California Ag Network

Category: Row Crops

  • California Crop Weather Report (Week Ending: August 4, 2019)

    Weather

    Temperature highs ranged from the mid 70s to high 90s in the mountains, mid 60s to low 100s along the coast, high 80s to mid 100s in the valley, and mid 90s to mid 110s in the desert.  Temperature lows ranged from low 40s to mid 60s in the mountains, high 40s to high 60s along the coast, low 50s to low 90s in the desert, and mid 50s to mid 70s in the valley.

    Field Crops 

    In Tulare County, corn for silage was maturing with some fields being harvested. Black-eyed beans were sizing up, and pods drying. Cotton continued to be irrigated and cultivated. Alfalfa was cut and baled.  In Siskiyou, Trinity and Modoc counties, cattle were moved to range land at higher elevations. San Mateo County, hay continued to be cut and baled.  Fresno County corn continued to be harvested for silage. Alfalfa yields are good with lower quality with prices decreasing. In Fresno County, alfalfa seed has been dried and harvest expected to begin soon.

    Fruit Crops

    Stone fruit orchards were irrigated. Apricot, peach, plum, pluot, and nectarine harvest continued. Post- harvest pruning and mechanical topping was ongoing. Some older stone fruit orchards were pushed out after harvest. Persimmons, figs and olives were maturing well. Grape harvest was underway. Irrigation and mechanical vineyard maintenance continued. Valencia oranges were harvested. Citrus groves were pruned and hedged. Some citrus were pushed out in preparation for new plantings.

    Nut Crops

    Orchards continue to be irrigated. Almonds, walnuts, and pistachios were developing well. Almonds were treated for Navel Orangeworm and mites. Orchard floors were cleaned up in preparation of almond harvest. Almond harvest began in Fresno County with the first shaking reported this season.

    Vegetable Crops

    Monterey County is reported good weather conditions for lettuce.  In San Mateo County, fall squash plants are in flower.  In the Sacramento Valley, tomato harvest began.  Tulare County summer vegetables continue to be sold at roadside stands and famer’s markets. Producers are picking tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, and squash. In Fresno county processing tomatoes and garlic have been reported with below average yields and carrot harvest will begin soon.

    Livestock

    Rangeland grasses continued to dry. Foothill rangeland and non-irrigated pasture remained in fair to good condition, though water was hauled to livestock in some locations and supplemental feeding had commenced. Some cattle were moved to higher elevation range. Sheep grazed in fallow fields. Bee were active in sunflower fields.

  • Soil Health Partnership Celebrates 5 Years of Growth and Collaboration

    The Soil Health Partnership (SHP) has been fostering transformation in agriculture through improved soil health since 2014. This year, SHP celebrates its fifth anniversary and the foundational collaborations that developed the program.

    SHP was founded by a diverse group of organizations with a shared vision of developing a farmer-led research network to measure the impacts of implementing soil health practices on working farms. The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Bayer, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), alongside the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), came together to see this vision through. This program was based upon work supported by the National Resources Conservation Service, U.S Department of Agriculture.

    “We are proud of the collaboration led to SHP’s establishment. That collaboration has continued to grow and evolve with many partners, bringing dynamic perspectives to the table. We would not be where we are today without our founding partners sharing the vision, then seeing it through,” said SHP Executive Director Dr. Shefali Mehta.

    “Engaging with pragmatic, goal-focused groups like the Environmental Defense Fund and The Nature Conservancy, and bringing in agronomic expertise from Bayer, SHP was founded amongst a well-rounded, diverse group of organizations. We have accomplished a lot in five years thanks in large part to the support from our founding members and partner farmers,” said NCGA Vice President, Production and Sustainability, Nathan Fields. “The program is only just beginning. SHP is a priority to the NCGA board, and we can’t wait to see where we are in another five years and beyond.”

    The SHP network now spans across 16 states and includes over 100 partner organizations at the federal, state and county levels. SHP has grown from 17 active farms in 2014 to 220 active farms in 2019 and represents over 7,000 acres.

    SHP currently has a team of eight field managers that work alongside farmers in their region to design and implement experiments in fields across North America.

    “It is encouraging to see the vast number of farmers interested in investing in their land that they are proactively inviting SHP into their operations. We continue seeking new ways to diversify our offerings to enable farmers from a broad range of geographies and operations can be part of our program,” stated SHP Lead Scientist, Maria Bowman. “We credit our growth in large part to the energy and investment by the farmers in the SHP network. Our farmers believe and trust the work that we do, owning the data and the outcomes that are collected.”

    Mehta concludes, “We look forward to the future of continued collaboration, opportunities to learn and grow with other organizations, and working alongside a broad group of farmers as they ensure the sustainability of their farm operations. The foundation has been laid, and we are eager to see where the future takes SHP and soil health management for American farmers.”

    About the Soil Health Partnership

    The Soil Health Partnership is a farmer-led initiative that fosters transformation in agriculture through improved soil health. Administered by the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), the partnership has more than 220 working farms enrolled in 16 states. SHP’s mission is to utilize science and data to partner with farmers who are adopting conservation agricultural practices that improve the economic and environmental sustainability of the farm. For more information, visit https://soilhealthpartnership.org.

    About the National Corn Growers Association

    Founded in 1957, the National Corn Growers Association represents nearly 40,000 dues-paying corn farmers nationwide and the interests of more than 300,000 growers who contribute through corn checkoff programs in their states. NCGA and its 50 affiliated state associations and checkoff organizations work together to create and increase opportunities for their members and their industry.

  • NAWG Member Testifies on Importance of Grain Inspection System for U.S. Export Markets

    Today, the Senate Committee on Agriculture held a hearing looking at perspectives around reauthorizing the Grain Standards Act. Brian Linin, a wheat farmer from Goodland, Kansas, testified on behalf of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) on the importance of reauthorizing the Grain Standards Act. Linin also serves as a board member of the U.S. Wheat Associates and works for Frontier Ag, Inc.

    Highlights from his testimony can be found below:

    “The Grain Standards Act serves a critical role in exporting grains and oilseeds, including U.S. wheat, of which about 50% is exported each year. With such a large volume of wheat being exported, our export markets are critical to wheat farmers’ bottom lines…

    “The grain inspection system is one that is valued by our overseas customers and adds value to our commodities. Foreign customers can be assured that an independent agency has certified shipments to meet the grade requirements specified in a contract. This certainty and reliability has helped wheat and other U.S. commodities to grow our export markets and serves as a significant advantage of purchasing U.S. wheat versus wheat from other origins…

    “A properly functioning grain inspection system is critical, and we urge Congress to reauthorize the Grain Standards Act this year. Despite the significant impacts of tariffs on exports, U.S. wheat has maintained some competitiveness in the international market in part thanks to the advantage and premium international buyers place on the U.S. grain inspection system.

    ”Given the current uncertainty in trade agreements and many of the bearish factors working against U.S. wheat exports, it is critical we maintain one of our key advantages. Foreign and domestic customers value an independent agency certifying shipments to meet the grade requirements of contracts.”

    To read Brian Linin’s testimony in its entirety, visit NAWG’s site here.

    About NAWG
    NAWG is the primary policy representative in Washington D.C. for wheat growers, working to ensure a better future for America’s growers, the industry and the general public. NAWG works with a team of 20 state wheat grower organizations to benefit the wheat industry at the national levels. From their offices in the Wheat Growers Building on Capitol Hill, NAWG’s staff members are in constant contact with state association representatives, NAWG grower leaders, Members of Congress, Congressional staff members, Administration officials and the public.

  • New Studies Show Soil Health Practices Increase Farm Profitability

    Today, American Farmland Trust (AFT), the organization behind the national movement No Farms No Food®, is releasing four case studies that show that healthier soil on farmland brings economic benefits to farmers and environmental benefits to society. These case studies were developed in partnership with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

    AFT Water Initiative Director Dr. Michelle Perez, the lead researcher on the project, is unveiling the case studies at the Soil and Water Conservation Society annual conference today. The case studies were developed as part of a 2018 NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) project, “Accelerating Soil Health Adoption by Quantifying Economic and Environmental Outcomes and Overcoming Barriers on Rented Lands,” and feature farms in California, Illinois, Ohio and New York.

    “Increasingly, we understand that better soil health – and specific practices aimed at building soil organic matter, fostering microbial life in the soil, reducing nutrient loss, and protecting soil from erosion – lead to higher net income for farming operations. These case studies contribute to the growing body of quantitative evidence that improving soil health increases farmer profitability,” said Dr. Perez.

    The two-page case studies focus on corn-soybean production in Illinois and Ohio, almond production in California and a diversified rotation (sweet corn, alfalfa, corn for silage or grain) in New York. The four farmers featured implemented soil health practices like no-till or strip-till, nutrient management, cover crops, compost, and mulching.

    “When it comes to conservation, producers have to make decisions based on what makes the most sense for their operations,” said NRCS Chief Matthew Lohr. “These case studies provide information on the economic benefits of using soil health management systems, demonstrating the value of adopting these systems.”

    With soil health management, producers can increase their yield, decrease their risk and input costs, and improve their profits, all while conserving our nation’s resources for the public at large, on their farms, in their watersheds, and beyond. Soil health management systems are good for farmers and for the public.

    “Increased implementation of soil health is critical to AFT’s holistic approach to saving the land that sustains us. Ensuring a sustainable future for this planet and our society requires we value the land, the practices on the land and the people who steward that land. AFT’s case studies showcase farmers who took the risk and are now enjoying the benefits of implementing practices that will support food production for a growing population while improving our environment and sequestering carbon. Farmers across the country can now embrace these practices and, with the help of staffers from AFT and our partner NRCS, put them into practice with greater confidence and profitability,” says John Piotti, AFT president and CEO.

    Highlights from the case studies include:

    • All four of the farmers profiled saw improved yields ranging from 2% to 22% that they attributed, in part, to their soil health practices. The average return on investment was 176% for the four farms in the study and ranged from 35% to 343%. The study accounted for other factors at play in increased yield such as improved seed varieties and increased seeding rates.
    • All four farmers saw improved water quality outcomes, both by witnessing reduced soil and water runoff and as estimated by USDA’s Nutrient Tracking Tool (NTT). NTT estimated that nitrogen reductions ranged from 40% to 98%, phosphorus reductions ranged from 74% to 92%; and sediment reductions ranged from 76% to 96% from specific fields in each farm.
    • All four farmers saw improved climate outcomes, as estimated by USDA’s COMET-Farm Tool. The tool estimated that total greenhouse gas emission reductions from specific fields in each farm ranged from 16% to 560%, corresponding to taking three-fourths of a car to 17 cars off the road.

    All four farmers have been implementing different soil health practices over different time frames and a variety of cropping systems. With these case studies and the ones that will be released in the fall, AFT is building a diverse library of on-farm examples of soil health investments that have led to economic gain.

    We hope that farmers who have been considering adding soil health practices to their operation will be able to use these case studies to approach their existing landowners, from whom they rent their land, to discuss sharing the risks and rewards of the soil health investments. We think farmers may be able to use the case studies with a new landlord to add new fields. Should that materialize, we hope farmers will also share the case studies with their bankers to secure additional financing for the farm expansion.

    Farmers across the country can reach out to their local NRCS and Soil and Water Conservation District staff to help them implement soil health practices on their farm. In the watersheds featured in the four case studies, farmers can reach out to both the local NRCS and SWCD staff as well as the four AFT authors of the case studies.

    We hope our conservation partners at NRCS, SWCD and Extension, plus our partners in the private sector, crop consultants, cover crop seed dealers, and strip-till equipment providers, use these case studies with their customers to help answer questions about the costs and benefits of adopting soil health practices.

    AFT’s first four case studies can be found on AFT’s “Accelerating Soil Health” webpage.

    American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms, No Food message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 6.5 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families.

    USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) mission is “Helping People Help the Land.” NRCS helps America’s farmers, ranchers and forest landowners conserve the nation’s soil, water, air and other natural resources. All programs are voluntary and offer science-based solutions that benefit both the landowner and the environment.

  • California Crop Weather Report ( For Week Ending: July 28, 2019)

    WEATHER

     Temperature highs ranged from the high 60s to high 90s in the mountains, low 60s to high 100s along the coast, mid 90s to high 100s in the valley, and low 90s to high 100s in the desert.  Temperature lows ranged from low 40s to high 60s in the mountains, mid 50s to high 70s along the coast, high 50s to mid 90s in the desert, and high 50s to low 80s in the valley.

    FIELD CROPS

    In Tulare County, corn for silage continued to mature. Black-eyed beans are sizing up, and pods are beginning to dry. Cotton continued to be irrigated and cultivated. Alfalfa hay was cut and baled. In San  Mateo County, hay continued to be cut and baled.  Fresno County corn was to be harvested for silage. Alfalfa yields are good, with lower quality decreasing prices.

     FRUIT CROPS

    Stone fruit orchards were irrigated. Apricot, peach, plum, pluot, and nectarine harvest continued. Post-harvest pruning and mechanical topping was ongoing. Some older stone fruit orchards were pushed out after harvest. Persimmons and olives continued to mature. Grapes were growing well as harvest began. Some vineyards continue to have leaves thinned to allow better airflow and light. Irrigation and mechanical vineyard maintenance continued. Valencia and Navel oranges were harvested. Valencia were gassed to improve color. Citrus groves were pruned and hedge rowed. Some citrus were pushed out in preparation for new plantings.

    NUT CROPS

    Orchards continued to be irrigated. Almonds, walnuts, and pistachios were developing well. Almonds were treated for Navel Orangeworm and mites.

    VEGETABLE CROPS

    Monterey County reported good weather conditions for lettuce. In San Mateo County, fall squash plants were in flower. In Colusa, Sacramento, Solano, and Yolo counties tomato harvest is set to begin in early planted fields. In Tulare County, summer vegetables continued to be sold at roadside stands and farmers’ markets. Producers are picking tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, and squash. In Fresno county organic processing tomato and garlic harvests were completed with below average yields.

    LIVESTOCK

    Pastureland continued to dry. Only about a fifth of the five year average acres have burned so far this fire year. Late spring rains and moderate temperatures in the early summer months have contributed to this slow start to the fire season. Foothill rangeland and non-irrigated pasture remained in fair to good condition, though water was hauled to livestock in some locations. Sheep grazed in fallow fields. Bees were active in sunflower fields. 

  • Tulare County Crop Report (For the Week Ending: July 20, 2019)

    Small Grains, Other Field Crops:

    Corn for silage continues to mature. Black-eyed beans continue to mature. Cotton continues to be irrigated and cultivated. Alfalfa continues to be cut and baled.

    Deciduous Tree Fruit, Nuts, And Grapes:

    The stone fruit season continues on. Peaches are being exported to Canada, Taiwan, Costa Rica,Mexico, El Salvador, Panama, and Chile. Nectarines are being exported to Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, and Chile. Plums are being exported to Canada, Taiwan, China, Costa Rica, and Australia. Apricots are being exported to Canada. Hand-pruning and mechanical topping continues to take place in some stone fruit orchards, after harvest. Immature stone fruit continues to develop.

    Some older stone fruit groves are being removed after harvest. Grapes continue tomature and harvest has now slowly begun. Grapes are being exported to Japan, Korea, thePhilippines, and Thailand. Some vineyards continue to have leaves thinned to allow for betterairflow and light. Irrigation continues for grape vineyards. Almond, pecan, walnut, and pistachionuts continue to develop. Pistachios are being exported to Hong Kong, Spain, Costa Rica, Vietnam, and Turkey. Almonds are being exported to the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica,Belgium, Japan, Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia, Finland, and Mexico. Persimmons continue todevelop. Irrigation continues for nut and stone fruit orchards.

    Citrus, Avocados, And Olives:

    Valencia and navel oranges continue to be harvested. Late navel harvest is nearing the end, withoranges being sent to domestic markets only. Gassing of Valencia oranges to improve color continues. Valencia oranges are mainly being sent to domestic markets, but they continue to beexported in small amounts to Mexico, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Korea. Ruby Grapefruitare being exported to Mexico. Finger limes continue to be exported to France and theNetherlands. Some citrus groves are being pruned and hedge rowed. Navel oranges are being harvested for juice from the field. Immature olives continue to develop.

    Vegetables, Melons, Herbs, Berries:

    Certified producers are picking tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumber, watermelon, and squash. Summer vegetables continue to be sold at roadside stands and Farmer’s Markets. Strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries are being picked and sold by local growers. Blueberries are beingexported to Japan, Taiwan, and the Netherlands.

    Livestock And Poultry:

    Rangeland forage is of good quality. The fed cattle price is at $110 per cwt.

    Additional Comments:

    Local wholesale nurseries are still shipping small orders of nursery stock to local and out-of-state retail nursery outlets. Nurseries continue to receive new rootstocks of various flowers and plants daily. Bare-root rose shipments continue to be sent to Florida.

     

  • ‘Planting Green’ Cover-Crop Strategy May Help Farmers Deal With Wet Springs

    UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Allowing cover crops to grow two weeks longer in the spring and planting corn and soybean crops into them before termination is a strategy that may help no-till farmers deal with wet springs, according to Penn State researchers.

    The approach — known as planting green — could help no-till farmers counter a range of problems they must deal with during wet springs like the ones that have occurred this year and last year. These problems include soil erosion, nutrient losses, soils holding too much moisture and causing a delay in the planting of main crops, and main-crop damage from slugs.

    “With climate change bringing the Northeast more extreme precipitation events and an increase in total precipitation, no-till farmers especially need a way of dealing with wet springs,” said Heather Karsten, associate professor of crop production ecology, whose research group in the College of Agricultural Sciences conducted a three-year study of planting green. “We wanted to see if farmers could get more out of their cover crops by letting them grow longer in the spring.”

    Cereal rye cover crop that was killed with glyphosate herbicide three weeks prior (left) and that will be killed after soybean planting. IMAGE: HEATHER KARSTEN/PENN STATE

    As cover crops continue to grow, they draw moisture from the soil, creating desired drier conditions in wet springs for planting corn and soybeans. With planting green, after those main crops are planted into the cover crops, the cover crops are typically terminated by farmers with an herbicide. The decomposing cover crop residues then preserve soil moisture for the corn and soybean crops through the growing season.

    The study took place at five sites over three years — on three cooperating Pennsylvania farms that plant no-till in Centre, Clinton and Lancaster counties; at Penn State’s Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center in Centre County; and at the University’s Southeast Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Lancaster County.

    At each location, researchers compared the results of planting green to the traditional practice of terminating cover crops 10 days to two weeks before planting the main crops of corn and soybeans.

    Cover crops included in the study were primarily rye and triticale, as well as a mixture of triticale, Austrian winter pea, hairy vetch and radish in one location.

    Lead researcher Heidi Reed, a doctoral degree student in agronomy when the research was conducted, who is now an educator with Penn State Extension, inspects a corn field that was part of the study. Corn on the left side of the photo was planted green; the right side was a “control” treatment, with the cover crop killed 14 days prior to corn planting. IMAGE: HEATHER KARSTEN/PENN STATE

    Findings of the research, recently published online in Agronomy Journal, were mixed, according to study leader Heidi Reed, a doctoral student in agronomywhen the research was conducted who is now an educator with Penn State Extension, specializing in field and forage crops.

    Reed noted that planting green appeared to benefit soybean crops more than corn.

    Planting green increased cover crop biomass by 94 percent in corn and by 94 to 181 percent in soybean.

    However, because planting green results in more cover crop residues acting as mulch on the surface, it also cooled soils from 1.3 to 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit at planting.

    At several of the sites during the study years, main-crop plant populations were reduced when planted green, possibly due to the cooler temperatures slowing crop emergence and nutrient cycling, and/or from cover crop residue interference with the planter. In corn, in a few cases, crop damage by slugs was also increased when corn was planted green.

    A slug perches next to a soybean seedling showing slug damage in a field at Penn State’s Southeast Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Lancaster County. IMAGE: HEIDI REED/PENN STATE

    No-till farmers struggle with slugs damaging corn and soybean seeds and seedlings because no-till doesn’t disturb the soil and kill slugs or bury their eggs the way tillage does.

    “No-till with cover crop residues also provides habitat for some crop pests and keeps the soil moist — so no-till cover crop systems tend to be great slug habitat,” Karsten said.

    “We had hoped that letting cover crops grow longer in the spring would supply alternative forage for the slugs, as well as habitat for slug predators such as beetles — and these factors would reduce slug damage of the main crop seedlings. But we did not see a consistent reduction in slug damage on main crops as we expected.”

    When researchers compared crop-yield stability between the two cover crop termination times across the multiple locations and years, corn yield was less stable and reduced by planting green in high-yielding environments; however, soybean yield was not influenced by planting green.

    “We concluded that corn was more vulnerable to yield losses from conditions created by planting green than soybeans, ” Reed said. “Since soybean yield was stable across study locations, and not affected by cover crop termination date, we suggest that growers who want to extend cover crop benefits and avoid the risk of crop-yield reduction from planting green should consider trying it first with soybean.”

    Also involved in the research were William Curran, professor emeritus of plant science; John Tooker, professor of entomology; and Sjoerd Duiker, professor of soil management and applied soil physics.

    Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture supported this research.

    By Jeff Mulhollem

  • UC Davis Releases 5 New Strawberry Varieties

    The Public Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis, has released five new varieties that will help farmers manage diseases, control costs and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. Two of the new varieties could increase yields by almost 30 percent.

    Five new strawberry varieties from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. These are the strawberries in Salinas and Watsonville on Monday, July 1, 2019.

    “These new varieties are intrinsically different from the ones they replace,” said Steve Knapp, professor and director of the UC Davis Strawberry Breeding Program. “After more than three years of field tests, we’re seeing higher yields, greater disease resistance and better quality after harvest.”

    The new pedigrees should benefit consumers, as well. “The price and quality of strawberries improve when farmers have access to varieties that help them grow better berries more cost efficiently,” said Dave Murray, a farmer and partner in Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce.

    Since its inception in the 1930s, the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program has developed more than 60 patented varieties, turned strawberries into a year-round crop and increased strawberry yield from about 6 tons per acre in the 1950s to more than 30 tons per acre today. The United States is the world’s largest producer of strawberries, and almost 90 percent of them are grown in California’s cool, coastal climates. About 60 percent of the state’s strawberry fields are planted with varieties developed at UC Davis.

    UC Davis Victor strawberry variety is one of the five new strawberry varieties from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis that will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. These are the strawberries in Watsonville on Monday, July 1, 2019.

    Each of the new varieties will have its own farming niche — thriving better in certain environments under specific growing conditions. Three of the new varieties — Moxie, Royal Royce and Valiant — will perform well throughout the long, warm days of summer. Two varieties — Victor and Warrior — are bred for cooler climates from Santa Maria south along California’s coast.

    A section where the UC Royal Royce strawberries are grown on Monday, July 1, 2019 in Salinas, Calif. Five new strawberry varieties from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides.

    In general, all the new berries are large, flavorful, firm and disease-resistant. Victor and Valiant perform well in organic systems. Moxie and Royal Royce are showing yield increases of as much as 29 percent over previous UC varieties.

    You can find full descriptions of each variety on the UC Davis Office of Research website.

    Fewer ‘runners,’ less labor  

    Two new varieties — Moxie and Royal Royce — could save farmers up to $5,000 an acre in labor costs because they sprout fewer runners, the vine-like fingers that strawberries send out that produce roots and develop into duplicate plants. Runners are handy when propagating strawberries, but farmers have to continually cut them back during the growing season to help plants conserve energy for producing big, sweet berries.

    “Runners are a huge expense,” explained Greg France, a longtime California Strawberry Commissioner and family farmer from Santa Maria. “We have to hire labor throughout the season just to cut back the runners. These new varieties will be a big deal for us.”

    Disease-resistant berries will also reduce production costs and improve environmental sustainability, farmers say.

    Strawberries are especially vulnerable to soil-borne pathogens, which can destroy an entire crop. Since the 1960s, many strawberry growers have depended on fumigants like methyl bromide to fight disease, but methyl bromide and other fumigants are being phased out by the Environmental Protection Agency.

    Since Knapp took over the strawberry breeding program in 2015, he and his team have been working to develop varieties with genetic resistance to disease to reduce the need for fumigants. All five of the new varieties will be less susceptible to a range of diseases, including Fusarium wilt, Verticillium wilt and Macrophomina.

    Five new strawberry varieties from the Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis will help farmers manage diseases, control cost and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. These are the strawberries in Salinas and Watsonville on Monday, July 1, 2019.

    More Berries in the Pipeline 

    To create a beneficial variety, plant breeders cross plants with desired traits and select the best offspring over multiple generations. UC Davis strawberry breeders are continuing that work on test sites and farms along California’s “strawberry belt,” from Ventura to Watsonville, each with its own particular climate and crop management strategies.

    “Every farmer has his or her own recipe for growing the berries, which is good,” said Glenn Cole, breeder and field manager with the strawberry breeding program. “It helps us see how the crop performs in different environments.”

    The team anticipates releasing one or two additional varieties in early 2020 that can be planted in the summer and harvested in time for the winter holidays.

    In the meantime, farmers can buy the newest UC Davis varieties at nurseries starting this fall. Also, detailed data on how each variety performed throughout the breeding trials is available to everyone at the California Strawberry Commission website.

    “The great thing about UC Davis strawberry cultivars is they are available to all growers,” said strawberry farmer Dave Murray. “The world-class research on which these varieties are based benefits us all.”

    By Diane Nelson

  • Five Shades of Gray Mold Control in Strawberry: Evaluating Chemical, Organic Oil, Botanical, Bacterial, and Fungal Active Ingredients

    Botrytis fruit rot or gray mold, caused by Botrytis cinerea, is common fruit disease in California strawberries. Botrytis cinerea has a wide host range infecting several commercially important crops including blueberry, grapes and tomato.  Fungal infection can cause flower or fruit rot.  Fruit can be infected directly or through a latent infection in the flowers.  Moist and cool conditions favor fungal infections and increased sugar content in the ripening fruit can also contribute to the disease development.  Initial symptoms of infection appear as brown lesions and a thick mat of gray conidia is characteristic symptom in the later stages of infection.  As chemical fungicides are primarily used for gray mold control, fungicide resistance is a common problem around the world. In strawberry, cultural control options such as removing diseased plant material or using cultivars with traits that can reduce gray mold infections may not be practical when the disease is widespread in the field or cultivar choice is made based on other factors.  Non-chemical control options are necessary to help reduce the risk of chemical fungicide resistance, prolong the life of available chemical fungicides, achieve desired disease control, and to maintain environmental health.  Although there are several botanical and microbial fungicides available for gray mold control, limited information is available on their efficacy in California strawberries.  A study was conducted in the spring of 2019 to evaluate the efficacy of several chemical, botanical, and microbial fungicides in certain combinations and rotations to help identify effective options for an integrated disease management strategy.

    Methodology

    Strawberry cultivar San Andreas was planted late November, 2018 and the study was conducted in April and May, 2019.  Each treatment had a 20′ long strawberry plot with two rows of plants replicated in a randomized complete block design.  Plots were maintained without any fungicidal applications until the study was initiated.  Table 1 contains the list of treatments, application rates and dates of application, and Table 2 contains the type of fungicide used and their mode of action.  Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae s.l. are California isolates of entomopathogenic fungi, isolated from an insect and a soil sample, respectively.  These fungi are pathogenic to a variety of arthropods and some strains are formulated as biopesticides for arthropod control.  However, earlier studies in California demonstrated that these fungi are also known to antagonize plant pathogens such as Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. vasinfectum Race 4 (Dara et al., 2016) and Macrophomina phaseolina (Dara et al., 2018) and reduce the disease severity.  To further evaluate their efficacy against B. cinerea, these two fungi were also included in this study alternating with two chemical fungicides.

    Table 1

    Table 2

    Treatments were applied with a CO2-pressurized backpack sprayer using 66.5 gpa spray volume.  Five days before the first spray application and 3 days after each application, all ripe fruit were harvested from each plot and incubated at the room temperature in vented plastic containers.  The level of gray mold on fruit from each plot was rated using a 0 to 4 scale (where 0=no disease, 1=1-25% fruit with fungal infection, 2=26-50% infection, 3=51-75%, and 4=76-100%) 3 and 5 days after each harvest (DAH).  Due to the rains, fruit could not be harvested after the 3rd spray application for disease rating, but was harvested and discarded after the rains to avoid cross infection for the following week’s harvest.  Data were analyzed using analysis of variance using Statistix software and significant means were separated using Least Significant Difference separation test.

    Results

    Gray mold occurred at low to moderate levels during the study period.  Along with B. cinerea, there were a few instances of minor fungal infections from Rhizopus spp. (Rhizopus fruit rot) and Mucor spp. (Mucor fruit rot).  Pre-treatment disease ratings were statistically not significant (P = 0.6197 and 0.5741) 3 and 5 DAH.  While the chemical standard treatment with the rotation of Captan, Merivon, Switch, and Pristine (treatment 2) appeared to result in the lowest disease rating throughout the observation period, treatments 3 and 5 after the 1st spray application, treatments 5 and 11 along with 3, 4 and 6 after the 2nd spray application, and treatments 3 and 5 along with 11 after the 4thspray application also had similar disease control at 3 DAH.  When disease at 5 DAH was compared, the lowest rating was seen in treatment 2 after the 1st and 2nd spray applications, and treatments 2, 3, and 11 after the 4th application.  Several other treatments also provided statistically similar control during these days.

    fruit diseases prior

    fruit disease after spray

    fruit disease after spray 2

    fruit disease after IV spray
    When the average disease rating for the three post-treatment observation events was considered, treatment 2, 3, 5, and 11 had the lowest disease at both 3 and 5 DAH. Treatments 4 and 12 at 3 DAH also had a statistically similar level of disease control to treatment 2.
    average fruit disease after 3 sprays
    In general, most of the treatments provided moderate to high control compared to the disease in untreated control when the post-treatment averages were considered. Only treatment 7 and 13 had lower control at 3 DAH.

    post treatment disease

     

    Discussion

    This study compared a variety of registered and developmental products along with two entomopathogenic fungi in managing B. cinerea.  Considering the fungicide resistance problem in B. cinerea in multiple crops, having multiple non-chemical control options is very important to achieve desirable control with integrated disease management strategies.  Since the active ingredients in the botanical and bacterial fungicides used in this study are not public, discuss will be limited on their modes of action and efficacy at this point.  Similarly, the active ingredient of WXF-17001 is also not known, however, an earlier study by Calvo-Garrido et al. (2014) demonstrated that a fatty acid-based natural product reduced B. cinerea conidial germination by 54% and disease severity in grapes by 96% compared to untreated control.  The product used by Calvo-Garrido et al. (2014) is thought to be fungistatic and reduce the postharvest respiratory activity and ethylene production in fruits.

    While chemical fungicides have a specific mode of action, biological and other products act in multiple manners either directly antagonizing the plant pathogen or by triggering the plant defenses.  For example, amending the potting medium with biochar resulted in induced systemic resistance in tomato and reduced B. cinerea severity by 50% (Mehari et al., 2015).  Luna et al. (2016) also showed that application of β-aminobutyric acid and jasmonic acid promoted seed germination and long-term resistance to B. cinerea in tomato.  Burkholderia phytofirmans, beneficial endophytic bacterium, offered protection against B. cinerea in grapes by mobilizing carbon resources (callose deposition), triggering plant immune system (hydrogen peroxide production and priming of defense genese), and through antifungal activity (Miotto-Vilanova et al. 2016).  Similarly, entomopathogenic fungi such as B. bassiana are also known to induce systemic resistance against plant pathogens (Griffin et al. 2006).  Compared to other options evaluated in the study, entomopathogenic fungi have an advantage of controlling both arthropod pests and diseases, while also having plant growth promoting effect (Dara et al. 2017).

    Rotating fungicides with different mode of actions reduces the risk of resistance development and using some combinations will also maintain control efficacy.  This study provided the efficacy of multiple control options and their combinations and rotations for B. cinerea.  This is also the first study demonstrating the efficacy of entomopathogenic fungi against B. cinerea in strawberry.

    By Surendra K. Dara

  • Fusarium Wilt in Garbanzos

    A little over a month ago, I visited some contiguous garbanzo bean fields in southern San Joaquin County, at the request of the grower. The grower observed that plants were yellowing and dying (Fig. 1) and wondered what might be causing the problem. The grower did not figure that he would be able to do anything about the problem in this year’s crop, but he was thinking ahead for future cropping. He doesn’t have reliable water at this site, so his cropping options (i.e. rotation options) are limited. He would consider growing garbanzos in these fields again next year unless diagnostics revealed a disease problem.

    My observations of the field were that there were patches of several nearby plants with symptoms, but across the three contiguous fields, the patches were widespread. I suspected a vascular disease because of what appeared to be a progression of the disease from yellowing to necrosis to eventually plant death. I submitted samples to the plant pathology lab at UC Davis, and they diagnosed Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris, which is the Fusarium wilt pathogen for garbanzos. Fusarium wilt (also called Fusarium yellows) has the external symptoms previously described, but in addition to these symptoms, splitting the stems may reveal reddish-brown streaking in the vascular system at the center of the stem (i.e. xylem). The roots won’t show discoloration with Fusarium wilt like they will with Fusarium root rot. Fusarium wilt should not be confused with yellowing caused from virus, which will exhibit discoloration in the phloem. Fusarium wilt can reduce yield by reducing seed quantity and size.

    In general, cultural practices are the only ways to manage this disease. Luckily, the Fusarium wilt pathogens are crop-specific, so this pathogen will only infect garbanzos. The pathogen, however, can survive for a long time in the soil (upwards of 6 years or more) because it can survive under wide temperature and pH ranges. Therefore, crop rotation is an important management practice. Crop rotation will help to slow the proliferation of the disease, but it generally won’t eliminate it. Growers should plant certified disease-free seed. They should not save seed for planting because Fusarium wilt (and Ascochyta blight) can live externally on the seed. Growers should also consider planting UC-27, which has disease resistance and is adapted to the Central Valley. Disease management may also include cleaning soil from equipment when moving from an infected field to a non-infected field. In some studies, soil solarizaton has been shown to reduce Fusarium wilt in subsequent garbanzo crops, but to my knowledge, there hasn’t been any work on soil solarization in California garbanzos.

    Garbanzo beans are an important crop worldwide for human and animal nutrition. In California, they are grown during the winter months, like small grains, and provide growers with another crop choice that can be winter rain-fed. Because they are a legume, they can fix atmospheric nitrogen to fulfil some of their nitrogen needs. Garbanzos also are more tolerant of soil salinity than common beans and limas. In California, we annually grow approximately 10,000 acres of garbanzos. California garbanzos are generally a high-quality product grown for the canning industry. More information on garbanzo production in California can be found in the UC production manual.