Category: IPM

By Terence Bradshaw The late Dr. Ron Prokopy at UMASS was instrumental in pulling together the “March Message”, an pre-season update on IPM and other topics for tree fruit growers. Dr. Jaime Pinero, the ‘new’ UMASS Extension Entomologist, has revived this valuable tool, which I have attached here. Key take-homes: · Orchard sanitation this spring…

By Terence Bradshaw The need for adequate pollination is no secret to fruit growers, but recent focus on the status of both wild and managed (e.g. honeybee and certain bumblebee) pollinators refocuses the efforts among all of us to ensure that we are managing our crops sustainably. Tree fruit growers arte in a particularly tricky…

By Terence Bradshaw I am working with the other Apple IPM Extension instructors across New England to develop regional programming. We are asking New England apple growers to help us in Extension determine the most effective ways to get you crop management information. The intent of the survey is to determine how apple growers in…

By Terence Bradshaw Registration is open for the 123rd Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association and UVM Apple Program Annual Meeting. This year, registration is offline only, please print the attached form (also available here) and mail payment to the address at the bottom of the form. Past attendees can expect a hard copy registration and…

By Terence Bradshaw Happy winter…. This is just a quick notice to ‘Save the Date’ for February 14, 2019 for the 123rd Annual Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association and UVM Fruit Program winter meeting at the American Legion in Middlebury, VT. The program is still coming together, but we have scheduled Cornell Plant Pathologist Srdjan…

By Terence Bradshaw Pardon the exclamatory headline. I’m sending this message directly to the many, many people who have contacted me about the issue, and posting it as a blog post so that I can point to it when it comes up again. Apple trees are dying all over the state. Maybe not necessarily dying,…

By Terence Bradshaw Pardon my absence these past few week- a trip to beautiful Istanbul, where I presented some of our research from the past couple of years on cider apple management, and both wrapping up and starting a new course have kept me a bit distracted. Grapes in Vermont vineyards are some of the…

By Terence Bradshaw Pardon my absence these past few week- a trip to beautiful Istanbul, where I presented some of our research from the past couple of years on cider apple management, and both wrapping up and starting a new course have kept me a bit distracted. Nonetheless, we have continued to scout in Vermont…

By Terence Bradshaw I had an email come in tonight that I imagine includes a question on many people’s minds. That is, as we near veraision (I saw my first Marquette changing color today), what do we need to worry about as far as spotted wing drosophila (SWD) is concerned? SWD (Drosophila suzukii) is an…

By Terence Bradshaw Sorry grape growers, you just received my comments on orchard activities for the immediate time being. The good thing, as my predecessor Dr. Lorraine Berkett used to say when discussion apples and grapes, is that it’s the same story with different characters. So, here we go with Act One: Weather has been…