Backyard Orchard News
Dry bean meeting shares crop management and marketing strategies.
Dry beans are an important rotational crop in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. They are not a high value crop, so effective growing and marketing practices are a priority. The dry bean meeting held at Kearney on August 27, 2013 attracted about 30 attendees. It focused on many aspects of new crop management and marketing strategies to improve the return per acre of dry beans.
There were four field presentations. Larry Schwankl, UC Cooperative Extension irrigation specialist at Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, and Carol Frate, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Tulare County, alfalfa, dry beans, corn and plant pathology, discussed a subsurface drip irrigation trial for blackeye production. Carol Frate discussed the evaluation of insecticides for lygus bug management. Phil Roberts, chair and professor in the Department of Nematology at UC Riverside, nematode host-parasite relations, genetics and pest management in field and vegetable crops, discussed screening bean varieties and breeding lines for root knot nematode resistance. Phil Roberts and Bao Lam Huynh discussed developing new varieties of beans for insect and disease resistance.
Indoor sessions included PowerPoint presentations and related discussions. Gary Luckett, manager of the Cal-Bean & Grain Warehouse, provided an update on the blackeye market. Bao Lam Huynh discussed using marker-based techniques for developing new blackeye varieties. Kurt Hembree, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Fresno County, weed management strategies in crop and non-crop settings, discussed past, present and future methods of weed control in dry beans.
The meeting provided:
- PCA hours: 1.5 hours of “other”
- CCA hours: 1.5 hours of IPM; 0.5 hours of crop management
Dry bean meeting attendees learning about the impact of subsurface drip irrigation on crop health and yield.
The Terminator
So here you are, a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar, chowing down on the leaves of a passionflower...
A European paper wasp on the hunt. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A European paper wasp attacks a Gulf Fritillary caterpillar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The European paper wasp tears apart the caterpillar, food for its young. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Online Degree Day Presentation Available from UC IPM
To accurately time insecticide treatments see the new UC IPM online presentation about using degree-days for pests in fruit and nut trees. While we can’t control heat waves such as the recent one, we can measure daily temperatures to protect our orchards from several important insect pests such as California red scale, navel orangeworm, San Jose scale, orange tortrix, and codling moth.
Using degree-days to time treatments allows you to reduce insecticide use by targeting the most susceptible insect stage, attaining maximum control and reducing costs. Monitoring and using degree-days allows for the correct application timing of reduced-risk products preserving many of the parasites and predators that control other orchard pests.
Walt Bentley, retired UC IPM Advisor, narrates the 15-minute presentation and explains the basics using stone fruit and nut pest examples:
- How heat influences insect development
- What a degree-day is
- How degree-days accumulate
- What data is needed to calculate degree-days
- The benefits of using degree-days to time insecticide treatments
The presentation can be accessed on the UC IPM degree day website: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/WEATHER/index.html.
In the future, look forward to a second degree-day presentation on how to use UC IPM Web site tools and information for calculating degree-days.
Know the EP of Your Ag Products and Lower VOCs
VOCs are gasses that combine with other substances to form ground level ozone (smog). In an effort to reduce smog in the San Joaquin Valley, as of Nov 1, the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) is restricting sales and use of High-VOC producing ag products during the months of May through October. High-VOC ag products have an emission potential (EP) greater than 35%. For citrus, products of concern include chlorpyrifos, gibberellin, abamectin and oxyfluorfen. There are many formulations of each of these agricultural products and the goal is to choose formulations that keep the EP below 35%. The following link provides a list of the formulations that are above (High-VOC) and below (Low-VOC) the EP threshold of 35% for all crops. Keep this in mind as you purchase and use insecticides, herbicides and gibberellin.
DPR Overview http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/emon/vocs/vocproj/factsheet_voc_overview.pdf
List of High and Low-VOC formulations http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/emon/vocs/vocproj/nonfum_voc_prod_list.pdf
The 100 Most Endangered Species
The world's "100 Most Endangered Species" are back in the news again, and well they should...
Robbin Thorp with his computer screen showing a photo he took of Franklin's bumble bee, one of the world's 100 most endangered species. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This macro image of Franklin's bumble bee is the work of Robbin Thorp.