Forwarding from the VT Agency of Agriculture. -TB
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Author: Terence Bradshaw
Fast-track Your VCAAP Application
Fall post-harvest herbicide application
[tree fruit, IPM]
Passing this on from Mary Concklin at UCONN.
Herbicide Applications this Fall
There are a couple of times during the year when the timing of herbicides will have the largest positive impact on your weed management – fall and spring. Herbicides applied at other times during the season are good for eliminating those few pesky weeds that managed to sneak through, often times because of extended wet periods.
Summer annual weeds: they likely died off with a hard frost earlier this fall. Pre-emergent herbicides applied this fall will help to control new annual weed germination in the spring. It is also easier to apply this time of the year than during the busy wet spring when, in some years, it is difficult to get into the fields before germination occurs.
Fall applications: For all perennial weeds, a combination of pre- and post-emergent materials will provide the best results as long as the application is made while the emerged weeds are still alive. Applications made after they have been hit with a hard frost can be with pre-emergent materials only which aims at moving the herbicide into the root zone and impacting emergence in the spring.
Some materials perform better in the fall because of their mode of action. Glyphosate/Roundup is a systemic that moves into the plant. In late summer and fall, plants are moving food reserves to the roots. Glyphosate applied at this time will also move to the root system and kill the plant. In the spring, movement is upward in plants as they grow, so glyphosate applications made at that time have less of a chance of giving you the results you are looking for.
Organic growers also have organic herbicides available. These are contact not systemic materials and work best when applied to young weeds for knockdown. They will need to be re-applied several times throughout the growing season.
Brad Majek, Rutgers, offers the following about timing:
Apply herbicides to the tree row in established orchards twice annually, in late fall and in late spring. Herbicides applied in late October or early November control winter annuals, certain perennials, and early season summer annuals. Spring herbicide applications extend summer annual weed control through harvest. Advantages of two herbicide applications per year include:
1. Control of winter annual weeds, including camphorweed, wild lettuce and horseweed (marestail) and summer annual weed control for the same cost as most single application weed control programs.
2. Improved spring labor and equipment distribution requirements by controlling early summer annual weeds with residual herbicides applied the previous fall, thus delaying the need to spray in the spring until May or early June.
3. Increased consistency of weed control treatments, especially control of summer annual weeds when dry weather follows the spring herbicide application.
4. Decreased risk of crop injury, since each herbicide application must last less than a full year. Herbicides can be alternated and rates can be reduced or split to improve crop safety.
5. Decreased competition from established winter annual weeds and summer annual weed seedlings in March, April, and May for fertilizer and water when the trees begin to grow.
Late Fall Herbicide Applications should include a translocated post emergence herbicide, and a residual broadleaf herbicide. A residual grass herbicide may also be applied in the fall. Apply 2,4-D to control emerged winter annual broadleaf weeds tank-mixed with Princep for residual control. Consider a labeled glyphosate product if perennial weeds are present and treatment is recommended in the fall. The use of a grass herbicide in the fall depends on the product chosen. Kerb 50WP is the only grass herbicide that must be applied in the fall, if it is used, to control certain cool season perennial grasses. An additional residual annual grass herbicide is needed in the spring to provide full season summer annual grass control following a fall application of Kerb 50WP. Solicam 90DF, Surflan 80WP, Devrinol 50WP and Prowl 4EC (non-bearing only) are annual grass herbicides that should be applied in late fall or as a split application, half in the fall and the second half in the spring. Use the split application when grass pressure is heavy for best results. The use of these herbicides in spring only has resulted in inconsistent weed control when dry weather followed the application.
Information on tree fruit herbicides may be found at: https://netreefruit.org/weeds
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.
Helping out Champlain Orchards
I am passing this request from UVM Extension on to the greater fruit growing community. It is rare that I use this list to promote a specific farm, and this should not be read as preferential treatment. What happened at Champlain could have happened on any of our farms, and this is a chance to support each other as a farming community, and to consider what we may need if such a situation befalls any of us. I’ve talked with Ginger and she has indicated that much of the need involves housing upgrades, including dishwashers and laundry facilities to help the workers maintain quarantine while keeping the farm running. She suggested, and I agree, that mundane features like this are something that all farms that have communal housing may want to consider moving forward. Take care, everyone, and please let me know if you have any issues or concerns.
-Terry
By now most of you have probably heard that some of the Jamaican crew members at Champlain Orchards have contracted COVID.
Many of us have worked with Champlain Orchards over the years through our jobs in Extension, and some of us have even had the privilege of working alongside the Jamaican guys as fellow employees of the orchard. They are an amazing group of people, and it is hard to imagine how challenging it must be to be dealing with the pandemic while so far from friends and family.
You can find out more about the situation on Champlain Orchard’s website. While the state is helping in some ways, there is still going to be considerable cost associated with taking care of the men, making adaptations to housing to keep everyone as safe and able to quarantine as possible, etc..If you would like to help, you can make donations by scrolling down to the green button at the bottom of the webpage.
These funds will go towards purchasing supplies for the crew, and making improvements to labor housing. If you have ideas of other kinds of assistance you may be able to offer, please contact marketing to help coordinate.
GINGER NICKERSON|FOREST PEST EDUCATION COORDINATOR
she/her pronouns (why is this here?)
VT Urban & Community Forestry Program
University of Vermont Extension
327 US-302, Barre, VT 05641
Mon – Thurs: 802-476-2003 (Please note I do not work on Fridays) │ www.vtcommunityforestry.org
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.
COVID resources
By now it’s likely that everyone in the Vermont orchard community has heard news of a COVID outbreak among the harvest crew at Champlain Orchards in Shoreham. I write this with respect for the Champlain Orchard community, and humility regarding the potential for an outbreak when we are doing the best we can. A farm isn’t that different than a college campus, and this only highlights how easily any of us can wind up in a tough situation.
The Vermont Agricultural and Public Health communities are providing support to Champlain and to other growers. Addison District State Senator Ruth Hardy has issued a communication to constituents outlining the services being provided. For many of our smaller pick-your-own orchards, the low crop and high demand have led to a shortened season, and many shops have already closed up for the season. But for those who are still harvesting, and especially who still have crews in bunkhouses, it’s critically important to follow CDC guidance as I outlined in a previous post.
Finally, on a good note, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets has announced an extension to November 15 of the Vermont Covid-19 Agricultural Assistance Program. VAAFM personnel had contacted me earlier in the season because few growers had signed onto the program, which wasn’t too surprising given the timing during harvest. The purpose of VCAAP grants is to stabilize agricultural businesses and organizations based on their lost revenues and expenses related to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Please consider applying for this program, more information is available at: https://agriculture.vermont.gov/covid-19-information/vermont-covid-19-agriculture-assistance-program
Take care out there,
Terry
Health Services for H2A Workers
Passing on from Naomi Wolcott-MacCausland at UVM Extension. -TB
UVM Extension wants to make sure H2A workers are as healthy as possible during this busy time of year and into the future. The fall flu season combined with COVID is potentially a huge threat to the success and viability of farms and we want to help reduce this risk. We are making available FREE health services on and off-farm in the coming weeks and are doing a health needs assessment to help us make decisions about future services.
WHAT WE CAN DO FOR YOU THIS FALL:
· Send an immigrant farmer outreach nurse to the farm for health screenings
· Arrange free telehealth visits for workers
· Provide COVID educational resources, screen potentially symptomatic workers by phone, and coordinate on-farm COVID testing for symptomatic workers
· Provide information about local flu clinics accessible to your crew (and when possible coordinate on farm flu clinics)
WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU:
· Input of farm owners regarding their view of the health care needs of H2A workers
· Input of H2A workers regarding their health care needs and barriers to care
HOW DO I PARTICIPATE?
Farm owners or managers:
Use this jennica.stetler. Either way, we’ll be in touch with you.
H2A workers:
We would like to conduct these assessments in person at a time that is most convenient for the farm and workers while masked and practicing physical distancing. We hope to arrange these in person visits through farm owners or managers. You can help us do this by taking the survey or emailing jennica.stetler.
UPDATED Pick-Your-Own Restart Plan
Dear VVBGA Listserv Members,
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets has updated the Pick-Your-Own Restart Plan. The Pick-Your-Own (PYO) Restart Plan is intended to support Vermont farms that offer pick-your-own opportunities to safely invite to customers to their farms during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The updated PYO Restart Plan reflects recent changes to the statewide mandatory health and safety requirements described in the Agency of Commerce and Community Development’s Phased Restart Work Safe Guidance.
To read the full PYO Restart Plan, visit: https://agriculture.vermont.gov/document/pick-your-own-restart-plan .
For additional information on the PYO Restart Plan and answers to Frequently Asked Questions, please visit: https://agriculture.vermont.gov/covid-19-information/covid-19-sector-guidance-news/sector-guidance-pick-your-own-restart-plan .
Please direct any questions regarding the updated Pick-Your-Own Restart Plan to AGR.CovidResponse or 802-585-6225. Thank you!
Best,
Gina
– – – – – – – – – –
Gina Clithero (she/her)
Agriculture Development Specialist
Vermont Produce Program | Vermont Specialty Crop Block Grant Program
Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets
116 State St. Montpelier, Vermont 05620-2901
gina.clithero | (802) 585-6225
COVID-19 Updates and Resources Here
Sign up to receive email updates on marketing opportunities, events, and grants!
Getting orchards and wineries listed on the VermontVacation.com directory
You may have heard about ACCD’s new Buy Local Vermont program. The program is intended to bring needed foot traffic and increase sales for local restaurants, retail stores, entertainment and performing arts venues, lodging and tourism-related businesses. On September 8, 2020, the program will begin incentivizing purchases by giving Vermont residents $30 savings offers to be used at local Vermont businesses where they can use their funds. Your members can add their business to our Buy Local directory starting now and we are strongly encouraging all interested businesses to do so before September 7 (although they will be able to add their business after that date). For information about the program and to watch an informational webinar, visit the ACCD Business Recovery Resource Center.
Sara DeFilippi | Sales & Marketing Specialist
Agency of Commerce & Community Development
Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing
1 National Life Dr, Davis Bldg, 6th Floor | Montpelier, VT 05620-0501
802-272-2633 cell
Sara.DeFilippi
Pre-harvest juice testing for ripeness
Heat accumulation is up overall this year, and we are about ten days ahead of ‘normal’ in South Burlington. As harvest approaches, it’s important to keep and eye on three important parameters of juice chemistry: soluble solids (sugar), pH, and titratable acidity. These values should be checked at least weekly against your target levels for the wine style you are aiming for. Last year, we published a fact sheet the details the methods for completing these tests: http://www.uvm.edu/~fruit/pubs/UVMFRT006_PreharvestGrapeTesting.pdf
Good luck with the harvest.
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.
COVID News: PYO and farm stand guidance
I’ve been getting a lot of questions regarding COVID safety regulations and the imminent opening of PYO orchards. I’ve checked with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets, and they have confirmed these items. They have also suggested that they are reviewing regulations and will be sending out any updates (watch for them through this list) as soon as they come out.
Here are the main rules and guidances from the Governor’s office or VAAFM. There are three or four documents you should be familiar with:
- Mandatory Health & Safety Requirements for all Business, Nonprofit, and Government Operations
- Sector Specific Guidance for Retail Operations
- The Agency of Agriculture’s Pick-Your-Own Restart Plan
- Farmers Market Guidance and Farmers Market Phase 2 Guidance issued by the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets
Plus, this training that includes material we should all know by now: VOSHA Educational Material for all Employees Including Farm Workers
Any of us who have been out in the past few months have the benefit of having learned most of these, either explicitly or by practice, as we move through the grocery store, farm markets, and other retail environments. The basics, which I’ll outline with the disclaimer that you really need to read the rules, are:
- Maintain distance, six feet between people not from the same household everywhere and one person per 200 sq feet (215 people per acre, spaced out) in outdoor PYO environments.
- Farm markets are ‘essential retail facilities’, so their maximum occupancy (from your fire marshal) is not reduced. However, you need to maintain six feet between non-household individuals.
- Have a sanitation policy for all of your workers, requiring that they properly wash hands after each time they come and go from specific work tasks that may introduce them into contact with a different person. Provide sanitizer, and ideally a handwash station, for customers to use when entering your space.
- To limit in-person contact and the risk of contamination, the on-site consumption of food—including crops being picked—is not allowed. In addition, customers are not permitted to congregate on site before, during, or after picking. PYO customers are prohibited from areas of the farm not involved in the PYO farm operation. I copied that verbatim from the PYO policy.
- Traffic flow must be one-way and minimize cross-flow of customers into each other’s paths. Really, this is going to make everyone’s life easier, even post-COVID.
- Masks are required for everyone in public settings, with a few exceptions. Information on mask requirements may be found here. More information is found here. Hint: on that second link, hit Ctrl+F (find on page) and enter “mask”, then hit enter. You can scroll through every specific reference to masks in the document. But really, it’s easiest to just wear one and ask your customers to do so when they are within six feet of others, and to always wear one indoors.
- Someone on your farm must be designated as the operation’s “health officer”. This doe not come with a raise in pay, nor any increased liability, but it does suggest that the state expects that someone from the farm has completely read the rules (the guidances are enforceable rules) and is ensuring that the farm is following them.
Here are direct answers to a couple of questions I have received:
Q: It says in the PYO Rules that "PYO farms shall admit no more the one customer per 200 square feet of the crop space…" Does that really mean ONE person or is a customer considered a family group? PYO apples is definitely a family outing and if only one person can be in the space, that will be a HUGE detriment to people coming to pick.
A: The one customer per 200 sq. ft. requirement is used to calculate an occupancy limit for the entire PYO operation. Customers that arrive as a small group/household can stay together as long as all members of the group/household can maintain at least 6 ft. distance from staff and other customers that are not part of their group/household.
Q: What are the rules and training requirements for the designated health officer?
A: A designated health officer employee will ensure ongoing and simultaneous compliance with all safety requirements in each sector (parking/waiting, harvesting, retail) of the PYO operation. The designated health officer must be present at all times that PYO customers are on-site. There are no specific training requirements for the designated health officer, but all employees must complete and document their completion of the mandatory health and safety training requirements that apply to all Vermont businesses, which are outlined in the Phased Restart Work Safe Guidance.
At the end of it, this all comes down to basic common sense, assuming that we’re cleaning ourselves, maintaining a six-foot distance, and trying to avoid breathing each other’s aerosolized breath.
Signage is available for download to print yourself or to order from these places (not exhaustive):
- US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (download)
- HealthVermont (download)
- Signs.com (download)
- Compliance Signs (buy)
- I’ve seen that Staples has signs ready to pick up, and imagine that most local printers have them as well.
- These are a little older, but worth sharing again:
Here’s a pre-recorded webinar specific to Vermont PYO operations: Adapting Your Vermont Pick-Your-Own Operation in Response to Covid-19 – Webinar and Resources
And two more general guidance resources:
· Best Management Practices for U-Pick Farms During the COVID-19 Pandemic – Cornell University
· Considerations for Fruit and Vegetable Growers Related to Coronavirus & COVID-19 – University of Vermont Extension
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.
VCAAP Relief Payments for Agriculture and Working Lands Businesses—Coming Soon!
Forwarding from the VT Agency of Ag, this could be a great opportunity to recoup some COVID-related expenses for your farm business. -TB
Vermont COVID-19 Agriculture Assistance Program (VCAAP) Agriculture and Working Lands Assistance Application
$8.5 Million in CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Funding will soon be available to a wide variety of agricultural, food, and forestry businesses and organizations through the Vermont COVID-19 Agriculture Assistance Program (VCAAP) Agriculture and Working Lands Assistance Application.
General Eligibility Criteria
(1) Farmers, commercial processors, slaughterhouses, farmers’ markets, food businesses, forest products businesses, dairy producers or processors, and agriculture producer associations are eligible.
(2) Your business entity must have gross annual income of at least $10,000 to apply.
(3) Your business must have verifiable losses and/or expenses since March 1, 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
How To Apply
The Agriculture and Working Lands application will launch the week of August 17, 2020. Please note that state offices are closed on Monday, August 17 for Bennington Battle Day. Check our website and subscribe to our newsletter to be notified when the application is open.
The deadline to apply is October 1, 2020. However, keep in mind that grants will be awarded on a first-come, first served basis, so the application may close prior to October 1 if all funds are expended.
Before applying, applicants should complete a W-9 form and gather documentation of losses and costs incurred since March 1, 2020 that are related to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Webinars
Attend a webinar to learn more about the VCAAP Agriculture and Working Lands Assistance Application. A webinar for service providers and partners will be held on August 19. Webinars for applicants will be held on August 21, 24 and 25. Webinars will be recorded and posted to our website.
Contact Us
(802) 828-2430 select #9
AGR.CovidResponse