Growing Degree Day Accumulations (as of 9/11/00)
Year        2000      1999      1998      1997
GDD42    3259      3542      3593      2858
GDD50    2059      2352      2381      1807

Weather

NW Michigan received lots of rain the past two weeks! Record rainfall at the NWHRS during the past two weeks totaled 6.05". Evaporation declined to 1"/week.

Evaporation and rainfall rates at the NWMHRS are as follows (for irrigation scheduling purposes we have included the 75% of evaporation vs. rainfall calculation):
 

	Evaporation	Rainfall	Evaporation less Rainfall	75% of Evaporation	75% Evaporation less Rainfall
Past 2 weeks	2.01	6.05	(4.04)	1.50	(4.55)
Past 4 weeks	4.30	7.34	(3.04)	3.23	(4.12)
Since May 1	25.14	16.63	8.51	18.86	2.23

PESTS & DISEASES

Apples: Growers should continue to monitor for apple maggot and codling moth, although both have been down for the last two weeks. At the NWMHRS, traps catches this week were zero, while last week no apple maggot and only two codling moths/trap were caught. White apple leafhopper adults are appearing now, but rarely in high enough numbers to warrant control. If populations are high, the major concern is that they can be a nuisance to pickers. Spotted tentiform leafminer trap catches are down this week. European red mites are under control in most orchards. They should start to lay eggs in the calyx end of the fruit soon, where populations are high. 

Tart cherry defoliation due to cherry leaf spot ranges from none to severe. Additional defoliation will likely begin to occur near October 1^st from the recent infection periods. Exceptionally wet weather in fall, if combined with exceptionally late killing frosts, can result in slow hardening off of fruit trees. This may be a concern for a tender tree like sweet cherries.

Peaches: Growers who have had a difficult time in controlling peach leaf curl may want to consider applying a fall application of bravo, ferbam or bordeaux mixture. Fall applications applied after leaf drop will accomplish the same as the spring applications applied before bud swell. In our climate, it is often easier to apply the fall application, rather than fight the snow and weather in March when the sprays often need to go on.

Tart Cherry Crop Restriction for 2000
By Jim Nugent
District Horticulturist, MSUE

CIAB met on September 8 in Wisconsin to set the final numbers for restriction. The U.S. tart cherry crop picked out approximately 40 million pounds above the June estimate, increasing the amount of fruit required for diversion from the pre-harvest estimates. At the CIAB meeting, it was decided that an adjustment to the formula for economic conditions should be made to reflect an exceptionally large USDA school lunch purchase. It was estimated that the purchase is approximately 13 M lbs above average, so the formula was adjusted by this amount.

The result is that the amount of fruit required for diversion is higher than pre-harvest estimates. The net result of the actual crop size combined with the recent board action is an initial restriction of 50%, but after adjusting for the required release the first of January of 28 M lbs for market growth (10% USDA required release), the effective regulation is 38%. The board action to adjust the formula to reflect the large school lunch purchase will require USDA approval before these numbers are final.

If the industry can export 35 M lbs of restricted fruit outside North America and market 5 M lbs into new products/new markets, that would leave 48 M lbs of fruit in the reserve going into the 2001 season. The primary reserve was empty going into the 2000 season, so it can hold up to 50 M lbs. Therefore, if sales this marketing year of qualifying exports, new products and new markets is less than 38 M lbs, the result would be the creation of a secondary reserve.

Please send any comments or suggestions regarding this site to: 
Bill Klein, kleinw@pilot.msu.edu

Last Revised:9-12-00