In addition to the redesign of Red Tomato’s EcoCertified fruit totes and pouches, Red Tomato broadened the scope of the certification to include a variety of fruits and value-added agricultural products, providing a more cohesive and impactful brand for consumers and growers, according to a news release.

The redesigned packaging is timed for the 2024 apple season and includes paper totes, pouches, poly bags, and master cases. “The rebrand will help consumers choose EcoCertified fruit, which means they are investing in local and sustainable growing practices. EcoCertified is a promise of amazing fruit that is both local and ecologically grown,” according to the release.

EcoCertified is designed to be a grower brand, an integral part of their marketing stories, and to build a stronger, more recognizable certification that stands for sustainable, ecologically responsible farming practices.

The updated packaging will be available in stores making it easier for consumers to identify and purchase EcoCertified products. Insights from consumer research indicate a strong preference for clear, concise labeling that highlights the product’s sustainable attributes.

The most ecological farming practices differ by locale. More than 93% of U.S. certified organic apples are grown in eastern Washington. The climate in the Eastern U.S. is more rain, diseases and insects. The national organic standards do not offer viable treatments for eastern orchards
growing at a wholesale scale, according to the release.

“EcoCertified orchards are a powerful, resilient force in our region’s food system, combining the most ecological growing practices with the best of local foods,” said Angel Mendez, Red Tomato’s executive director, said in the release.

Red Tomato partnered with the Hartman Group, a marketing research firm specializing in the natural and organic grocery industry.

Keywords such as “sustainable growing practices,” “protect pollinators,” “promote tree and soil health,” and “growers care for the land, community, and earth” were instrumental in the design process. The packaging highlights the taste, ecological practices, and local sourcing that define EcoCertified. The front of the pouch proudly states, “Happy Bees. Healthy Trees. Amazing Apples.” while the back emphasizes the rigorous ecological practices that protect bees, ensure thriving orchards, and balance vital ecosystems, according to the release.

“It’s very hard for farmers to grow apples this way,” Diane Rast, Hartman’s creative director, said in the release. “I visit the farms. I have been designing for years and I know the challenge of communicating a complex idea dealing with sustainable growing practices with just a few words and a choice illustration.”

The EcoCertified program was launched in 2005, as a partnership of non-profit Red Tomato, the IPM Institute of North America and a network of farmers, scientists and fruit experts, to advance environmentally responsible growing practices for locally grown tree fruit in the Northeast.

The program’s goal is to support growers by bringing together the local and ecological growing practices, educating the public about their value, and building a market that keeps local orchards thriving and local apples abundant.

The program has certified more than 30 Northeast orchards, representing more than 2,000 acres. EcoCertified is actively expanding to new regional chapters east of the Rockies, with a focus on the Midwest (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois), Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.

Based in Rhode Island, Red Tomato works with partners throughout the U.S., including scientists and farmer networks, regional and national grocery stores, K-12 schools, community-based nonprofits, and other vendors. In addition to apples, Red Tomato also works with tomatoes and other vegetables.

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She succeeds Ray Hammerschmidt, who plans to retire.

Byrne, who holds a doctoral degree, has worked at MSU as the plant pathology diagnostician since 1999, after earning a B.S. in plant science from Cornell University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in plant pathology from MSU.

In addition to her diagnostic role, Byrne teaches plant pathology to students in the MSU Institute of Agricultural Technology and has served alongside Hammerschmidt as the associate director for the North Central Plant Diagnostic Network since 2003.

For more than 20 years, Hammerschmidt, a PhD, served as the faculty coordinator for the MSU diagnostics lab and the director for the North Central Plant Diagnostic Network. His work during this time has grown and strengthened the training and networking capacity of diagnosticians to benefit MSU Plant & Pest Diagnostics clients and the regional and national networks, according to a news release.

In addition to those roles, Hammerschmidt is an accomplished professor of plant pathology, focusing on physiology and biochemistry of disease and disease resistance in cucurbits, potatoes, cherries, arabidopsis (small flowering plants related to cabbage and mustard), and soybeans.

Hammerschmidt also taught MSU’s core plant pathology class, two graduate plant pathology courses and served in various administrative roles including the chair of the former Department of Plant Pathology, interim director of MSU Extension and Project GREEEN advisor.

In July 2022, after almost 42 years of dedicated service to MSU and the greater community, Hammerschmidt retired. He stayed on as professor emeritus and worked part time on research, Project GREEEN and the transition of leadership of the Plant & Pest Diagnostics and North Central Plant Diagnostic Network. He plans to “retire again” at the end of 2024.

When asked about his successor, Hammerschmidt commented, “I’m very pleased that Dr. Byrne has accepted the directorship of Plant & Pest Diagnostics. She is already very well-known for her excellence as a plant pathology diagnostician and Plant & Pest Diagnostics team member. She has a very clear vision for how the Plant & Pest Diagnostics will continue to provide excellent service while growing and evolving to meet changing needs. As the associate director of North Central Plant Diagnostic Network, she has provided valuable assistance and guidance to both me and members at the regional and national levels. I have no doubt that Jan will excel in her new position and continue to move diagnostics forward!”

MSU has offered plant-related diagnostic services to the public and local and national agricultural communities for more than 25 years. Services include identification of plant pests and plant health analysis spanning pathology, entomology, nematology and abiotic issues.

As the North Central Plant Diagnostic Regional Center for the North Central Plant Diagnostic Network, MSU has faculty and staff devoted to each of these diagnostic disciplines and continues to expand its capabilities through advances in molecular diagnostics.

The services at Plant & Pest Diagnostics will remain unchanged and Byrne will continue to serve as the plant pathology diagnostician and teach in her new leadership position.

— Erin Hill, Michigan State University Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences

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CDM was reported the week of Aug. 5 on cucumber crops by growers in Franklin County, Massachusetts, which is the southern border of New Hampshire’s Cheshire and Hillsborough counties, according to a report from Cornell University.

With recent rainy weather and rain events spread throughout the forecast, there is likely a high risk for CDM pathogen spreading from Massachusetts to southern and central New Hampshire, and perhaps beyond. If infection occurs, expect symptoms to start to appear in 5 days, according to the alert.

CDM can infect more than 60 different hosts, including cucurbits such as cucumber, cantaloupe, watermelon, squash and pumpkin. Producers of these crops should employ protectant fungicides for CDM prior to any future storms. These are listed in the New England Vegetable Management Guide under the crops tab and select the appropriate cucurbit crop(s).

Chlorothalonil or copper products (organic options) are protectant fungicides that most growers probably already possess. Once CDM occurs in a grower’s area, it will be important to switch from protectant fungicides to fungicides with specific activity against CDM, according to the report. These are also listed in the New England Vegetable Management Guide.

Any conventional grower who was not able to get a protectant spray down prior to the rain and who has not sprayed within the past week and is feeling concerned because they did receive rain, Meg McGrath from Cornell suggests applying a locally systemic fungicide such as Curzate (cymoxanil) as soon as possible.

Growers suspecting CDM infections should take photos and send them to their local Extension specialist or the University of New Hampshire Plant Diagnostic Lab via email at unh.pdl@unh.edu, or submit samples to the UNH Plant Diagnostic lab for confirmation.

Read more about CDM here, including a recorded teleconference on managing downy mildew.

The post Melons hosts for cucurbit downy mildew detected in New England appeared first on Fruit Growers News.

CROP PROGRESS

Peach harvesting continues, with early pear and apple harvests also underway. Premier Honeycrisp and Wildfire Galas will mature in the next couple of weeks. “Stop-drop materials can be very useful to manage harvest windows during this early season, especially if color is a concern,” advises Lindsay Brown of MSU Extension.

Gingergold apples, sampled in Kent County, are nearing maturity, developing a nice blush but still tasting slightly starchy. Paulared apples are mature and being harvested this week, though some show signs of watercore. Zestar! apples, also sampled in Kent County, are set for harvest this week.

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

MSU Extension recommends continuing control measures for bitter rot and black rot and staying vigilant for sooty blotch and flyspeck, which are now visible. Cherry leaf spot is widespread, leading to early defoliation in some orchards. Bacterial canker of stone fruits is also a concern this season, causing “shot hole” in leaves and brown lesions on fruit.

INSECT ACTIVITY

Codling moth populations are declining as the second generation of adults finish their egg deposition. Obliquebanded leafroller and oriental fruit moth populations are present but in low numbers. MSU Extension advises monitoring for fruit damage and leaf skeletonization from Japanese beetles and rose chafers.

MSU’s full update is available online.

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Responsible use of spraying technology aligns with sustainable farming practices by protecting crops, conserving resources and minimizing the environmental impact.

After all, targeted spraying allows for precise application of pesticides, reduces the overall amount used and minimizes potential harm to beneficial insects and surrounding ecosystems.

Controlling the application rate

Smart Apply, a kit that can be added to virtually any new or used air blast, over-the-row or GUSS autonomous sprayer, combines LiDAR (light detection and ranging)- powered precision spraying with automated data collection of each spray event, unique in the industry, according to Smart Apply. 

Gary Vandenbark, chief engineer of Indianapolis-based Smart Apply, works with fruit and nut growers in their orchards and was instrumental in creating the Smart Apply System, the development of GEN2 and ongoing enhancements.

“If you think about a tree or vine crop, we’re really trying to spray the foliage or canopy, but everything that has been developed has always been about gallons per acre,” he said. Vandenbark explains how Smart Apply’s LiDAR senses the presence of trees/vines, adjusting spray volume based on size and density of individual plants to optimize protection and avoid over spraying. “You can also generate great savings by not spraying the air or the ground,” he said.

There are numerous operational and sustainability benefits of the system. For instance, Vandenbark noted how Smart Apply reduces chemical use and costs by an average of 50%, water use by an average of 50%, cuts runoff up to 92% and airborne drift by up to 87%.

“We use pulse width modulation and that gives us the ability to do a variable rate application on an individual nozzle basis,” Vandenbark said. “If you have 20 vertical nozzles on each side of the sprayer, we can use the LiDAR to break up the zones as we look at the canopy and utilize the spray nozzles.”

The system was invented in 2006, running by 2009, and tested for 12 years by the USDA before it was commercialized by Smart Apply in 2019 for the industry, so it’s still fairly new.

“We have the ability to count trees, look at density volumes on different areas of the field and things of that sort, look at the tree height and start taking historical data and look at tree growth or density history,” Vandenbark said. “With individual nozzle management, you have the ability to control the application rate relative to location on the tree. So, you can increase or decrease the volume from side to side or top to bottom.”

Smart Apply was designed for apples, stone fruits, pears, grapes, bush berries, tree nut crops and more. Smart Apply runs off of an app and growers can choose from multiple languages, including English and Spanish.

In the mist

For more than 40 years, A1 Mist Sprayers has been perfecting ideal sprayers for eradicating a wide range of diseases and pests that can affect fruit and nut crops.

“Our mist sprayers allow you to effortlessly provide uniform coverage on your trees with less chemical and water usage,” said Jon Kulzer, product manager for Ponca, Nebraska-based A1 Mist Sprayer. “With a wide range of models and accessories, our mist sprayers can adapt to fit one’s individual needs.”

In 2024, A1 Mist Sprayers is focusing on continuously enhancing its mist sprayers to be more user-friendly and durable, ensuring they perform season after season.

“When we began manufacturing mist sprayers, our focus was on PTO (power take-off) options designed for use with tractors,” Kulzer said.“As technology advanced, we expanded our offerings to include gas engines for transportation with ATVs, UTVs and other commercial vehicles. This flexibility allows our users to get the job done based on their available resources.”

One of the biggest benefits of the company’s mist sprayers is their flexibility to mist spray a wide range of applications, regardless of height. Depending on the model, users can mist up to 100 feet and it can be used for all tree care.

“Mist sprayers are crucial as they provide larger, uniform coverage, protecting your investment from diseases, fungus and pests,” Kulzer said. “Additionally, they reduce your use of chemicals and water, providing savings across the board.”

Electrostatic spraying

Willie Hartman, president and CEO of Mt. Angel, Oregon-based OnTarget Spray Systems, noted his company is solely focused on electrostatic spraying in agriculture. OnTarget has designed models for 14 specialty crops.

“We have about 45 different models to serve specialty crops,” he said, explaining the sprays harness the gravity-defying power of electrostatic cling to uniformly coat in half the time, with an 80% reduction of water, and less material waste. Plus, more chemical hits the target when it is applied electrostatically, as opposed to conventional sprayers, where more product moves into the atmosphere or runs off on the ground.

“Our sprayers enable farmers to target three specific zones,” Hartman said. The precise and uniform application maximizes chemical efficiencies and optimizes spray effectiveness against plant diseases and insects, he said. 

“Sun protection is critical for many crops and our unique uniform coverage gets the job done,” he said. “We also use half as much diesel compared to an air blast and we usually spray two to three times more acres per day, which helps with labor challenges and labor cost. Our customers appreciate the time savings and reduce fuel costs.”

Regardless of the sprayer growers go with, effective pest control will help maximize crop yield by preventing damage from pests and diseases, which can otherwise reduce the quantity and quality of the nuts.

Article written by Keith Loria

A graduate of the University of Miami, Keith Loria is an award-winning journalist who has been writing for almost 20 years. View his recent writing at keithloria.contently.com

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Reflecting on the trials of the previous year, we can gain valuable lessons that can guide us towards more effective grapevine disease management practices for the coming season.

UNDERSTANDING THE CHALLENGES

The surge in disease pressure experienced by grapevine growers last year was influenced by a combination of environmental factors, including delayed budbreak, cool spring, long duration of optimal temperature for disease infection, high humidity levels, and heavy rainfall.

These conditions provided ideal breeding grounds for pathogens, leading to widespread infections across vineyards. The consequences of unchecked disease proliferation were dire, with significant losses in yield and quality observed in many California grape regions.

One of the most useful disease forecast tools for grape growers is the Powdery Mildew Index (PMI). tinyurl.com/5etdb6v2. This index tracks the duration of canopy temperature between 70° F and 85° F after budbreak, ranging from 0 to 100. Higher numbers indicate a higher PM risk, necessitating a higher fungicide rate based on the label and shorter spray intervals when disease pressure is high. Guidelines on PM disease pressure corresponding to fungicide types and spray intervals are illustrated in Table 1.

In 2023, we experienced high disease pressure. How does the current disease pressure in 2024 compare? 

Recent data might provide some insights. The PMI from 2023 and 2024 is illustrated in Figure 1. In 2024, we had a high PMI right after budbreak, while in 2023, a low PMI was maintained from budbreak to the end of April, with an unusual cold spring and slow canopy growth. However, in both years, the PMI quickly spiked to 100 at the onset of May. 

Currently, we observe a similar PMI trend, with a decline at the end of May followed by another spike to 100. Additionally, in 2024 significant precipitation after budbreak has created a conducive environment for phomopsis cane and leaf spot, promoting early season canopy growth and favorable conditions for PM and botrytis. As Figure 2 illustrates, there was a total of 2.8 inches of precipitation after break and especially in mid-April there was a rain event with >1 inch.

LESSONS LEARNED

Early detection and monitoring. One of the most critical lessons from last year is the importance of early disease detection and continuous monitoring. Implementing regular scouting routines and utilizing the PMI can help identify disease outbreaks early, allowing growers to intervene promptly with timely fungicide sprays and proper canopy management.

Cultural practices.

Proper vineyard management practices, such as canopy management, pruning techniques, and nutrient and water management, play a vital role in disease prevention. By optimizing vineyard conditions to improve airflow and reduce humidity levels, growers can create an environment less conducive to disease development and improve spray coverage. 

Shoot thinning when shoot length is about 8”-12” after the risk of spring frost passes can effectively manage yield and increase canopy airflow and spray coverage when irrigation is well checked. Basal leaf removal at fruit set either through manual or mechanical ways can reduce PM by over 50% without fungicides and increase spray coverage by 200 times.

Water Management.

Vineyard water management is crucial for effective disease management for several reasons:

1. Preventing canopy overgrowth: Over-irrigation can lead to excessive canopy growth, creating favorable conditions for fungal pathogens. This includes high relative humidity (RH), lack of sunlight penetration, minimal canopy airflow, and insufficient spray coverage.
2. Reducing berry splitting: Excessive irrigation can increase berry size, leading to splitting or cracking, especially in tight cluster varieties. This condition can exacerbate cluster bunch rot.
3. Managing nitrogen levels: Over-irrigation with high nitrate water can elevate the vine’s nitrogen status, promoting fungal growth and intensifying disease expression.

By optimizing irrigation practices, growers can help maintain a balanced canopy, reduce the risk of berry splitting, and manage nitrogen levels to create an environment less conducive to fungal diseases.

Susceptible Varieties and Vigorous Rootstocks.

Though all Vitis vinifera cultivars are susceptible to PM and botrytis, some varieties are more susceptible than others. In the San Joaquin Valley (SJV), susceptibility rankings can be generalized for several common varieties as follows: Carignan > Fiesta > Chardonnay > Thompson Seedless > Cabernet Sauvignon > Zinfandel > Rubired. 

Vigorous rootstocks tend to produce larger canopies, which might increase relative humidity, reduce sunlight penetration, and decrease spray coverage compared to weaker rootstocks. Growers should be more proactive with canopy management and spray programs when the combinations of susceptible varieties and vigorous rootstocks are present.

Integrated pest management.

Adopting an integrated approach to pest and disease management is essential for sustainable grape production. Integrating cultural, biological and chemical control methods, while prioritizing environmentally friendly practices, can help minimize reliance on synthetic pesticides and mitigate the risk of pesticide resistance. Growers can refer to Table 1 to guide the spray interval based on the PMI and fungicide types.

The battle against grapevine diseases is ongoing and fraught with challenges, but it also offers opportunities for growth and innovation. By leveraging insights gained from experiences and embracing a proactive approach to disease management, grape growers can navigate the complexities of disease pressure with confidence, ensuring the continued health and vitality of their vineyards for generations to come.

— Written by George Zhuang, the viticulture farm advisor  for the University of California Cooperative Extension at Fresno County and is a member of the Fruit + Vegetable 40 Under Forty Class of 2024.

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Lawton Pearson, the fifth generation owner of Pearson Farm in the Fort Valley, Georgia, peach and pecan growing belt, loves walking inside any fruit orchard.

For Pearson, there is no better place he would like to be than in the middle of an orchard.

“To me, it’s awe-inspiring,” he said. “When you see a loaded orchard of fruit, and it’s not just loaded with fruit when you pick it; it’s all year. To see those trees and what God has given us, the complexity of it, and yet the simplicity of it — trees planted in rows, square formed, pruned by hand. They’re like little pieces of art, every one of them. You see order, not chaos. You get out in an orchard, any orchard, and you’re away from all of it. It gives you a special feeling to be in and live in an orchard. It’s something you don’t get out of a bean or corn field.”

While technology has altered peach shipping and handling, particularly in the packinghouse, the manual thinning, pruning and picking hasn’t changed much since the 19th century, Pearson said. 

As peaches are difficult to mechanize, Pearson believes they will be one of the last fruits to be harvested by machine.

Mechanization challenge

Peach harvesting can become more mechanized than is today, but Pearson believes picking peaches with machines will require much machine learning and will be unable to detect what the human eye can see because individual peaches vary and are in large numbers. 

Pearson believes the industry erred by breeding mostly red peaches, which makes it difficult for tech and humans to detect peach ripeness.

Drones’ aerial views aid scouting and aid tree counts and density, but don’t save much labor, he said. Though Pearson believes drone tech is the future of peach orchard tech, he doesn’t see how drone spraying capacities can adequately cover peach groves. 

“I’m not sure what the future is in (drone) spraying, but for scouting, it’s useful and gives me perspective,” Pearson said. “Tech that can map your orchard to try to give you yield projections, based on a drone flying up and down, is awesome, but peaches are so unpredictable. There’s a lot of data that is not actionable and is kind of worthless.”

Trying to shape peach mapping and projections into a science to more accurately predict harvest start dates, Pearson last year tracked factors including variety bloom and degree dates, temperatures, heat accumulation and post-bloom. He compared the information to his 20 years of manual data. 

With all the calculations and numbers, Pearson missed projecting the harvest date by five days. 

As peaches are highly variable in performance, growers do much by the “seat of their pants” in predicting and modeling, with a lot based on what happened the last year or year before, Pearson said.

Freeze factor

One out of 10 years, Georgia experiences a killing freeze, like one that happened in 2023. Luckily, 2024 did not produce any disastrous events. 

On average, a freeze strikes in the last two weeks of March, with the last frost typically hitting a week after the full bloom date, which is usually in late March or early April.  

“Throw a variable of a freeze or one night at 28º F into the mix of science and it kills some peaches,” Pearson said. “You can basically put an asterisk beside everything that happens after that freeze.”

Pearson has been using wind machines for a decade. The tech can provide an additional two to six degrees warmth, critical for saving fruit during cold evenings.

Pearson Farms grows 40 varieties of peaches, and the lineup often changes. The Prince-named varieties lead the pack, including the Ruby Prince, though there are some others that Pearson said perform well.

Breeding, crossing and variety selection are conducted at USDA’s Southeastern Fruit and Tree Nut Research Laboratory 15 miles from Pearson’s groves. “It’s constant renovation of genetic material, which makes them better, bigger and with more disease resistance,” Pearson said.

While improved herbicides have helped growers better control thracknose, brown rot and bacterial spot are major diseases threatening peaches. Omitting spraying can produce rots that can ruin crops. Bacterial spot is in abundance. O’Henry, one of the oldest varieties, is a great variety but is highly susceptible to bacterial spot. 

Disease, pests battles

In the off-season, oil sprays can control scale, considered a peach tree’s biggest nemesis, and researchers are working on mating disruption solutions.

Major pests include plum curculio, oriental fruit moth, stink bugs and borers. With plum curculio, worms burrow and aren’t susceptible to mating disruption. Mating disruption helps, however, with the peachtree borer, lesser peachtree borer and oriental fruit moths.

Only chemically controlled, stink bugs aren’t always a big issue. However, when conditions are right, they can become troublesome, Pearson said.

Growers can only discourage insects from entering orchards. During dry favorable conditions, insects enter seeking moisture. When there’s abundant moisture, insects are satisfied being somewhere else in the woods, Pearson said. 

— By Doug Ohlemeier, Assistant Editor 

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The Geneva 257, Geneva 484 and Geneva 66 rootstocks are licensed through Cornell’s Center for Technology Licensing and follow 40 years of testing. The new rootstocks are touted as offering something for almost every apple grower.

The rootstocks provide additional tools for the apple industry, said Gennaro Fazio, an adjunct associate professor of horticulture in Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). Fazio and Terence Robinson, CALS professor of horticulture in Cornell’s School of Integrative Plant Science Horticulture Section, work on the rootstocks.

Geneva 257 is a semi-dwarfing rootstock that produces large fruit and high crop load in varieties including SnapDragons and Galas, allowing for more high-density orchards to produce larger fruit.

A characteristic of G.257 is a well-developed root system, one so strong that some nurseries have complained about the difficulty in pulling the rootstocks out of the ground, he said. One of the reasons Cornell released the rootstock was to match it with the weaker growing varieties like Snapdragon, Fazio said.

Another semi-dwarfing rootstock, Geneva 484 is highly productive and yield-efficient. Fazio said G.484 is impressive in its ability to perform well in high-stress environments, including organic growing.

A negative is the rootstock produces some, but not many, suckers, shoots or weak branches that grow straight up and require regular removal. The sucker factor is dependent on if the soil is rocky, Fazio said. Still, the small number of G.484’s suckers is smaller than M.7s, he said.

Other benefits should be discovered as more G.484 rootstocks are planted, he said. Fazio said the G.484 was one of the best performing rootstocks in the NC-140 Regional Rootstock Research Project tests.

Geneva 66 is a semi-dwarfing, red-leafed and productive rootstock that is resistant to fire blight.

Fazio said the rootstock has performed well in the NC-140 trials and possesses a favorable and more flexible graft union, a bulge in the trunk a few inches above the soil, as opposed to brittleness issues other rootstocks experienced, he said.

Because of its machine harvesting capabilities, G.66 is likely to gain popularity among cider apple growers. Fazio said the center has performed some tests, but more tests will be necessary.

A handful of groups are breeding cider rootstocks in the U.S. The material they release will be graphed into the Geneva rootstocks to see how well they work. A shortcoming of cider rootstocks, however, is their extreme sensitivity to fire blight, Fazio said.

Climate concerns

The Cornell scientists are also looking into how the changing climate affects apple rootstocks and apple trees in general. They’ve submitted a grant proposal to the USDA.

One reason climate research is important, Fazio said, is because the increased frequency of warming-up periods in January and February that awaken trees that are then struck by sudden cold snaps. The extreme temperature changes destroy parts of the vascular system that are not acclimated to the temperature change, causing intense stress later in the season.

Two other rootstocks are being readied for release. The sub-dwarfing material similar in size to B.9s and M.27s will be designed to fill a hole in the Geneva rootstock portfolio that currently offers vigor categories from dwarf to semi-vigorous rootstocks.

“The hardest thing is long-term field testing. We can use molecular markers, we can use all kinds of new gadgets and methods, but where the rubber meets the road is having them properly tested, for example, by the NC 140 system and similar testing systems around the world,” Fazio said. “Having the data collected in a systematic way, people realize these rootstocks are actually giving, with good statistical confidence, an extra 2 to 3 fruit or 10 fruit per tree, without any negative consequences on fruit production, fruit quality or anything else. And that’s with the bonus of surviving major fire blight events.”

The Geneva program began in 1968 with CALS apple rootstock breeder Jim Cummins and plant pathologist Herb Aldwinkle. Cummins wanted to develop new apple rootstocks that could be dwarfing and also fire blight-resistant. Aldwinkle was instrumental in selection of resistance to root diseases and fire blight. Without those initial crosses, today’s apple industry would look far different.

“Growers needed a place to go for replanting orchards devastated by fire blight and by cold damage, and these Geneva rootstocks have been sort of a salvation,” Robinson said in a news release.

Nearly 70 million trees are planted on Geneva rootstocks around the world. In any given year, U.S. growers plant up to 7 million trees of Geneva rootstocks. Geneva is a registered trademark.

—  By Doug Ohlemeier, Assistant Editor 

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In the intricate nexus of agriculture and economics, the National Plant Diagnostic Network emerges as a pivotal force. The fragility of our agricultural ecosystems is evidenced by the potential havoc a single plant pathogen can wreak on food chains and industries worth billions. 

The interception of such threats before they inflict economic carnage is a testament to the indispensable role of early detection and diagnostics, which not only prevent staggering financial losses but also preserve the integrity of the ecosystem. A fiscal examination further substantiates the high returns on investment in plant health, where even minimal funding could save millions by averting the costly repercussions of disease outbreaks. 

The economic rationale for fully funding the NPDN is unequivocal, positioning it as not only a protector of natural heritage but a strategic defender against the perils of underfunding.

Economic rationale and analysis

It is conservatively estimated that NPDN’s early detection and diagnostic capabilities save tens to hundreds of millions of dollars annually by preventing economic losses in agriculture and preserving ecosystem services. Smart offers a vivid example, recounting how NPDN’s proficiency potentially saved over $990,000 in plant value in just one regulated pathogen case.  

The perils of underfunding

Should funding for NPDN stagnate, the implications are dire. The U.S. would witness outdated diagnostic equipment failing to detect new pathogen strains, leading to unchecked spread and crop destruction. The oak and tanoak trees in California and Oregon, for example, might have succumbed to a regulated pathogen, translating into losses exceeding the market value of $50 million in timber and ecosystem services. With pests and diseases costing the global economy more than $220 billion annually, the U.S. cannot afford to fall behind in plant health diagnostics.

Strategic alignment with national goals

The alignment of NPDN’s mission with national security and biosecurity goals is unequivocal. With the detection of over 1,800 pathogens in new locales throughout 2023, NPDN’s role in preempting threats to the U.S. agricultural system—worth billions in trade—is clear. Without the network, the cascading effect of unchecked pathogens on crop yield, trade embargoes, and food supply resilience would be profound.

Federal funding efficiency and critique

The budgetary analysis reveals a stark reality: with current funding levels, NPDN operates on a mere 20% of the funds required to run state-based diagnostic labs. Static funding jeopardizes the network’s ability to respond to emerging threats, maintain critical equipment, and provide essential training. The network’s highly leveraged efficiency in utilizing federal dollars is unparalleled, yet the constant threat of budgetary stagnation endangers its ability to protect an agricultural export market valued at $135.5 billion in 2021.

The imperative for modernization

Allocating additional funds for technological advancements and first-detector training is not just recommended but essential for maintaining pace in the ever-evolving battle against new pathogens. The absence of such investment leaves our diagnostic labs vulnerable, potentially resulting in significant financial repercussions for the industry, including yield losses, costly control measures, and market restrictions. Therefore, a strategic approach to funding is crucial for the continuous innovation required to safeguard our agricultural future.

The cost of neglecting these areas is quantifiably substantial; without dedicated investment, diagnostic labs could fall critically behind, leading to unchecked pathogen spread. This neglect could manifest in annual industry losses potentially amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars through reduced yields, increased expenditure on control measures, and imposed market restrictions. Thus, proactive fiscal commitment is indispensable to preclude such sizable economic deficits and to ensure ongoing innovation in protecting our agriculture.

Opportunities for collaboration and expansion

Current funding constraints mean missed opportunities for collaboration and expansion. The potential for a multiplicative effect of invested dollars is immense: for every dollar spent on NPDN, the return is not just in safeguarded crops but also in educational outreach and enhanced biosecurity. Investment here would pay dividends in building a more resilient agricultural sector capable of withstanding the trials of climate change and globalization.

Call to action

With the NPDN requiring a fraction of the Farm Bill’s multi-billion-dollar allocation to operate at full capacity, the choice is clear. Fully funding NPDN means protecting billions in agricultural assets, securing the jobs of millions of Americans, and preserving the cornerstone of our food security. The cost of inaction is not just the dollars lost; it is the irreversible damage to our nation’s agricultural heritage and the future it sustains.

— By Natacha Rousseau and Alicyn Smart, Guest Contributors

Alicyn Smart directs the Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab, the Regional Center for the Northeast Plant Diagnostic Network (NEPDN), and is the Deputy Executive Director of the National Plant Diagnostic Network (NPDN). The Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab identifies diseases present on samples submitted and provides a management plan in the form of a diagnostic report to homeowners, farmers, the lawn care industry and nurseries to Maine residents and beyond. Smart identifies areas where research in plant pathology is needed. 

Natacha Rousseau specializes in sustainability, climate technology and plant pathology. She holds a Master’s in International Political Economy and a Bachelor’s in International Relations and Art History. Rousseau has promoted environmental sustainability as the senior public relations director at KlimaDAO and by leading campaigns at Diplomatiq. Currently, she is a lead communications consultant at The American Phytopathological Society (APS).

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One of the biggest help to growers these days are mobile apps, which can help farmers achieve optimized irrigation, targeted fertilization and enhanced field monitoring. With the use of a phone, growers can uncover a host of information and save themselves time and money in the process.

AgProz

AgProz offers software and mobile solutions that provide accurate and responsive crop acreage data, reliable marketing resources and analytics that help growers of all segments.

“We’re more tied to vendors and companies who are trying to find growers,” said John Krum, founder and CEO of AgProz. 

Krum started the company with the idea of overlaying agriculture data on a map, similar to Zillow for real estate. 

“With AgProz, what you’re able to do is from a map see how many acres a grower has, what kind of props are farmed, as well as a name and contact info,” Krum said. “Once I was able to pull out this information, I was no longer going in blind about what growers I could get in front of and help. It empowers companies like John Deere and others. It keeps the right people in front of the right growers.” 

The core product is the app, and now the data is being leveraged more from a marketing lens as a workforce tool.

“You can track certain things inside the app and navigating the workflow before doing follow-ups,” Krum said.

Doktar

Regardless of the crop focus — tree fruits, nuts, vegetables — Netherlands-based Doktar’s mobile app solutions help farmers make decisions on real-time data for precision farming and smart ag.

IoTrack is a mobile application that enables the management of the company’s Filiz Agricultural Sensor Station and PestTrap Digital Pest Tracking Station from a single platform. 

“Users can track their data flow and receive instant notifications from IoT-enabled devices, allowing them to make informed decisions and enhance efficiency,” said Tanzer Bilgen, CEO for Doktar.

Meanwhile, PestTrap is an IoT pest-tracking station that utilizes machine learning to accurately identify and count pests in real-time. It is suitable for use in fields, orchards, greenhouses, warehouses and forests. 

“With sticky paper and an integrated camera, PestTrap captures daily images and accurately identifies pest types,” Bilgen said. “Integrated with the IoTrack mobile application, PestTrap enables effortless remote tracking and sends notifications when pest levels reach a risk threshold.”

Users of PestTrap receive high-resolution images with its 5MP camera and can adjust the image frequency and timing options for more precise monitoring. 

“They can view pest species distribution and 48-hour spraying suitability assessments to take timely actions that reduce the economic impact of pests and optimize yields,” Bilgen said. “PestTrap’s machine learning algorithm recognizes region-specific pests, tracks their developmental cycle and learns to identify new pests accurately within two weeks.”

Both IoTrack and Orbit, an app that helps farmers monitor the health and development of their crops and identify underdeveloped, water-stressed or over-irrigated areas, enable farmers to view all data on their homepage and spot problems immediately.

“Overall, IoTrack helps implement practices for precision agriculture by instantly controlling irrigation problems, disease risks, microclimate weather conditions, calculating advanced agricultural metrics, and potential pest infestations,” Bilgen said. The app also helps track the timing of irrigation, spraying, and phenological stage changes in the field by recording them on time.

“Health, inspection and water stress maps are crucial,” Bilgen said. “With Orbit, you can monitor the weather hourly with the live precipitation and storm tracking feature and take timely precautions with frost risk and fungal disease risk notifications.”

Barn Owl Technologies

Barn Owl Technologies builds physical hardware that acts as an automatic scouting tool that helps growers with insect monitoring and provides early timing for growers to make early decisions for insect pest management.

“It will lead to a reduction on bug sprays and increase production,” said Richard Chen, Barn Owl Technologies’ president. “We are working with apple growers in Massachusetts and target harmful pests such as oriental fruit moth, codling moth, Obliquebanded leafroller, plum curculio, apple maggot and brown marmorated stink bug.”

The scouting can be implemented via a mobile app and provides first arrival dates (biofix) and weekly insect counting.

“Scouting insects is usually a weekly job for growers, but if they mess up the first arrival date, they spray all season long,” Chen said. “Finding first arrival date for growers requires them to scout every day, which is not feasible.” 

The company is also currently building an automatic trapping system for Colorado potato beetles and focusing its efforts on ground and crawling insects. 

One of the vegetable growers told Chen production by can be increased 25%-50% when early arrival dates for potato beetles are discovered, he said. 

Irrigation control

Other popular mobile apps include FieldNET Mobile, Agrobase and Pospera.

FieldNET Mobile allows growers to monitor and control irrigation systems from a mobile device, improving water efficiency and crop health. 

Agrobase, a crop protection database, provides comprehensive pest and disease identification, weed identification, plus agricultural news and trends.

Prospera offers pivot irrigation monitoring from an app, helping in irrigation planning and control.

Optical sorting equipment

Optical sorters are another area experiencing much innovation, with a big trend being the integration of AI, offering results akin to human inspection but at a significantly faster pace.

“This advancement involves the use of cameras with quicker processors to reduce collateral loss resulting from misdetection,” said Oscar Sandoval, California senior regional account manager at AMVT. “In response to this trend, our company has embraced AI by incorporating this feature into most of our sorter offerings, catering not only to bulk materials but also packaged goods. This addition aids in detecting issues such as improperly sealed bags or loosely capped jars, enhancing the sorting process for fruit/nut crop growers.”

These solutions ensure improved quality and cleanliness of the final product for consumers, minimizing the loss of good products in the reject pile. Ultimately, they enable growers to preserve a higher quantity of top-quality products.

“Compared to previous generations, the newer optical sorting equipment goes beyond traditional RGB technology, which relies on color differentiation,” Sandoval said. “The latest models analyze factors like size, color, texture and length to achieve precise separation, mirroring the discernment of the human eye utilizing AI.”

Another company taking advantage of AI is Taranis, which offers an advanced Open-Source Intelligence tool that utilizes AI and aerial imaging to monitor crops at higher resolutions than were done historically. This helps better detect pest issues, diseases and nutrient deficiencies early, enabling timely interventions.   

As agriculture continues to evolve with technological advancements including mobile apps, IoT devices, and AI-driven solutions, the future of farming is not just about innovation, it’s about precision, efficiency and sustainability for growers worldwide.

By Keith Loria

A graduate of the University of Miami, Keith Loria is an award-winning journalist who has been writing for almost 20 years. View his recent writing at keithloria.contently.com

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