August 2001 Regional Fruit Newsletter

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

8/30            NWMHRS Open House & Equipment Show

11/2            MDA Pesticide Applicator Review 
                    and Exam, NWMHRS

12/4-6        Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm 
                   Market Expo
                    (Michigan State Hort Show), Grand Center

12/11         MDA Pesticide Applicator Review 
                    and Exam, Ellsworth

2002

1/22-23       NW Michigan Orchard Show, 
                    Grand Traverse Resort, Acme

OPEN HOUSE AT NW RESEARCH STATION

The NW Michigan Horticultural Research Station Open House and Equipment Show will be held on Thursday, August 30.  Equipment exhibits and demonstrations are sponsored by the Leelanau County Horticultural Society.  The program will include a dinner and short evening program.  Dr. Jeff Armstrong, MSU's new Dean of the College of Ag & Natural Resources, will be a special guest for the evening.  A 4-H hog has been purchased and is being donated for the dinner by the Paul and Frances Johnson Foundation.

The program schedule is as follows:

1:00 - 2:00 p.m.    Visit Equipment/Vendor Displays

2:00 - 3:00            Educational Programs on Soft Tart 
                              Cherries, Wine Grapes and 
                              Insect Pest Management

3:00 - 3:45           Visit Display Area

3:45 - 5:15           Equipment Demonstrations

5:15 - 6:00          Wine and Juice Tasting

6:00 – Close      Cookout followed by Leelanau Horticultural
                            Society and 45^th Parallel Vines & Wines
                            Meetings

The educational program format will be different this year.  There will be only three program topics from which to choose during the 2:00-3:00 p.m. time.  Each topic will be discussed for the full hour at different locations.  This will allow an opportunity for greater in-depth discussion.  If it doesn't rain, discussions will be held in the field, but in the event of rain, discussions will be moved indoors.  The three topics from which to choose are:

• Soft cherries – Researchers Jim Flore, Steve VanNocker, Wayne Loescher, Greg Lang, Eric Hanson and Jim Nugent will share results from the past two years of the study on the problem and discuss future direction with the participants.

• Plum curculio and cherry fruit fly research – Researchers Mark Whalon, Larry Gut and Gary Thornton will discuss new trapping methods and management strategies.

• Wine grape variety and growing systems research – Researchers Stan Howell, Tom Zabadal and Duke Elsner will discuss research results with those interested in wine production.

Hope you can join us!

APPLE MATURITY
By Gary Thornton, District Fruit IPM Agent

Once again the NWMHRS will be providing growers information on the optimum time to harvest their fruit.  Optimum maturity will be for long term CA storage and will be based on starch/iodine and pressure tests.  If interested in having your fruit tested, drop off 10 apples picked randomly from the outside portion of the trees.  The fruit for testing should be large in size.

Information will be compiled and put on the PestNet (code-a-phone) as well as faxed to apple growers.  If you are interested in picking up the information via the PestNet, call 947-3063 and go to the pome fruit message.

The predicted harvest dates for long-term CA storage from northwest Michigan, based on temperatures and bloom dates at the NWMHRS, are as follows:

McIntosh            September 15
Jonathan            September 29
Red Delicious   October 5

2001 DROUGHT
By Jim Nugent, District Horticulturist, MSUE

The drought of 2001 will be remembered for some time.  A wet start to the summer resulted in good early season growth, but June 20^th began a long, hot, dry spell.  Many newly planted trees have died.  Also, hard hit were the young bearing trees on either exceptionally sandy soils or exceptionally heavy soils.  The problems in sand are expected.  In exceptionally heavy soils, the problem is two fold.  First, the much wetter than normal spring was good for the development of phytophthora root rot, causing the loss of deeper roots in the poorly drained soil.  When this loss of deep roots is immediately followed by a serious drought, the result can be particularly severe.

Symptoms of drought stress include:

• The yellowing and dropping of leaves – always older leaves first, and more so on the base of terminal growth than on spurs;
• "Firing" or sudden browning of leaves on shoots/limbs – usually more pronounced when drought is accompanied by high levels of two-spotted and/or plum nursery mites; or
• Sudden leaf browning and death of the entire tree.

Mite development is favored during periods of hot, dry weather, yet thresholds on cherry drop significantly during periods of drought due to the additional stress they place on trees and the increased likelihood of "firing".  The combination of high two-spotted mite populations and drought this year also led to mite feeding directly on cherry fruit.  This fruit feeding and drought combined to cause tart cherry fruit dehydration and withering.

If conditions remain dry, then late summer weed control becomes much more important.

PESTICIDE CERTIFICATION REVIEW AND TEST
Gary Thornton, District Fruit IPM Agent

This review and test is offered for those who were unable to recertify by credit or are certifying for the first time. The review will take place in the morning and the testing, which will be monitored by MDA, will be done after lunch.

NW Mich Hort Res Station Nov. 2nd

9:00-12:00 Review
12:00-1:00 p.m. Registration $8.00 (includes lunch & you can pay at the door)
1:00 Test

9:00-12:00 Review
12:00-1:00 p.m. Lunch on your own
1:00 Test

For those taking the test, bring a check made payable to "State of Michigan" for $10 for private applicators and $50 for commercial applicators.  In preparation for the exam, you can purchase the Core Training Manual, Extension Bulletin E-2195, for $5.00 at your county Extension office.

REVISED NONINSURED DISASTER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
By Jim Bardenhagen, Leelanau Co. MSU Extension

The USDA Farm Service Agency has recently announced a revised Noninsured Disaster Assistance Program called NAP.  The program is for crops without crop insurance coverage that incur weather related losses in production.  Sweet cherries will be included because there is only a pilot crop insurance program currently available for a few counties.

The program is based on a growers/producers current production compared to their Actual Production History (4-10 years of history).

The big changes in the program include: 1) no longer using state production averages; 2) each grower/producer qualifies based on their own experience (a grower/producer no longer has to be part of an area that sustained enough damage to have a disaster declared by the USDA); 3) the cost.  This program does not change disaster declarations by the USDA for Disaster or Emergency Loans – they will continue on as in the past.

The cost for the NAP coverage is $100 per crop per county per year, up to a maximum of $300 per grower/producer per county, up to a maximum of $900 per grower/producer with multi-county farms.

The benefits start when the current year losses exceed 50% of the past historical production. The price utilized is 55% of the most recent 5-year average price (from National Ag Statistical Service-NASS)

Since this program came out late during the growing season, growers/producers can still sign up for their 2001 crop even if their crop has already been harvested – no deadline has been set yet.  It’s anticipated that the 2002 crop signup will occur around the sign up time for most crop insurance programs - November for fruit crops.

If interested in the program, contact your local USDA Farm Service Agency for more details.

MICHIGAN GROUNDWATER STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM
by Dan Busby, Grand Traverse Conservation District

The NW Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program has had a great year on and off the farm.

Many cost share stewardship practices have been implemented in a diverse group of farms throughout Leelanau County, including Offset Hydrants (moving pesticide/fertilizer fill location at least 150’ away from the well), Pesticide Storage and Impervious Surface for that storage, Well Closures, Pesticide Application Controllers, Dripless nozzles, Calibration, and IPM Scouting. 

-Intensive Rotational Grazing and Pre-Sidedress Nitrate Testing (PSNT) is a new practice to the NW Program and was used by some of the row crop and livestock farms in Leelanau County. 

-Spill Kits and free Technical Assistance in completing Emergency Plans and installation of Emergency Tubes is always available. Protect your local fire department – complete and annually update an emergency plan for your farm and install an Emergency Tube.

Cost Share funds are still available for various stewardship practices – Please call for details.

The Pesticide Container Recycling Program is in full swing. 

Drop-off Locations: 

Hamilton Farm Bureau – Traverse City 
Wilbur-Ellis – Acme
UAP Great Lakes – Bear Lake

High Pressure Container Rinsers and large plastic bags available FREE for participation in the Pesticide Container Recycling Program.  Do the Right Thing – Recycle your containers.

Clean Sweep (disposal of unwanted/unusable pesticide available to commercial agriculture)

This service is available free of charge… Call Dan Busby to set up an appointment to properly dispose of the product at 941-4191.

On the household and education side of the program, Kristen Denoyer, AmeriCorp Member at the Grand Traverse County MSU Extension office, has been busy with numerous projects.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection(s) for the 2001 Season:

The spring and summer collections where very well attended. 

The Fall Collection is Saturday, October 27^th, 2001.

Please call the Grand Traverse County Resource Recovery Hotline at 922-2052 to set up an appointment for collection of materials. Any questions about materials the program can accept and materials they cannot accept please call the 

Any questions about the groundwater program and how we can help you "Reduce the risk to groundwater resources on your property, please contact Kristen Denoyer, with the Grand Traverse MSU Extension office, at 922-4857. 

Any questions regarding the Groundwater Program and how we can help you "Reduce your risk to groundwater resources on the farm", please contact Dan Busby at the Grand Traverse Conservation District Office at 941-4191 or on the groundwater mobile at 883-9962.

CIAB Weekly Raw Product Report

If you are interested in the CIAB weekly raw product report, it can be accessed at the following address:
http://www.cherryboard.org/prodrept.html
 

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

Last Revised: 8-21-01