Fri,
Feb 15, 8:00 AM - The Winchester
School, West
Oaks Farm Market and Event Ctr.,
Winchester.
2019
Revisions to Fruit Pest Management recommendations:
The revised Pest Management
Guide for Home Fruit, Commercial Vineyards, Commercial
Small Fruits, and Hops, are now available. The
tree fruit manual, separate from the Pest Management
Guide series, is in production, and we hope to have it
ready for our fruit schools.
The guides are available free
online in PDF, and will also be available for purchase.
A new invasive pest of small fruit crops and vineyards
moved into eastern Pennsylvania in 2014, and has been
spreading. In 2017, the range increased from 6 to
13 Pennsylvania counties, and also into Delaware, New
York and northern Virginia. Specimens of dead
adults and egg
masses were found in January 2018 (actually 2017
individuals). This pest poses an important risk
for grape, orchard and tree crops. Click here for an Adobe
Presenter talk on this species. A fact sheet
is available from Virginia Tech (a USDA fact
sheet is available in Spanish). In addition, there is a Virginia Tech
Pest Alert, with additional information on recognition
and reporting (this is also
available in Spanish).
Now that spotted lanternfly has been found in
Virginia,it will be
important to follow its spread through the
state. To report a suspected find, please
follow this link: https://ext.vt.edu/spotted-lanternfly.
See
StopBMSB.org web site! A new addition to the stink bug complex is brown marmorated
stink bug, Halyomorpha halys
(Stål). Brown
marmorated stink bug (BMSB) has recently been introduced from Asia
into the northeastern U.S. It was first detected in 1998 in
Allentown, Pennsylvania (see NAPIS map;
this map underrepresents the situation in Virginia). It was later found in New Jersey,
Maryland and Delaware, and in October 2004 it was found in
Montgomery County, Virginia, and in Tennessee in 2008. Injury in tree fruits can be severe, exceeding 25%
(individual blocks have been estimated to have much higher levels
of fruit injury). Externally, fruit may have multiple
reddish dents at feeding sites, resembling hail strikes.
Upon cutting into fruit, corky areas are seen in the flesh of the
fruit. In vineyards, a unique
problem is posed. Stink bugs may be harvested along with
clusters and be transported to the winery in lugs or bins, where
the wine can be imparted with a "stink bug taint". Research
is underway to test short-residual insecticides to knock down BMSB
from clusters at harvest.
For further information and images, see the Brown
marmorated stink bug page. A working
group on organic
management of BMSB has been established, with their own web site.
There is opportunity to participate in grower forums.
New! The College of Agriculture and Life
Science at Virginia Tech has established a new on-line Master's in
Agriculture and Life Sciences. This curriculum
has been approved by the State Council of Higher Education and is
now accepting applications for Fall semester 2007. In this
program, you can earn a master's degree in agriculture while
working in your current job - emphasis is on education for
place-bound learners, and all courses are taken on-line. In
addition to a core area, there are courses offered in five areas
of concentration: (1) Biosecurity, Bioregulations and Public
Health, (2) Education, (3) Environmental Science, (4) Food Safety,
and (5) Plant Science and Pest Management. In addition to
course work, the student completes a
project decided upon in consultation with your major
advisor. Lists
of
courses within each concentration may be found in the web
site linked above. This program was recently the subject of
an interview
by Jeff Ishee with Virginia Public Televsion's Virginia
Farming. For more information, contact Doug Pfeiffer (dgpfeiff at vt.edu) or Sharon Proffitt (sproffit at vt.edu) (see 2008-2009 Extended Campus tuition
rates).
2018 Orchard Meetings
Nelson-Albemarle:Meeting will begin a 11:00 am.
Please come to discuss fruit production issues and concerns with
other fruit growers and Extension fruit specialists. Please
being a bag lunch; cold drinks will be provided by the host
orchard. April 3: Crown Orchard. We
will be meeting at the Johnson Purvis orchard block which is
located just south of the village of Covesville. DIRECTIONS:From
Charlottesville: Travel on Route 29 south for 15 miles (about 20
minutes). Approximately one mile south of Covesville turn left
on Route 632 (Faber Road). From Lynchburg: Travel
on Route 29 north. Approximately 1 mile north of the Nelson
County line, at the top of the hill, turn right on Route 632
(Faber Road.) April 17: Fitzgerald Orchard, Lowesville. From Lynchburg and Points South: From Hwy-29 northbound, head
northwest on VA-11 for 6.0 miles, then turn left onto Warrick Barn
Rd for 1.6miles. Turn right onto State Rt. 78, Fro Rt.
778 in Lowesville, turn right onto Rt. 666, travel 2.5 miles. Stay
straight ahead onto Dillard's Hill Rd. Orchard will be on
the right.From Charlottesville and
Points North: Take US-29 South to VA-56 W.
Turn right onto VA-56 for 10.5 miles. Take a sharp left onto
VA-151 S for 1/2 mile, then turn fight onto State Rt. 778.
From Rt. 778 in Lowesville turn right onto Rt. 666, travel
2.5 miles. Stay straight ahead onto Dillard's Hill Rd.
Orchard will be on the right. May 1: TBA. May 15:
Saunders Bros., Piney River. May 29: Seaman Orchard, Roseland.
Mating disruption and Organic certification:
The National Organic Standards Board
has recently amended organic guidelines so that many pheromone
dispensers for mating disruption will now be allowed in
organically certified orchards. Most hand-placed
dispensers are now considered to emit negligible amounts of
inerts, and will be allowed. Sprayables and puffers will
not be allowed. More information will be posted when
available.
Apple
Maggot and Exports to Brazil:
A protocol
to manage apple
maggot that will allow Virginia growers to export apples to
Brazil was recently approved. As modified from earlier versions,
it seems to be a usable protocol. Several options are available,
at the grower's discretion. One involves the use of regional
trapping. This approach uses traps in an apple region; sprays in
the whole region start when the first fly is captured. The second
approach uses site-specific trapping (traps at a specific
orchard). Both of these approaches call for traps to be in place before
first fly activity. The third option uses degree day accumulation.
If growers can provide daily max and min temperatures, the
expected fly emergence can be determined, and correlated with
spray records. First adult emergence is expected 900 degree-days
above 50 F. Contact Doug Pfeiffer at (540) 231-4183 for help.
2016 Tree Fruit Schools
The Patrick-Carroll
school will be held on Monday, Feb 8. The
Botetourt-Roanoke
school will be
held on the morning of Wednesday, Feb 9, starting at 8:00
AM. A new fruit school, theSouthside school (brochure
and agenda)
in the
lineup this year, and will be held this year, morning of
Feb 10. The Nelson-Albemarle (Central
Virginia) schoolwill be held in the late
afternoon-evening of that Wednesday, Feb 10, starting at
3:00 PM. The Madison-Rappahannock
school will beheld on Thursday, Feb 11, and the
Winchester
school will be held on Friday, Feb 12.
Additional details on the agendas will be posted when
available.
