Vermont Beginning Fruit Growers Program

By Terence Bradshaw

I will be announcing the start of the UVM Fruit Program’s Vermont Beginning Fruit Grower Program (VBFG). This project is funded for eighteen months through a Vermont Specialty Crops Block Grant through the Vermont Agency of Agriculture.

There are two primary deliverables for this project. First is an interactive email list that will provide a forum for beginning growers to interact with one another and with experienced growers. This peer-to-peer learning will greatly enhance the knowledge base among beginning fruit growers and address the bottleneck of having one person (me) who is only able to devote partial time to answering individual questions from beginning and prospective growers. Please let me know if you wish to join the list. I can add you directly, or, better yet, you can follow the subscription instructions at: http://www.uvm.edu/~fruit/beginner/bg_listserv.html. If you ever find that it is not useful, taking up too much inbox space, or anything else, let me know that too. I can remove addresses easily, and can also set the delivery of the list to collate messages into daily digests, but for now, I’d like to see how much traffic we get.

The next deliverable will be a series of on-farm workshops to help address knowledge gaps through experiential education. This winter, we will hold a number of apple and grape pruning workshops around the state. Each workshop will be limited to twelve people so that we may provide time and attention to each participant. I’ll be announcing the first of them shortly, please keep your eyes on your inboxes if interested.

Keep those shovels ready,

Terry

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, a USDA NIFA E-IPM

Grant, and USDA Risk Management Agency Funds.

Northern Grapes Webinar Announcement: February 7, with Megan Hall

Northern Grapes Webinar

Sour rot: understanding and managing a complex disease

February 7, 2019, 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (12:00 Noon Central Time)

Dr. Megan Hall

Assistant Research Professor of Viticulture,

University of Missouri

Columbia, Missouri

Dr. Hall is an Assistant Research Professor of Viticulture at the University of Missouri, in the Division of Plant Sciences. She earned a Ph.D. from Cornell University for her work on the grape disease complex sour rot. At MU, she is continuing her research on sour rot, exploring the role of Drosophila in the disease complex, and in addition, she is conducting research on the endophytic microbiota of grapes, exploring both the source of endophytes and the effects of those endophytes on grape physiology and disease susceptibility.

The webinar will cover sour rot, a late-season bunch rot that is prevalent in vineyards worldwide, and presents a challenge for growers, winemakers and researchers. It is a disease complex consisting of yeast, acetic acid bacteria and fruit flies, all of which must be present in order for symptoms to develop. Management strategies primarily include targeting fruit flies, and efforts to target just the microbes have not yielded consistently successful results. Research on the role of the flies in the sour rot complex is ongoing.

Registration: You need to pre-register to attend. Registrants will receive a link and reminder 1-2 days before the presentation.

Register at:

https://cornell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_g125NjUvS-OnPRSvZbvxYw

Social Media Workshop at the Vermont Farm Show *Free*

By Terence Bradshaw

In 2019, growing your Vermont brand online is more important than ever before. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets is offering a workshop to help you sharpen your Social Media marketing skills. Whether you’re making melt-in-your-mouth maple candy, or growing fresh fruits and veggies, learn the latest tips, tricks and trends to help build up your food or agriculture business. How do I get more people to see my content? Which platforms should I be investing in? We’ll cover everything you need to know to develop a digital presence for your “Made in Vermont” brand. Join us January 30th from 10:30 AM-12 PM at the Champlain Valley Expo.

Limited spots are available so sign up for FREE today: trevor.audet – 802-522-4725.

Download Promo Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gzganwn5s6foa6y/SOCIAL_WORKSHOP.mp4?dl=0

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, a USDA NIFA E-IPM

Grant, and USDA Risk Management Agency Funds.

New Cornell Orchard-Pollinator Protection Guide available

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 space, as the myriad insect pests that can reduce, damage, or even eliminate a season’s crop must often be managed close to the orchard bloom window. In addition, as perennial crops, tree fruit orchards develop into long-term agroecosystems and management of pests while minimizing damage to non-target pests can be an increasingly difficult line to walk.

The Pollinator Network at Cornell University recently released A Pesticide Decision-Making Guide to Protect Pollinators in Tree Fruit Orchards (pdf), a research-based guide to help growers make pesticide selection and use decisions to maintain crop quality while reducing risk to bees and other pollinators. I strongly recommend downloading this guide for your winter reading.

The guide can be quite daunting, as it breaks down various levels of acute, chronic, and synergistic toxicity of numerous agrichemicals to bees and other pollinators, which may make it look like tree fruit production is just incompatible with pollinators and we should all find a new crop. But remember two things- we need pollinators, either wild or managed, to grow our crops, and the northeast apple industry has coexisted with pollinators for as long as orchards have been around here. We can do this.

The guide should be used alongside other resources such as the New England Tree Fruit Management Guide (which will be updated online by the end of this month), your local crop consultants, and your own experience to select the best materials to manage orchard pests but while minimizing pollinator impact. Pest management in virtually all orchards will involve a certain level of damage to non-target insect populations. It is up to us to minimize that damage, and even to manage the overall system to enhance pollinator populations so that we may make up for any harm that we cause. As you think about your upcoming IPM programming, consider that these practices can help to promote pollinator populations:

· Maintain wild pollinator habitat at orchard edges. This is probably one of the most-effective practices you could do on your farm. Just allowing an adjoining space to grow up to native flowering plants will significantly increase pollinator populations. This space should be minimally managed- few or no mowings, no pesticide application, minimal tillage or other soil disturbance.

· Keep your sprayer calibrated, aimed correctly, and used in low-drift conditions.

· Whenever possible, unless the material is a plant growth regulator or other material whose use is improved by slow drying, always spray in fast drying conditions (low humidity, temperatures >50°F) to minimize the time that droplets remain on plant tissues and the orchard floor.

· If you have flowering plants / weeds on the orchard floor that are attractive to pollinators, either remove them with a broadleaf herbicide application or mow before applying insecticides.

· If you use neonicotinoid insecticides in the orchard, wait until after bloom to apply them to minimize their expression in pollinator-attractive nectar.

· Minimize tillage in the orchard. Most growers use little to no tillage in the tree strip, but some organic orchards and growers who seek to minimize herbicide use may use under-tree cultivators. Many pollinators in Vermont orchards are ground nesting bees, and soil cultivation can damage them.

All of these practices are just good IPM, and are nothing new to growers. As I said before, our industry has evolved over the past 150 years with the pollinators that we either bring in at bloom or, especially, with the ones that live in and around our farms and provide free pollination and pest management services for both our trees as well as for the wild and managed plants around them.

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, a USDA NIFA E-IPM

Grant, and USDA Risk Management Agency Funds.

New England apple Extension survey

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 New England obtain printed or web-based

production information and support, with a focus on Extension sources. It will be used to guide Extension in selecting ways to provide growers with information in the future. You may answer some, all or none of the questions, of course, but complete surveys will give more helpful results.

The survey will be open until March 7, 2019. It should take 10 minutes or less to complete. The survey has more than one page – please hit NEXT at the bottom of each page.

This survey is anonymous. Survey results will be reported to grant agencies, administrators and the academic community in order to improve support to New England apple producers. Your participation is greatly appreciated. All individual data will be kept confidential.

Please click the link below to start, and thank you!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CGL6N89

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, a USDA NIFA E-IPM

Grant, and USDA Risk Management Agency Funds.

Registration & agenda, 2019 VTFGA / UVM Apple Meeting

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 agenda in the mail shortly.

123rd Annual Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association Meeting

in cooperation with the UVM Fruit Program

February 14, 2019

American Legion Hall, Middlebury VT

8:30 Registration

9:00 Welcome

9:05 Recap of the 2018 Season
Terence Bradshaw, UVM Tree Fruit and Viticulture Specialist

9:30 Post-infection Management of Shoot Blight Stage with Apogee and Other Fire Blight Efficacy Trials
Srdjan Acimovic, Cornell Plant Pathologist

10:15 Crop Load and Harvest Management (Retain) and Enhancing Fruit Quality with Plant Growth Regulators
Win Cowgill, Rutgers Professor Emeritus and Horticulturalist

11:15 FSMA Produce Safety Rule & Vermont Produce Program
Dominique Giroux, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets

11:50 VTFGA Business Meeting
Eric Boire, VTFGA President

12:00 LUNCH

1:00 Guiding Apple Scab Management with RIMpro and Efficacy Trials with Revysol and SDHI Fungicides
Srdjan Acimovic, Cornell Plant Pathologist

1:45 Apple Production Systems World Wide (and the US) and the Move to High Density
Win Cowgill, Rutgers Professor Emeritus and Horticulturalist

2:45 2018 UVM-Nutrien Orchard Monitoring Project
Sarah Kingsley-Richards, UVM Research Technician

3:15 Experiences in Lebanon: Strategies for Improving Apple Markets and Implications for Vermont Growers
Terence Bradshaw, UVM Tree Fruit and Viticulture Specialist

4:00 Wrap-up and Adjourn

Annual Business Meeting Agenda
Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association

February 14, 2019

American Legion Hall, Middlebury VT

1. Call to Order

2. Secretary’s Report

3. Treasurer’s Report

4. Executive Director’s Report

5. Old Business

6. New Business

7. Election of Officers and Directors

8. Adjourn

Exp.

President: Eric Boire 2018

Treasurer: Moriah Cowles 2018

Secretary: Tom Smith 2018

Director: Michael Huck 2018

Director: Fritz Ludwig 2018

Director: Paul Dutton 2019

Director: James Bove 2019

Director: Ben Calvi 2020

Director: Casey Darrow 2020

Take time to visit the Exhibitors for up-to-date information on
pest management tools and other products for your orchard

For information on this program contact: Terence.Bradshaw

This program has been submitted to Vermont Agency of Agriculture for
FOUR (4) pesticide recertification credits.

USDA and the University of Vermont are equal opportunity providers and employers. The UVM Fruit Program is funded in partnership by USDA, Risk Management Agency, under award number RM18RMETS524C022.This work is supported by Crop Protection and Pest Management Program [grant no. 2017-70006-27143/1013802] from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets via the USDA Specialty Crops Block Grants Program. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

brochure_regVTFGA123rd_2019.pdf

Transferring the Farm Workshop Feb 12

By Terence Bradshaw

Transferring The Farm Workshop

February 12, 2019

at UVM Extension
Berlin VT

Newsletter, Website, or Listserv

Transferring The Farm Workshop for farmers to learn about key issues, tools and resources to help them make informed decisions and take action steps towards transferring their farm to the next generation of their family or a non-family successor. Tuesday, February 12, 2019 from 9:00am to 3:30pm at the UVM Extension Classroom at 327 US Route 302, Berlin VT. Farmers will learn from professionals who can help in the process and other farmers who have been through a transfer. Topics include why succession planning is important, retirement and estate planning, addressing tax issues in a transfer, legal entities and tools you can use to transfer farm assets and determining your goals to address transfer planning and business transition. Sponsored by Land For Good, in partnership with Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, Dinse Law, Intervale Center, UVM Extension, and Yankee Farm Credit. Funded in part by the USDA Beginning Farm & Rancher Development Program. For more info and to register, go to landforgood.org/rsvp or call 603-357-1600.

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, a USDA NIFA E-IPM

Grant, and USDA Risk Management Agency Funds.

Transferring The Farm Workshop -Berlin VT 2-12-2019.pdf

$90, 000 Available for Vermont Farming Sustainability and Food Safety Projects

Grants available to assist with Food Safety and Farm Marketing. See blow. –TB

For questions about either of these grant opportunities, please contact Kathryn Donovan (Produce Safety Improvement Grants) or Alissa Matthews (Local Food Market Development Grants). Contact information provided below.

$90,000 Available for Farming Sustainability and Food Safety Projects

$2-5K Grant Awards Available

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets released two requests for proposals (RFPs) on December 10, 2018 for up to $90,000 of funding that will assist eligible Vermont farmers and food businesses to make upgrades to their operations and improve the sustainability of their businesses. Grants range from $2,000 to $5,000.

Open Application Period: Monday, January 7, 2019 – Thursday, January 31, 2019.

Vermont Produce Safety Improvement Grants

Approximately $60,000 in funding provided through the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and the Castanea Foundation will be available in the third round of the Produce Safety Improvement Grant (PSIG) Program. Applicants must grow, harvest, pack, or hold “covered produce” as defined by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule (PSR) and have average annual produce sales of greater than $26,999 over the past three years.

Eligible Use of Funds

· Harvest, Wash, Pack and Storage: materials and supplies, storage monitoring/control devices

· Health/Hygiene: handwashing stations, cleaning/sanitization tools, signage, compost/manure handling improvements

· Training and Record-keeping: materials and systems

Details the RFP for this grant round are available at AGR.SpecialtyCrops.

Local Food Market Development Grants

Approximately $30,000 in funding will be available to assist Vermont farmers, businesses, and value-chain facilitators for projects that address challenges and risks associated with scaling up to meet new market demands. To qualify for funding consideration, applicants must either be a Vermont producer in pursuit of institutional or direct retail market development, or a value-chain facilitator that will directly support Vermont producers’ access to institutional and wholesale market expansion.

Eligible Use of Funds

· Infrastructure Development: on-farm capital improvements, equipment purchases

· Technology: accounting, tracking, and/or sales software, website, or app development

· Market Access and Development: innovative solutions to logistics and/or distribution

Details and RFP are available at Alissa.Matthews.

Best,

Kristina

Kristina M. Sweet

Produce Program Manager

Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets

116 State Street | Montpelier, VT 05620

kristina.sweet | (802) 522-7811

www.vermontagriculture.com
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Save the date: Feb 14, 2019 UVM Fruit Program & VTFGA Annual Meeting

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 Acimovic and Rutgers Professor Emeritus and Horticulturalist Win Cowgill as invited guests. Watch for registration information and a final schedule to arrive in the next couple of weeks.

Best,

Terry

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, VT Specialty Crops Block Grants Program, USDA NIFA E-IPM Grant, and USDA Risk Management Agency Funds.