Category: IPM

By Terence Bradshaw Despite the bit of snow on my deck this morning, spring is here and vineyards will be waking up soon in Vermont. It’s better to plan ahead than to be reactive to problems after they become established. Therefore, I recommend reading Dr. Katie Gold’s Early Season Grape Disease Management recommendations to help…

By Terence Bradshaw Earlier today I sent a notice from Tom Berry at Senator Leahy’s office regarding availability of emergency funds to farmers affected financially by the COVID-19 pandemic. That was referencing a re-opening of the portal specifically for farms to apply for funds. If you are an ag business that was unable to take…

By Terence Bradshaw It didn’t take long after I posted my last recommendations for someone to point out to me that it’s unlikely that apple scab ascospores can be released through two inches of snow. Point taken. This cool weather has put things into that slow, on-hold pattern a bit, but activity will pick up…

By Terence Bradshaw Passing on information on two informative webinars that local growers should find useful.- TB The University of Minnesota Extension and University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension are teaming up to offer two webinars/Q&A sessions for grape growers in April and May. The goal of these events is to help growers refine their…

By Terence Bradshaw Here’s a real quick update. Bud stage in warmest Vermont orchard sites is around half-inch green (HIG). At that point, copper should not be applied unless you know the crop is going to cider, as copper applied at any effective rate for this time of year will russet the fruit finish. Frost…

By Terence Bradshaw Yesterday, April 9, we ‘called’ green tip at the UVM Horticulture Farm, orchards. This signals that buds are beginning to open, and therefore green tissue is present that may be susceptible to apple scab infection. The apple scab ascospore maturity model, which predicts the presence of mature overwintering inoculum that could infect,…

By Terence Bradshaw First, UVM Extension Farm Viability Program has posted a page of resources for farm businesses related to emergency loans, grants, and other updates from state agencies: http://blog.uvm.edu/farmvia/?p=1805. Of particular interest to the framing community is the Paycheck Protection Program which provides low-interest, forgiveable loans to small businesses to cover payroll, mortgage interest,…

By Terence Bradshaw First, UVM Extension Farm Viability Program has posted a page of resources for farm businesses related to emergency loans, grants, and other updates from state agencies: http://blog.uvm.edu/farmvia/?p=1805. Of particular interest to the framing community is the Paycheck Protection Program which provides low-interest, forgiveable loans to small businesses to cover payroll, mortgage interest,…

By Terence Bradshaw I’ve been taking notes during today’s VTFGA / UVM Apple Program annual meeting. This is useful even if you didn’t make the meeting on Feb 13. Here goes: 1. Slides from the talks will be available at: http://www.uvm.edu/~fruit/?Page=treefruit/tf_meetings.html&SM=tf_submenu.html They should be up there shortly. 2. Please consider taking our pretty short survey…

By Terence Bradshaw In contrast to the rest of the population, those of us in the fruit growing community hate warm March weather, and this year looks like another which will potentially give us early bud break, at least in the warmer parts of the state in Bennington county and the Connecticut Valley. Reports out…