July 29, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the calendar flips to August, it\u2019s time to wrap up field activities in preparation for harvest in Vermont orchards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Foliar nutrient analysis \u2013 It is the time in the growing season to collect leaf samples for analysis. Samples are usually collected between July 15 \u2013 Aug. 15. The UVM Agriculture and Environmental Testing Lab can provide analysis, but at this time their output does not generate fertility recommendations. The following are potential options of labs for analysis. It is recommended that you contact the lab for instructions and costs before samples are sent. Plus, it is important to confirm that they will send recommendations along with the analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(1) University of Maine Analytical Lab: http:\/\/anlab.umesci.maine.edu\/<\/a> Wrapping up spraying \u2013 Primary insects of concern are apple maggot and codling moth. Both should be managed in high-pressure orchards. AM can often be managed with a single insecticide application based on monitoring with red sticky traps. The threshold is one fly per unbaited trap, or five flies per trap if apple volatile baits are used. Codling moth are entering their second flight in many orchards, so management is advised if this pest is a problem for you. Insecticide options are listed in the New England Tree Fruit Management Guide. Dr. Arthur Agnello discusses these summer insect pests in more detail in the July 7, 2014 issue of Scaffolds <\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Summer diseases \u2013 It is important to maintain fungicide coverage to protect against sooty blotch, fly speck, and summer fruit rots. Materials should be applied after every 200 accumulated hours of leaf wetness or 2 inches of rainfall, whichever occurs first. Except on later-harvested cultivars, a fungicide application made by mid-month should provide good control through harvest. For retail orchards, fungicide sprays are likely wrapped up by now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember to watch pre-harvest intervals on all products at this time of year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n COVID concerns- I think that many orchards will benefit from others\u2019 wisdom as we prepare to reopen our farms for the season. Every farm must comply with State of Vermont guidances for general business, plus farm markets and\/or pick-your own operations. Guidance can be found at: https:\/\/agriculture.vermont.gov\/covid-19-information\/covid-19-sector-guidance-news<\/a>. I encourage farmers to visit other operations that are now open and see what\u2019s working- parking, stand layout, customer education, etc. Consider this a way to make efficiency improvements in your retail farm operation, if anything. July 29, 2020 As the calendar flips to August, it\u2019s time to wrap up field activities in preparation for harvest in Vermont orchards. Foliar nutrient analysis \u2013 It is the time in the growing season to collect leaf samples for analysis. Samples are usually collected between July 15 \u2013 Aug. 15. The UVM Agriculture and … Continue reading Foliar Nutrient Analysis, Pest Management, and COVID-Related Items<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[],"tags":[36708,107009,1],"class_list":["post-1376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-ipm","tag-tree-fruit","tag-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"mcontois","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/fruit\/author\/mcontois\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4nZlV-mc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/fruit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/fruit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/fruit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/fruit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/fruit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1376"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/fruit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1377,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/fruit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1376\/revisions\/1377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/fruit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/fruit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/fruit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
(2) University of Massachusetts Soil and Tissue Testing Lab: https:\/\/ag.umass.edu\/services\/soil-plant-nutrient-testing-laboratory<\/a>
(3) Cornell Nutrient Analysis Lab: http:\/\/cnal.cals.cornell.edu\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Specific guidance for agricultural workers, which relates to both domestic, and H2A labor, as well as to workers that both live on and off the farm, must also be followed. Presently the CDC guidelines are the standard that Vermont farms are expected to follow: https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/community\/guidance-agricultural-workers.html<\/a>. Those guidelines include many of the steps that we are already getting quite used to (bullet points taken from CDC website):<\/p>\n\n\n\n