-spectrum control of both sucking and chewing pests. It ’s tough enough to withstand days of long-lasting, powerful mid-summer sun, while being gentle enough to give it a reduced-risk designation.
With ASSAIL Insecticide, the answer is black and white.
Attracting wild bees to farms is good insurance policy
Investing in habitat that attracts and supports wild bees in farms is not only an effective approach to helping enhance crop pollination, but it can also pay for itself in four years or less, according to Michigan State University research.
The paper, published in the current issue of the Journal of Applied Ecology, gives farmers of pollination-dependent crops tangible results to convert marginal acreage to fields of wildflowers, said Rufus Isaacs, MSU entomologist and co-author of the paper.
“Other studies have demonstrated that creating flowering habitat will attract wild bees, and a few have shown that this can increase yields,” he said. “This is the first paper that demonstrates an economic advantage. This gives us a strong argument to present to farmers that this method works, and it puts money back in their pockets.”
As part of the study, marginal lands surrounding productive blueberry fields were planted with a mix of 15 native perennial wildflowers. The fields were pollinated by honeybees, but Isaacs and Brett Blaauw, MSU graduate student, were interested in whether increasing the wild bee population would improve pollination in nearby crop fields. The results weren’t immediate, which implies that landowners would need to be patient, Isaacs said.
“In the first two years as the plantings established, we found little to no increase in the number of wild bees,” he said. “After that, though, the number of wild bees was twice as high as those found in our control fields that had no habitat improvements.”
Once the wild bees were more abundant, more flowers turned into blueberries, and the blueberries had more seeds and were larger. Based on the results, a two-acre field planted with wildflowers adjacent to a 10-acre field of blueberries boosted yields by 10 to 20 per cent. This
translated into more revenue from the field, which can recoup the money from planting wildflowers.
With 420 species of wild bees in Michigan alone, it makes sense to attract as many free pollinators as possible. However, this doesn’t mean that this approach would replace honeybees, which are trucked in via beekeepers and pollinate crops valued at $14 billion nationwide, Isaacs said.
“Honey bees do a great job of pollinating blueberries, and we’re not suggesting that growers stop using them,” he said. “But, our research shows that adding some wild bee habitat to the farm can increase bee abundance in the nearby crop, can be profitable and is an insurance policy to make sure there is good pollination each year.”
Establishing habitat for wild bees requires an initial investment.
Blaauw was the lead author on the paper and is now at Rutgers University. Isaacs’ research is funded by the USDA and MSU’s AgBioResearch. ❦
Inviting more wild bees to farmland is not only sustainable, but it also will pay for itself in four years or less. Photo by Rufus Isaacs
Spurred on to greater things
Nova
Scotia’s Spurr Bros. is trying new apple and pear plantings on top of its peach production
By Dan Woolley
The Nova Scotia Fruit Growers’ Association annual tour participants had an opportunity to talk crop load, peach thinning, apple rootstocks and pears during an orchard stop at the Spurr Brothers’ orchard in Melvern Square, N.S.
Orchard manager Lisa Jenereux demonstrated a newly purchased, hand-held, electrically powered string thinner on a fifth leaf planting of peaches.
She described the new string thinner as “a great time-saver,” cutting by half, at least, the time required to thin the peach block. She is also going to apply the string thinner to her apples.
“It also saves money,” she added. “To make money on peaches, you have to cut down your labour costs.”
Jenereux felt the best time in the peach orchard to use the electrical string thinner is when the buds on the trees start to open. She estimated the string thinner will require twothirds less time than hand thinning, although some hand thinning will still be required.
She also recommended an aggressive program of removal of older branches on peach trees, 15 per tree, “back to the bud.
“You have to hit peaches real hard to get re-growth,” she said.
She is also converting her suspension system from V-trellis to a bi-axial design to better control tree growth.
“I hate V-trellis, everything about it. It is complicated.”
Her five-year old block of peaches –Early Red Haven and Red Haven – were, unfortunately, planted on heavy clay and after the block’s first year, had to be replanted due to a heavy loss of trees over winter, she
TOP: Lisa Jenereux explains her crop load management regime to NSFGA orchard tour visitors. LEFT: Robert Haynes, Mori Essex Nurseries Inc. general manager, introduces the NSFGA orchard tour to a newly planted block of Harovin Sundown pears supplied by his nursery to Spurr Bros. Farm. Photos by Dan Woolley
said. Because of the heavy clay, during a prolonged dry spell it has to be constantly watered through drip lines as the trees will stop growing. Jenereux is considering installing permanent irrigation.
In the past several years, Jenereux has also overseen the planting of some new apple cultivars. She has planted Sweet Tango on M9 and Bud 9 rootstocks. She said the M9 look terrific but the Bud 9 look terrible. She is doing what she can to rehabilitate the Bud 9 plots through thinning, irrigation, fertilization with chicken manure, and mounding more earth around the base of the trunks.
She believes now, instead of Bud 9, she should have planted on EM 26 rootstock. The Bud 9, she feels, doesn’t do well on a wire suspension in the Maritime climate.
Jenereux believes the Sweet Tango cultivar would have done better on conduit. She also has a new planting of Sonya and Ambrosia in her apple block, which she is also thinning to control rust.
In 2013, she planted three acres of her orchard with the new Agriculture and AgriFood Canada pear cultivar, Harovin Sundown.
Scotian Gold Cooperative sold Jenereux the pear trees for this new planting of the AAFC’s first club variety.
Larry Lutz, Scotian Gold’s director of growers’ services, said Vineland Growers Cooperative – which holds exclusive rights to market and distribute Harovin Sundown from AAFC’s Vineland Research and Innovation Centre – has licensed Scotian Gold as the Atlantic Canadian sales agent for the new pear variety.
The pear trees were grown as nursery stock by Mori Essex Nurseries Inc, based in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., under a license from the Vineland Growers Cooperative, with any royalties and marketing fees from sales of the trees reverting to AAFC to support more research.
Robert Haynes, Mori Essex’s general manager, said Harovin Sundown is a strong tree with very good fire blight resistance, producing pears that store very well.
Lutz added it also produces excellent tasting fruit, noting Scotian. Gold sold Harovin Sundown nursery stock to five local growers in 2013 and is looking at club variety partnerships with several more fruit producers this year.
The first planting of the new pear variety occurred in 2011 in the Niagara Peninsula and Vineland Growers Cooperative predicts that by this year, growers will have planted 50,000 Harovin Sundown trees in Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula and Atlantic Canada.
Research to develop the first Canadianbred pear variety began in the early 1970s at AAFC’s Harrow, Ont., research station and concluded in 2007 with its subsequent release by breeder, Dr. David Hunter in 2008 as the named cultivar, Harovin Sundown. It is a cross of Bartlett with several numbered lines – US 56112-142, US 309, Michigan-US 437 – plus genetic contributions from the Roi Charles de Wurtemburg, Barseck and Seckel varieties.
AAFC says as its first club variety, Harovin Sundown is a highly productive, lateharvested pear with no evidence of biennial bearing.
Of the 800 acres at the Spurr Bros. Farm, about 110 acres are in orchard. Jenereux applies fungicide every five to seven days.
She considers the purchase of a herbicide sprayer to be her best investment in 2013.
“I can’t believe how much quicker we can get through it by being able to spray two rows, instead of one. We used a lot of Glyphos this year.”
Spurr Bros. Farm also grows row crops of potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, raspberries, strawberries, haskaps, cucumbers and beans. ❦
Engage Agro, Heads Up enter into agreement
Engage Agro and Heads Up Plant Protectants have entered into a formal exclusive marketing and distribution agreement for Canada.
Under this agreement, Engage will work with Heads Up Plant Protectants (HUPP) principle Joe Dutchesen to execute sales, marketing and distribution of Heads Up Seed Treatments in Canada across all of the registered crops.
Heads Up Plant Protectant is a preplant seed treatment registered on various crops. It is an elicitor that “turns on” the plants’ ability to fend off infection from various diseases. Heads Up provides season long protection and results in healthier, stronger plants with an improved stand. Heads Up is currently registered for use on soybeans, potatoes, and dry beans. Label expansion work is also actively being pursued.
Heads Up Plant Protectant is made from natural plant source and provides growers with a new tool to strengthen the plant against disease infection. Heads Up has both PMRA and EPA registrations, along with OMRI certification.
“It’s a nice story in that it is Canadian invented, patented, and produced – Heads Up is derived from the quinoa crop, grown in Western Canada” says Ray Chyc, president of Engage Agro Corporation. “We are excited to work with Joe in expanding the products’ current sales, and in working with the company to bring Heads Up to additional crops in Canada.”
Usage: “With Luna Tranquility™ , my protato crop’s really protected against a broad spectrum of diseases.”
Love me tender
Gentle handling means better potatoes
By Peter Mitham
Potato growers are cruising for a losing position in the market if they don’t take bruising seriously.
That was the message Kiara Jack of ES Cropconsult Ltd. in Surrey, B.C., delivered at the recent Pacific Agriculture Show in Abbotsford, B.C., during a seminar focused on improving potato quality.
Bruising may seem minor but it’s the leading wound potatoes suffer during and after harvest, and in turn the leading way disease takes hold in tubers.
“Most of the major storage diseases enter through wounds in the potatoes,” she said. “It’s either the main way they enter your potatoes, or it’s a lot more likely that they will enter.”
With growers receiving approximately $540 a ton for potatoes, the cost of damage quickly adds up. Damage to one per cent of the crop will cost $5.40 a ton, and Jack said 10 per cent damage is “not uncommon,” meaning that growers face a hit of $54 a ton. With potato growers in B.C.
harvesting 85,400 tons of potatoes last year, that means annual losses in excess of $4.6 million.
And that figure is merely the first hit growers take.
“That’s even before you’ve gone through and sorted your potatoes, taking that time and labour cost to remove the damaged potatoes,” she said. “And that’s without the disease that will set in if you have more damage.”
Because disease affects not just one tuber, it has a life of its own, and can quickly spread.
When consumers pass over a bag with one damaged tuber that looks unappealing, there’s a greater risk of the damage compounding and infection hitting other tubers in the bag. It’s not good for the grower’s reputation or the retailer’s margins.
To ensure only the best potatoes reach market, and remain in good condition, Jack gave growers a number of tips running from planting to post-harvest storage.
Gentle handling of the seed stock is
important, but the field where the seed is planted should also be a gentle bed to lay them down. Rocks should be removed, both for the potatoes’ good and that of the machinery. Cultivating should be done in the fall, when conditions are dry, to avoid the formation of clods.
Jack noted that while sandy soils drain well, they’re not ideal for varieties that are susceptible to bruising. The soil will drop away rather than cushion the potatoes at harvest, increasing the possibility of bruising. She recommended Agata, Dakota Pearl, and Gemstar Russett, all bruiseresistant varieties, for sandy soils.
Good management of the field is important through the season.
Traffic through the crop should be kept to a minimum to prevent compaction of the soil. But equally important, ensuring the crop receives adequate potassium and calcium will improve resistance to bruising, while limiting nitrogen intake will facilitate better skin set.
LEFT: While no operation is perfect and some damage will always occur, any steps growers can take to improve crop management and handling will return a significant payback. RIGHT: It’s recommended the belt be padded to ensure the potatoes have the smoothest ride possible. Photos by Margaret Land
Potatoes are also Golidlocks characters when it comes to soil moisture: too little, and the tubers will become dehydrated and susceptible to wounding; too much, and the skins will not set well, raising the chance of injury. Jack said soil moisture should be approximately 60 to 65 per cent in the week leading up to harvest.
The greatest risk of damage comes at harvest, when the mature tubers are handled in a variety of ways by machines and humans. While some of the damage can be mended, it’s better to prevent trouble before it happens.
A well-planned field will have the tubers at an even depth so that the harvester doesn’t need to be adjusted repeatedly, increasing the risk of errors
that lead to tuber wounds. The digging blade should be aligned with the primary belt so that there’s an even rather than a bumpy ride for the tubers (for the same reason, equipment should be operated at capacity whenever possible). Jack went so far as to recommend padding the belt and avoiding shaker chains to ensure the potatoes have the smoothest ride possible to the truck.
And, when they get to the truck, the drop should be no more than six inches.
But when all else fails, growers have a chance to limit tuber damage by giving the potatoes a two-week recovery period. Stored at 13 to 16 Celsius at a relative humidity of 95 per cent, the tubers will have a chance to heal from light
bruising. This is at the upper end of the 10 to 16 Celsius range considered ideal for harvest, but ensures the potatoes are in an ambient environment for recovery.
While no operation is perfect, and some damage will always occur, Jack said that any steps growers can take to improve crop management and handling will return a significant payback. This can include monitoring farm practices to establish a baseline for improvements, and determining where changes should occur and the effect those changes have.
“Any small thing that you’re not doing ... can save you a couple percentage of your damage,” she said. “One per cent at 1,000 tons would be $5,400 – so any little thing can help.” ❦
Usage: “That applelication of Luna Tranquility™ really takes a load off my mind.”
LEFT: From the truck to the belt, the drop should be no more than six inches to avoid bruising. RIGHT: Bruising may seem minor but it’s the leading wound potatoes suffer during and after harvest, and in turn the leading way disease takes hold in tubers. Photos by Margaret Land
Impact of winter temperatures on asparagus in 2014
By Elaine Roddy and David Wolyn
There is little information available as to the effects of extreme winter cold on the asparagus crop.
However, recent research at the University of Guelph is helping to better understand the impacts of fall and spring freeze events on asparagus growth and development. From these studies, it appears that fall senescence and springtime freeze-thaw fluctuations, may be more important factors for winterkill than the actual winter temperature lows.
The subject of winterkill in asparagus is a difficult one to address. Unlike many fruit trees where the buds can be assessed for damage, there is no reliable way to evaluate the full impact of cold temperatures on the crowns in a commercial setting.
Complicating the matter is the fact that damage to the crowns may not be readily apparent in the following season. Unless the buds are injured, there may be no impact on the initial yields. However, damaged crowns may lose vigour and experience increased plant morality over time, due to contributing factors including disease susceptibility.
Ideally, the fern of asparagus should die back gradually in the fall, allowing carbohydrates and nitrogen to move into the storage roots and the roots to partially dehydrate over a period of time. A crown may not be sufficiently “prepared” for the winter
There is little information available as to the effects of extreme winter cold on the asparagus crop.
freezing conditions if:
• a variety naturally stays green late into the fall,
• weather conditions promote late-season growth, or
• an early frost occurs before senescence is complete.
Ideal temperatures during senescence are 10 to 20 Celsius, with a gradual decline towards 0 Celsius. According to data from the Delhi, Ont. area, the growing conditions during the fall of 2013 were suitable for a gradual senescence of the crop.
The breaking of dormancy in the spring
also plays a role in the impact of cold temperatures. Based on the University of Guelph study, once the crowns break dormancy they become less tolerant of freezing conditions. Both the emerging spear and crown are susceptible to damage from cold temperatures. As a result, late-spring freeze-thaw activity may have a large impact on both the initial yields and the long-term productivity of the asparagus plantation.
The University of Guelph studies found that Jersey Giant stayed green longer in the fall and it was often still green at the time of the first killing frost. Millennium, however, began senescence much earlier. In fact, it was more tolerant of cold temperatures on October 1, than either of the Jersey Giant or UC 157 varieties.
In the spring, both Jersey Giant and UC 157 were released from dormancy earlier than the Guelph Millennium. It is possible that Guelph Millennium’s longer dormancy period may make it less susceptible to winterkill caused by fall frost and spring freezethaw events. ❦
Elaine Roddy is a Vegetable Crops Specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Ministry of Rural Affairs. David Wolyn is with the Department of Plant Agriculture at the University of Guelph.
