Passing this on from the VT AAgency of Agriculture, Food & Markets. -TB

Good morning Terry,

Please share the upcoming COVID-19 related sessions with fruit growers as you see fit.

Thanks,

Ollie

Ollie Cultrara (they/them)

Produce Program Outreach & Education Coordinator

Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets | agriculture.vermont.gov

Cell: (802) 461-5128 | 94 Harvest Lane, Williston, VT 05495

COVID-19 Updates and Resources

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Two upcoming virtual sessions address COVID-19 considerations on farms (details below):

• Vaccinations in the Workplace – Thursday 4/29, 2-3 pm
• Getting Ready for Pick-Your-Own: Do’s and Don’ts for the Upcoming Season – Tuesday 5/4, 4-5 pm

Vaccination in the Workplace Forum

Thursday, April 29, 2-3 pm

Free and you must register in advance.

Is your farm considering asking employees to get the vaccine? The VT Manufacturing Extension Center is offering a free forum for employers to learn more about the human resources and legal issues around requiring or encouraging workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Panelists will discuss workplace vaccination policy considerations, requesting proof of COVID-19 vaccination, and best practices for communicating with employees about these policies, among other topics.

Getting Ready for Pick-Your-Own — Do’s and Don’ts for the Upcoming Season

Tuesday, May 4, 4-5pm

Free and you must register in advance.

Do you open your farm to visitors/customers? Join growers and ag service providers from the Northeast for an interactive discussion about what is working and what is not as we prepare to open our farms to visitors for the upcoming pick-your-own season. The berries are ripening and the Covid-19 pandemic is evolving – what does that mean for PYO visitor management this season? What did you do last year that you’ll continue and what will be different this season?

Featuring: Lisa Chase from University of Vermont Extension, Deb Colitas from Valley Fruits & Veggies in the Lehigh Valley of PA, Claudia Schmidt from Penn State Extension, and YOU! Come ready to share your PYO questions and experiences managing visitors.

This is the first agritourism zoom café in a series that will cover several topics for farms open to visitors through the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. To request a disability-related accommodation to participate in this program, please contact Christi Sherlock at 802-476-2003 or Christi.Sherlock so we may assist you.

Interested in having a safety expert visit your farm? A team of ag service providers in the Northeast is providing personalized safety assessments that will take place either virtually or on your farm (not just for PYO, this is for any type of farm open to visitors). Sign up HERE.

This material is based upon work supported by USDA/NIFA under Award Number 2018-70027-28588.

I may be a little late in getting this out, but everyone in the state should be prepared for the expected scab infection event that will be occurring Wednesday – Friday of this week. The NEWA model for some sites is still reading low for ascospore maturity- they are working on that in the back end. For most orchard in the Champlain Valley, we should have about 20% of ascospores mature- plenty to protect against. Be prepared with a preventative contact fungicide (mancozeb / captan, sulfur if organic) and consider adding a single-site product like Vangard or one of the DMI materials if you can’t get on before the rains start or you want some powdery mildew protection.

Insects are quiet so far, but I know some growers like to put a pink insecticide in as a matter of course. I’m not in that camp, and most sites are still a week out from pink anyway, but if you do use a prebloom insecticide, please stay away from neonicotinoids (IRAC group 4, e.g. Assail, Actara, Transform WG) that could express themselves in pollen and nectar and pose a unique danger to pollinators. Better yet, use white traps and only apply a prebloom insecticide against European apple safely and/or, in rare cases, tarnished plant bug, if populations are above threshold.

Make sure you order you codling moth traps and get them up in the orchard by bloom.

Where trade names or commercial products are used for identification, no discrimination is intended and no endorsement is implied. Always read the label before using any pesticide. The label is the legal document for the product use. Disregard any information in this message if it is in conflict with the label.

The UVM Tree Fruit and Viticulture Program is supported by the University of Vermont Agriculture Experiment Station, UVM Extension, USDA NIFA E-IPM Program, and USDA Risk Management Agency.

UVM Extension helps individuals and communities put research-based knowledge to work. University of Vermont Extension, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, cooperating, offer education and employment to everyone without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or familial status.

Buds are swelling in Vermont vineyards. At the UVM Horticulture Research and Education Center in South Burlington, yesterday, bud stages sorted into two general categories. Most ‘Minnesota’ cultivars (Marquette, Brianna, Itasca, Frontenac) are at the ‘wool’ bud stage; and most of the newer Plocher cultivars (also from Minnesota- Petite Pearl, Crimson Pearl, Verona) are a little behind at the bud swell stage. I’d expect bud break very soon, which brings up concerns for frost damage, what with it being April 27 and all. I made some comments on frost in a post from a few years ago that I will repreat again:

“There has been some recent discussion among growers about frost control measures after the cold snap that affected some vineyards. Questions about irrigating for frost control came up, and I’ll give my take on the subject: it is rarely worth it. Unless the irrigation system is carefully designed specifically for frost control (i.e. capable of outputting sufficient water to provide protection to the whole canopy), is run during the entire freezing event, and conditions such as low dew point or wind do prevent effective heat release from forming ice, then the significant effort likely won’t pay off and may cause even more damage than doing nothing at all. Frost fans are more commonly used in larger production regions, but they are very expensive and require their own specific conditions to be effective. I’ll echo comments made by others on the matter: the best frost control is good site selection, followed by good vine management. Row covers may be effective in mitigating frost conditions, but have their own infrastructure needs particularly a wire suspended above the canopy at 7-8 feet on which to hang the cover, and significant labor to apply and remove. I do not have experience to suggest a fabric type that would work best.”

Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a bit while we ride this out.

Flea beetles are the main insect of concern at this point, and really only when bud swell through 1” shoot growth is slowed and the buds remain at this susceptible state for more than a week or so. It’s a good idea to keep an eye on buds and consider treating if more than 2% of buds are damaged. Remember, buds are no longer susceptible after 1” shoot growth, so if you make it past that stage, then don’t worry about them. This is really only a problem in years with a cool, drawn-out spring, and even then, the damage is rarely of economic significance. Clearing brush piles from around vineyard edges can help to reduce this pest.

The window to treat vines with liquid lime sulfur (LLS) for phpompsis and other disease management is closing as vine growth increases, do not consider applying high doses of that material to vines with green tissue showing. I described the use of LLS in my April 3, 2017 message.

Now that buds are swelling, I’d avoid use of systemic herbicides in vineyards unless you have a really good shield system to avoid contact with green tissue. This is a good time to burn down weeds, though, and an application of glufosinate can be effective now. Adding a premergent material like Chateau can extend weed control for a longer period. On the other hand, I find that in-row vegetation can help with excess soil moisture and vine vigor, as long as it is managed. I’m not promoting just letting the weeds go in a planting, and groundcover should be mowed and kept out of the canopy during the growing season.

I’ve been getting a lot of questions- interestingly, none from growers- about the effect of this weather on fruit buds in the state. My answer has been consistent: I’m not concerned about what we’ve seen so far, but I am concerned about what we may see ahead. Dr. Rob Crassweller at Penn State wrote a good summary earlier this month on Frost, Critical Temperatures, and Frost Protection. The general gist is that, once apple buds are at tight cluster bud stage, we should be concerned when temps go below 28°F, and expect near-complete crop loss below 21. That’s a gross generalization, as duration of cold, bud nutrient status, relative humidity, and other factors do come into play. Checking around the state, I see that where buds are likely most advanced at tight cluster or even very early pink (Chittenden, SW Windham, Bennington counties), it looks like the low dipped around 27-28 this morning. That could be enough to do a touch of damage, but likely not take out a whole crop. Where buds were more advanced (and therefore less cold-hardy), or in low-lying parts of the orchard, there could be more damage. The best thing to do is wait a few days, then assess some flower buds visually for signs of damage. Thanks fully, it looks like last night was the coldest we’re expecting for as far out as I trust the forecast, but there’s a lot of potential cold weather season ahead.

Dr. Crassweller does discuss some methods for protecting from frost damage in his article, Unfortunately, none of the methods is easy or can be found in a jug. To date, there remains no good research that has shown consistently (or even any) improved frost protection from something you can buy in a jug. The #1, 2, and 3 best methods for preventing frost damage are selecting a good site. Other practices that promote general tree health and good groundcover management are the next ones to consider. Active frost protection methods include various ways to either heat or move the air. The former includes heaters, and I know of no orchard that has them in sufficient quantity. Some growers have been known or light round hay / straw bales on fire in the orchard, but that has never been shown effective to my knowledge. The latter include either fixed wind machines, mobile orchard fans, or helicopters. Of all those, only the last is of any use if you’re not set up for them yet. Let’s just keep an eye on the weather and hope that we can ride things out for a couple more weeks.

I do want to cast a word of warning that there seems to be a glitch in the NEWA apple scab ascospore maturity model that is showing lower maturity in many orchards than we would expect. Several years ago, the model had a ‘dry switch’ included that paused the model’s spore development prediction in extremely dry weather, which we saw earlier this month. We suspect that’s what we’re seeing, but I’ve conferred with Cornell plant pathologist Dr. Kerik Cox and he agrees that the model seems a bit off. His prediction is that we’re closer to 15% mature ascospores (as seen in Shoreham, with 13% estimated) as opposed to the 4% that is shown for South Burlington. The point of this is to remember that a model is just that- a tool that helps us to organize information, in this case weather and disease life cycle parameters, to make decisions. I know, in the old days, we estimated ascospore maturity by collecting infected overwintered leaves and analyzing spores under a microscope. The time and facilities to do that no longer exist, and ascospore maturity models were developed because of issues with timeliness (you could only assess conditions for the day you did the squash mount) and site-specificity of the old system. My point is, assessing spore maturity, whether by NEWA, RIMpro, AgEye models or direct observation under a microscope is always an estimation. At the end of the day, we need to take the information that we know about the orchard-disease system and make a decision. With apples at tight cluster or later in the main production regions of Vermont, we’re entering the period where I will always recommend preventative, protective coverage prior to anticipated rain events, even if the latest model says that only 4% of overwintering spores are mature enough to cause infection. As Kerik reassured me, the NEWA models tend to behave better in due time when we sink into a more ‘normal’ weather pattern.

It looks like the next chance of rain is Saturday or Sunday, so plan accordingly.

Where trade names or commercial products are used for identification, no discrimination is intended and no endorsement is implied. Always read the label before using any pesticide. The label is the legal document for the product use. Disregard any information in this message if it is in conflict with the label.

The UVM Tree Fruit and Viticulture Program is supported by the University of Vermont Agriculture Experiment Station, UVM Extension, USDA NIFA E-IPM Program, and USDA Risk Management Agency.

UVM Extension helps individuals and communities put research-based knowledge to work. University of Vermont Extension, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, cooperating, offer education and employment to everyone without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or familial status.

Sharing this meeting from colleagues at University of New Hampshire. The weed management discussion should be especially of interest. -TB

Tree Fruit [Virtual] Twilight Meeting

Wed, 04/28/2021

6:00pm – 7:45pm

Topics: Early Season Disease Management Considerations, NEWA Updates and Tree Fruit Weed IPM

Dr. Cheryl Smith, Plant Health Specialist with UNH Extension will cover early-season disease concerns and management strategies for tree fruit. Apple scab and fire blight management strategies will be highlighted. She’ll demonstrate the updated NEWA website and how to access the forecasting models available via NEWA.

Dr. Besancon will focus on integrated weed management in orchard settings. Foundational information on weed biology, ecology and identification will be presented, followed by strategies for Integrated Weed Management in fruit production. Herbicides selection, timing of application, spectrum of weed control, and potential for crop injury will be included. Time will be allotted for discussion and Q&A in order to tailor the information specifically to grower needs.

Full details and the registration link can be found here:

https://extension.unh.edu/events/tree-fruit-virtual-twilight-meeting

Jeremy DeLisle

Field Specialist – Food and Agriculture

Fruit and Vegetable Team

Merrimack County

315 Daniel Webster Highway
Boscawen, NH 03303

Phone: 603-255-3556 x 805

It’s looking like we have a likely apple scab infection period coming midweek in most parts of the state. Anyone who went into the rain / snow with copper or a fungicide, that’s likely gone. We’re also getting into the window where more spores are maturing (aside from cooler upland / inland sites, you probably still have <5% mature spores). Warmer sites should pay attention to this one, and apply a protectant (mancozeb, captan if you haven’t used oil in the past 10 days, sulfur if organic) and consider adding an early-season systemic like Vangard / Scala / Syllit if you aren’t sure about coverage going into the last event. That last suggestion is only for orchards in the warmest regions (warmer / lower elevation parts of Windham / Bennington / Addison counties), As I mentioned before, in most orchards, the overwintering inoculum was relatively low and the ascospore maturity was just starting to get underway before the rain.

With the cool down, we’re back at near-normal bud stage timing, so I’m becoming less concerned about frost to apples. Any time you have to material and sufficient spur leaves to intercept it, plan on applying foliar nutrients (nitrogen, boron, zinc) to strengthen buds prior to bloom.

Where trade names or commercial products are used for identification, no discrimination is intended and no endorsement is implied. Always read the label before using any pesticide. The label is the legal document for the product use. Disregard any information in this message if it is in conflict with the label.

The UVM Tree Fruit and Viticulture Program is supported by the University of Vermont Agriculture Experiment Station, UVM Extension, USDA NIFA E-IPM Program, and USDA Risk Management Agency.

UVM Extension helps individuals and communities put research-based knowledge to work. University of Vermont Extension, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, cooperating, offer education and employment to everyone without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or familial status.

Sharing from VT Agency of Agriculture, Food, & Markets. -TB

Registration (free) is open for the Vermont Organics Recycling Summit (VORS), an annual event celebrating compost and other forms of organics recycling. This year, VORS is a weeklong series of webinars, discussions, and virtual tours May 3-7. Sessions of particular interest for farmers include:

• On-Farm Composting: Connecting Farms to Communities to Close the Nutrient Loop, featuring Sunrise Farm
• Virtual Tour: Black Dirt Farm
• Food Scrap Composting Success: Stories From the Field, featuring Tamarlane Farm
• Improved Compost Fertility Characteristics: Thermophilic and Vermicompost Blends

More info is available at compostingvermont.org/vors-2021.

April 14, 2021: The forecast for the end of this week keeps looking worse- or better, depending on your point of view. Many of us are concerned about the advanced bud development on trees, which is about two weeks ahead of normal in some sites. We had McIntosh at tight cluster over the weekend on 4/11, and there’s still a lot of chilly weather ahead, so frost risk is certainly a concern. Next week’s cool down should be very welcome to slow down bud development, yet doesn’t look cold enough to do any damage. For now, we look like we’re in the clear. I don’t recommend miracle frost fixes from a jug, but this is a good time to get ready to apply foliar nutrients to boost bud viability. I’ll discuss some options for frost management later, should that risk get more real.

Oil should have been applied in most orchards in warmer sites by now, as well as a full rate of copper. Chances of precipitation starting tomorrow Thursday April 15 look greater than initially thought, and central and southern Vermont orchards can expect some much needed rain. That brings to mind a potential apple scab infection period. However, ascospore maturity is relatively low, and expected spore release from this next event is estimated at 3-6 percent of the total inoculum load for the year. Given the dry weather last year, scab was really hard to find and overwintering inoculum should be quite low. Recent copper applications will cover for this infection, but applications more than a week ago or sites with more advanced tissue and greater likelihood of rain (Southern VT) ought to consider either a protectant fungicide application now or a postinfection material like Scala, Vangard, or Syllit to be put on after things quiet down, say Saturday morning. Cooler inland sites likely don’t have enough spore development of tissue exposed to worry about this one- get your copper on when you can, but no rush.

Insect pressure is low- we haven’t seen anything at UVM orchard, and for most growers, early season insects aren’t really an issue. Wholesale apple producers with very low tolerance for cosmetic damage should keep an eye out for tarnished plant bug (described in my last message).

Where trade names or commercial products are used for identification, no discrimination is intended and no endorsement is implied. Always read the label before using any pesticide. The label is the legal document for the product use. Disregard any information in this message if it is in conflict with the label.

The UVM Tree Fruit and Viticulture Program is supported by the University of Vermont Agriculture Experiment Station, UVM Extension, USDA NIFA E-IPM Program, and USDA Risk Management Agency.

UVM Extension helps individuals and communities put research-based knowledge to work. University of Vermont Extension, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, cooperating, offer education and employment to everyone without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or familial status.