American Vegetable Grower | Month • 2018 1 More on ...€¦ · Jessie Gunn, Marketing Manager: “We are a conscientious capitalist com - pany. So for us, things like our organic

American Vegetable Grower | Month • 2018 1A Meister Media Worldwide Brand $2.75 More on GrowingProduce.com

American Vegetable Grower | April • 2018 AVG 3

16 The Latest Updates in Planters and Transplanters

18 Field Scouting Guide: Southern Blight

22 Potato Pointers: Why Potato Virus Y Needs Your Attention

26 GenNext Growers: Know Your Numbers

28 Variety Specs: 9 Corn Varieties You’ll Want to See

32 10 Ideas You Can Steal from California Farm Markets

36 Biocontrol in Demand from Produce Retailers and Consumers

38 The 2018 Grower Achievement Award Nominations Are Open!

40 View from the West: How to Get What You Need from Fertigation

46 Editorial: Giving Customers What They Want Isn’t Easy

18 32

CONTENTS | APRIL 2018 | VOL. 66 | NO. 04

4 Is Being Organic Enough?In a competitive and volatile organic market, Wholesum Harvest just may change how growers sell themselves to retailers.

Cover Focus: Organic Report

9 Intercropping Insectary Plants without Losing Production Space

12 Protect Crops by

Amending Soil with Silicon

On the cover: Theojary Crisantes, Vice President of Operations at Wholesum Harvest

4 April • 2018 | GrowingProduce.com

COVER STORY | ORGANIC REPORT

WHEN YOU’VE DEVELOPED a mission and a game plan that has worked for decades, you stick with it.

“We grow nothing that isn’t organic; we’re 100% dedicated,” says Jessie Gunn, Marketing Vice President for Wholesum Harvest. A third-generation, family-owned-and-operated farm located in Amada, AZ, Wholesum Harvest is a Mexican company that grows both north and south of the border. It is also certified through Quality Assurance International, a USDA-accredited organic product certifying agency.

Today’s organics market is akin to a youngster on a growth spurt with sales of organic fresh produce items approaching $5 billion last year, an 8% increase from 2016 with nearly 2 billion pounds sold in grocery stores alone, according to Organic Pro-duce Network and a Nielsen Report on 2017 sales of organic fresh produce.

Being Organic Is Only Part of the MissionOrganic produce’s accelerating appeal stems from consum-

ers demanding what they see as food that’s safe to eat and wanting to support growing systems that are sustainable.

Recognizing that, Wholesum Harvest is building on its original mission and upping the stakes for what it means to be a socially responsible grower. It is the first U.S. grower to gain

Is Being Organic Enough?

In a competitive and volatile organic market, Wholesum Harvest is raising the bar by adding a fair-trade certification. It just may change how growers sell themselves to retailers.

By Lee [email protected]

American Vegetable Grower | April • 2018 5

Photos by Lee Allen and Wholesum Harvest

the Fair Trade Certified Farm designation.“That’s big news in a country where 85% of the fruits and

vegetables consumed are picked by hand,” Gunn says.There’s still a lack of understanding of what fair trade

is all about, says Ricardo Crisantes, Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

“Most people associate it with something good, but they can’t say exactly what that good is,”

he says. Fair Trade Certified (FairTradeCertified.org), the

certification Wholesum Harvest went through, focuses primarily on how

employees are treated.“Fair Trade is meant to do

what laws have been unable to accomplish,” says the com-pany’s Sustainability Manager, Hannah La Luzerne.

Fair Trade Was a Natural Next Step

Treating workers fairly has always been part of Wholesum Harvest’ DNA, even nearly a century ago when Miguel Crisantes Gatzionis left Greece and began farming tomatoes in

Sinoloa, Mexico. About the time Cesar Chavez founded

the United Farmworkers Union and Rachel Carson wrote Si-lent Spring in the 1960s, the Crisantes clan was already

Ricardo Crisantes, Theojary Crisantes, Sr., and Theojary Crisantes

Wholesum Harvest is the first U.S. grower to gain the Fair Trade Certified Farm designation.



implementing organic farming and sus-tainable practices.

“It was a natural fit for us to think about fair trade as a way to support our work force,” says Theojary Crisantes, the third of the three generations for Wholesum Harvest and Vice President of Operations. “We identify ourselves with fair trade because a company is nothing without its workers, and we value the effort they make.”

How to Earn “Fair Trade Certified”In Mexico, Wholesum Harvest was

the second entity to receive the certifica-tion. In the U.S., it became the first by demonstrating compliance of more than 300 standards detailing working condi-tions and environmental protection.

To become certified as a Fair Trade farm, Wholesum Harvest had several principles to meet, including providing “premium funds” (monies earned with

every fair-trade sale) for community improvements. Here are a few others:

• Income sustainability. Wages should fulfill basic household needs, regardless of market prices.

• Individual and community well-being. Committees of workers and growers decide how to invest premium funds (funds generated by surcharges on products).

• Empowerment. Employers establish an infrastructure that gives workers a voice.

• Environmental stewardship. Prohibits chemistries that have proven to be harmful to natural resources.

Reinvesting in Employees and the Community

The Premium Funds Program is one of the most impressive parts of the certification.

Every fair-trade purchase involves a small financial premium paid by retailers (and ultimately, consumers). As premium funds accumulate, workers organize a committee to decide how to best spend those distribution checks.

Wholesum Harvest Launches Two Organic Ventures

Theojary and Ricardo Crisantes see fair trade as a way to support their work force.

AFTER IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES within the organic market, Wholesum has created a new enterprises with partners in an effort to fill those voids.

A Partnership with Berry GrowersThe first is Wholesum Berries, LLC,

which will distribute organic berries on a year-round basis. It’s a joint partnership, owned 50-50 between Wholesum Harvest and organic berry growers in North and South America.

“Organic berry growers approached us because they felt the organic part of their production process wasn’t being properly represented,” says Jessie Gunn, Marketing Vice President for Wholesum Harvest. “It was a bit like looking in the mirror because their vision and mission aligned with ours.”

Wholesum Berries launched with straw-

berries and blueberries in January of this year; raspberries and blackberries will be included over the next year or two.

“Wholesum Berries has the potential to change the berry industry game ($586 million in sales in 2017) by bringing re-sponsibility, sustainability, and advocacy to organic berry production, and that can happen with fair-trade certification in berries. It will be the innovation of the decade,” Gunn says.

Adding an Organic Seed Business“Organic seeds

are the start and lifeblood of our plants,” Gunn says. “Our starts are or-ganic, and equally, if not more importantly, they’re grown that way.”

Wholesum Harvest has partnered with organic seed supplier Vitalis Organic

Seeds. Like Wholesum Harvest’s fair-trade certification, the partnership is designed to raise the bar for organic growing and give consumers the assurances they want.

“We’re now working together to help push forward the concept of organic seed production via the ‘Vitalis Born, Wholesum Raised’ initiative, a consumer assur-ance that there hasn’t been any product modification and that products are grown with all the organic assurances consum-ers want. They’re all organic for serious organic buyers,” Gunn says.


After watching their fair-trade-certified farms in Mexico use the pre-mium funds for such things as buying a school bus to help workers’ children

get to classes, building a soccer field, helping fund home loans, and con-structing an at-cost tortilla store, the folks on this side of the border decided

Wholesum Harvest’s Take on USDA’s Organic Hydroponic Ruling

WHEN THE NATIONAL Organ-ic Standards Board (an advisory body to USDA that generally sets the standards for certifica-tion) ruled in November 2017 that hydroponic produce can gain the USDA organic seal, it roiled the organic growing industry.

Those on the purist side, those who believe that healthy soil is the core philosophy of organic growing, have long fought the ruling.

Hydroponic growers, who are just as passionate about the overall sustainability of the growing method, were thrilled to have finally won approval to have their produce considered for organic labeling.

Oddly enough, the team at Wholesum Harvest was left unfazed. “The short and sweet answer is there has been no effect,” says Jessie Gunn,

Marketing Vice President for Wholesum Harvest. “We’re a container production operation, growing certified organic produce with that methodology for more than 25 years, and we’re excited that science won out in the industrial debates and container production is still 100% certifiable organic.”

Wholesum Harvest has organic certification through Quality Assurance Interna-tional, a USDA-accredited organic produce certifying agency.

Since Gunn sees organic production as primarily a scientific designation, she sides with those who fought for the ruling, not those who see growing in soil as indivisible from organic growing.

“I conceptualize organics as coming down to the bioactivity of the plant’s root sys-tem, and science is an immovable baseline to build one’s position on. I’ve read every line of the Organic Food Production Act (OFPA), and we follow it to a T, subscribing to its general intent of growing in a harmonious way, congruent with the needs of our planet and our environment.”


it was time to duplicate that success.By April of this year, the first check

in the amount of $30,000 came in, and the 130 U.S. workers got to decide how to spend it. They decided on items like subsidized transportation and additional medical insurance.

What Farm Workers Think of the Program

Wholesum Harvest has more than 1,500 workers, permanent and migratory, and a retention rate of more than 80%.

Here’s what a few of those workers’ managers had to say about the new program:

Vanessa Cordova, Arizona Human Resources Director: “We’re aligned with our company values, and fair trade is a part of that alignment. We’re a family, and we treat employees like family members.”

Jose Covarrubias, Operations Manager: “[Fair trade means] a better balance to give workers the tools so they can build better communities and have more opportunities for their families. At the end of the day, what we’re trying to achieve is a better balance.”

Jessie Gunn, Marketing Manager: “We are a conscientious capitalist com-pany. So for us, things like our organic certification and Fair Trade designation are all a matter of doing the right thing at every turn.” AVG

Lee Allen is a freelance writer who regularly reports on farming in the West.

Fair trade gives workers the tools so they can build better commu-nities and have more opportunities for their families, says Jose Covarrubias, Operations Manager. Shown here with Vanessa Cor-dova, Human Resources Director.

As part of its Fair Trade certification, Wholesum Harvest bought a school bus to ensure workers’ children can get to classes.


WHEN YOU CUT into a head of romaine lettuce, you get a nice view of the densely

packed interior leaves. Unfortunately, some of the most challenging aphid spe-cies are prone to infest this interior area.

For almost a decade, we here at USDA-ARS tested how well aphids were controlled in romaine lettuce when the insectary plant alyssum was interplant-ed. One of the main aphid predators we wanted to support were hoverflies.

Once we realized it was effective, we turned our attention to testing how to have our cake and eat it, too — or how to use insectary plants in the quantity needed to be effective, but not take away valuable space needed for crops you can sell.

First, allow me to explain how the system works. Intercropping lettuce with insectary plants is a common and effective strategy that organic farmers often use to control aphids.

Insectary plants can provide an en-ergy source and protein to naturally occurring beneficial insects (i.e., hover-flies), which help growers by attacking the pests that are attacking their crops. These plants flower quickly, giving the beneficial predators a food source throughout the season.

We conducted our study on our US-DA-ARS farm, a 23-acre site within an ongoing, long-term, organic systems ex-periment where we’ve grown romaine, broccoli, and strawberries on a commer-cial scale in rotation with various cover crops for the past 10 years.

Now, back to what you want to know. Here’s what we learned.

Alyssum Helps Aphid ControlWhen we started our long-term study,

alyssum insectary plants were concen-trated in two lines on eight of the 48 total beds in the test field. Single alyssum

beds were on the edge of the field. Otherwise, the pattern was 10 beds of lettuce, then two beds of alyssum, followed by another 10 beds of let-tuce, and so on.

We used this ratio the first four years and found it to be highly effective in controlling aphids. But I wondered if I could reduce the amount of space al-located to alyssum and still control aphids.

The eight beds that were devoted to alyssum during the first four years re-duced the area for lettuce by 17%. This displacement of lettuce for insectary plants is a major concern for farm-ers in Salinas, because the land rent is extremely high here (often more than $2000 per acre per year!).

Our research is partially funded by the wholesale of marketable vegetables from the experiment. So I was highly motivated to continue the research by maximizing the marketable yields and the efficiency of the lettuce production.

Attempt 1: Reducing the Rows of Alyssum

I trialed a few approach-es that increased the amount of area for lettuce to see if I could continue to get the aphid control I wanted along with in-creased crop levels.

We started off by re-ducing the overall area devoted to alyssum by half. Where before there was a double row of in-sectary plants on eight

beds, we now had just one row (or line) of alyssum and one line of lettuce.

This still provided excellent aphid control, and it boosted the potential let-tuce yields by about 8% because there were about 8% more lettuce plants.

But I wanted even more space for let-tuce, and the final part of the study was really the most radical.

Attempt 2: Additive Intercropping This change was inspired by a compe-

tition experiment between alyssum and lettuce that I conducted during years five and six.

As you can see in the photo below, I tried all kinds of crazy combinations of these two plants. If you’d like to read all the details from that competition experi-

ORGANIC REPORT | BENEFICIAL INSECTS

Intercropping Insectary Plants without Losing

Production Space

Sweet alyssum can help biologically control aphids on transplanted organic romaine lettuce but can take up valuable land. USDA-ARS researcher Eric Brennan shares techniques he’s learned over 10 years.

By Eric [email protected]

The experimental plot that inspired the additive intercropping approach.

This graph shows the dramatic change in the amount of lettuce that was displaced by alyssum over the years.

17%of the field

Alyssum Displacing Lettuce

Years 1 - 9 of the study


ment, they’re described in a recent publication at: https://is.gd/1gxmW1. The most exciting result from the ex-periment was from what we call ‘ad-ditive intercropping’ where we kept the lettuce’s normal spacing on the bed but added alyssum transplants in between the lettuce transplants within a row. As a result, we got an intercrop-ping pattern that has twice the normal transplant density. (We call this addi-tive intercropping because we added the two densities together.)

Now there’s obviously more com-petition for nutrients between the romaine and alyssum in the additive pattern because it’s more crowded.

But the amazing thing about this additive pattern is that the increased competition reduced lettuce biomass or lettuce size by about only 25% and the alyssum biomass by about half com-pared to when they were growing sepa-rately and in their own beds.

Attempt 3: Low-Ratio Additive Planting

Here’s how I used the information from the additive planting experiment to improve the efficiency of intercropping lettuce and alyssum during years eight and nine. Take a look at the photo 3-A. This is the field 20 days after transplant-ing during year eight. Now you might be wondering, “What’s happened? Where’s the alyssum?”

Now here’s the field 44 days after transplanting and about a week before harvest during year eight, photo 3-B. There’s lots of alyssum flowers out there, but they’re just not as obvious as in the previous years where alyssum dis-placed lettuce.

I want to point out two things: First, notice that most of the alyssum

is still concentrated in a few beds. These are the same eight insectary beds used during the previous years. The close-up shot photo 3-C shows the additive pat-tern that we used in the insectary beds during year eight.

Notice that there’s only one alyssum transplant between every three lettuce transplants in one line of the bed. We used a similar pattern in year nine, except there was only one alyssum transplant between every five lettuce transplants in one line of each bed.

The intercropping patterns used dur-ing these last two years were designed to reduce the potential for competition between alyssum and lettuce.

The second thing to note is that we also planted lines of alyssum that ran perpendicular to the bed direction.

We added these perpendicular lines to create this grid pattern because I was concerned that the relatively low-intensity additive pattern on the eight insectary beds might not provide quite enough to encourage hoverfly movement through the whole field. But I really don’t know if this concern was justified.

How We Added the Low-Ratio Additive Alyssum

We first transplanted lettuce across all 48 beds using a tractor-drawn trans-planter. We then inserted (by hand) one alyssum transplant between every three or five lettuce plants during years eight and nine, respectively.

For each of the nine perpendicular lines, we walked across all the beds and inserted one alyssum transplant, again by hand, between two lettuce trans-plants in one line for each of the beds.

Success!That final pattern of one alyssum to

five lettuce in the insectary rows got us to our goal.

In a subsequent study, I found there

was no difference in the marketable weight of a box of lettuce from beds with the additive pattern compared to the weight of a box of lettuce from beds without any alyssum.

Now this is a very, very important point. Because it means that with these less intense additive intercropping pat-terns, we can produce lots of alyssum flowers for the beneficial insects without losing any lettuce yields. It’s really a win-win situation.

This experience leads me to conclude that during the first seven years we were providing far more alyssum flowers for the hoverflies than were necessary. I es-timate that additive intercropping with about 500 to 1,000 alyssum transplants per acre distributed throughout the field should provide sufficient pollen and nec-tar for the hoverflies to control aphids in transplanted romaine lettuce.

Based on my experience, I highly recommend the additive intercropping approach for transplanted lettuce be-cause it’s much more land efficient. It doesn’t reduce marketable head weight of lettuce, yet it still provides beneficial insects, like hoverflies, with the food that they need to survive and control aphids. Hopefully additive intercrop-ping is an approach to intercropping in lettuce that more growers (organic and conventional) are interested in using to improve aphid control. AVG

Eric Brennan is a Research Horticulturist of Organic Crop Production for USDA-ARS in Salinas, CA.

ORGANIC REPORT | BENEFICIAL INSECTS

Attempt 3-A Attempt 3-B Attempt 3-C

Watch the video this article is based on at:

https://is.gd/7JvhxF. Eric Brennan narrates the YouTube video,

part of his Brennan Organic channel.


YOU ARE LIKELY well aware of the important role soil fertility plays in supplying the essential

nutrients needed for crop production. But you may be new to the agronomic use of silicon (Si).

Based on years of field and green-house research conducted at Rutgers New Jersey Agriculture Experiment Station, we now can offer guidelines on the beneficial use of this element.

Unlike nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, and a long list of micronu-trients recognized as essential for plants to grow and complete their life cycle, silicon is regarded as a quasi-essential or beneficial element. In fact, it’s now of-ficially designated as a “plant beneficial substance” by the Association of Ameri-can Plant Food Control Officials. Suppli-ers/producers are now permitted to list the content of plant-available silicon on fertilizer product labels.

It may seem surprising that silicon nutrition could ever be a limiting factor for crop production. Most mineral soils already contain as much as 28% silicon. But that silicon is mostly locked in the structure of soil minerals, where very little of it is available for crop uptake. Thus, supplying silicon from a soluble fertilizer source can benefit many crops.

It Suppresses Powdery Mildew The benefits of enhanced silicon nu-

trition include resistance to pathogens and better tolerance of environmental stress. One of the most remarkable ben-efits is its ability to suppress powdery mildew disease. Crops susceptible to this disease include pumpkin, cucum-ber, wheat, Kentucky bluegrass, and dogwood. Fungicides often are used to control powdery mildew, but this approach to disease management is unsustainable over the long term since diseases tend to develop resistance to

chemical sprays. In the case of certified organic production, growers need alter-natives to prohibited pesticides.

Wollastonite: A Good Choice for Delivering Silicon

Research conducted on New Jersey soils compared various fertilizer sourc-es for plant-available silicon and pow-dery mildew suppression using pumpkin as a test crop.

The most effective material for sup-plying plant available Si and for disease suppression was found to be wollaston-ite — a calcium silicate mineral mined from the earth.

These naturally occurring minerals generally are approved for use in organ-ic farming. However, organic growers should check inputs with their certifier to be sure about a particular substance. Some wollastonite products already are Organic Materials Review Institute-ap-proved. Amending soil with wollaston-ite is a means for suppressing powdery mildew on certified organic farms.

Besides supplying calcium and silicon for plant nutrition and disease suppres-sion, wollastonite also can neutralize soil acidity. When wollastonite is ap-plied at rates equivalent to recommend-ed rates of liming, it can replace the need for calcium carbonate limestone.

As a result, wollastonite is a mul-tipurpose soil amendment that helps crops resist powdery mildew disease, supplies plant available calcium and silicon, and serves as a substitute for agricultural limestone.

Further information on silicon plant nutrition and soil fertility can be found on the Rutgers New Jersey Agriculture Experiment Station website: NJAES.Rutgers.edu. AVG

Powdery mildew disease on pumpkin leaves exhibit differences in level of infection in relation to silicon amendment.

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Joseph Heckman is an Extension Specialist in Soil Fertility with Rutgers University.

By Joseph Heckmanavg.edit@meistermedia

Learn how silicon suppresses powdery mildew and more.

Protect Crops by Amending Soils with Silicon

ORGANIC REPORT | CROP PROTECTION

cleanScience Driven Organic Nutrition – you can trust. Due to N.O.P. regulations, organic growers have fewer nutritional tools to choose from but are still expected to deliver high quality produce with visual consumer appeal. The key to successful organic farming is a clear understanding of plant physiology and peak nutrient demand timing and meeting the plant’s needs with superior products formulated especially for organic farming.

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CLEAN BIOMAX – A microbial food source designed to feed existing beneficial bacteria and fungi populations in the soil to increase nutrient cycling of organic matter to maximize soil available nutrients throughout the growing season, and to encourage better root colonization for increased nutrient foraging.

CLEAN SYMSPRAY – A seaweed-based growth promoting fertilizer designed to improve fruit set, size and quality. Use in combination other CLEAN products to maximize plant health and growth.

CLEAN POTASSIUM – A superior foliar potassium spray designed to enhance fruit bulking, sugar/brix, color and quality as well as to help mitigate heat and drought stress.

CLEAN CALCIUM – A superior foliar calcium solution designed for rapid tissue penetration to improve calcium levels in fruit and tissue. Meeting peak calcium demand timing results in firmer fruit, better storage life and higher quality.

CLEAN MICRONUTRIENTS - Zinc, Magnesium, Manganese, Iron and Copper. Individual micronutrient foliar sprays designed to quickly correct deficiencies to maximize fruit quality, yield and plant health.

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© 2018 Agro-K Corporation.


BRANDTCELITE 610 is an OMRI Listed, EPA regis-tered mechanical insecticide made with pure diatomaceous earth. It is an effec-tive, economical option for controlling Lepidoptera larvae, ants, beetles, white flies, psyllids, thrips and more. Insects will not build up resistance to CELITE 610, which makes it an excellent tool for IPM.

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CLEAN Calcium is a superior foliar calcium solution designed for rapid tissue penetration to improve calcium levels in fruit and tissue. Meeting peak calcium demand timing results in firmer fruit, better storage life, and higher quality.Agro-K has a 40-year history of manufacturing the highest-quality nutritional products on the market. The new CLEAN line is the ideal choice for organic growers looking to produce high quality and maximize yield.

Talk to an authorized Agro-K dealer today about how CLEAN products can help your crops.

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EQUIIPMENT | PLANTING EQUIPMENT

The Latest Updates in Planters and Transplanters

These four companies share what they have slotted to roll out in 2018.

MS Version G, Monosem MS-G expands Monosem’s line of small seed precision planters. Designed specifically for planting lettuce and other small seeds in bed-shaping sleds, the short, crank-style chassis keeps the unit rigid on top of the beds and allows easy depth adjustment on the fly — helping growers achieve ideal depth control for even germination.

Monosem-Inc.com

New Model 5500, Mechanical TransplanterAdapted from the Model 5000 series, the new Model 5500 from Mechanical Transplanter Co. has all the same features but has incorporated a new timing system. Me-chanical Transplanter says because the 5500 model no longer using a cam activated plant ejection system, this new eccentric timing system opens up the timing speed window larger than any other transplanter. It will be available in a ski, wheel, or new ski wheel combination packing system.

MechanicalTransplanter.com AVG

ISO-based consoles, Topcon AgricultureTopcon Agriculture offers planting solutions via our ISO-based consoles, which interface with a number of ISO-compatible planters including White Planters, DICKEY-john, Kinze and Horsch. The Topcon planter in-terface supports auto-section control and variable rate control via ISO Task Controller.

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Polyplanter Jr., Ferris FarmFerris Farm offers a new model hand planter for planting through plas-tic. It’s easy to use and easy to push, and spacing is very easy to change. This planter allows small farm-ers to seed through plastic without using hand labor. With less than one acre of seeding, it will pay for itself easily, according to the company.

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IS IT POSSIBLE THIS FUNGICIDE

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For excellent preventive disease control, along with the flexibility to use in mixture or alternation programs, make RANMAN a key part of your disease control and resistance management program.

SUM17007_FpgV1_AVG_022618-long.indd 1 12/18/17 12:13 PM


Recommended Treatments

THIS MONTH’S GUIDE concen-trates on Sclerotium rolfsii (aka southern blight). Each month

American Vegetable Grower® will bring you a different pest or pathogen, ranging from weeds and diseases to insects and even wildlife.

We reached out to pathologists to learn how to spot and treat this disease. This month’s contributors include: Dan-iel S. Egel, Purdue University; Anthony P. (Tony) Keinath, Ph.D., Clemson University; Steven T. Koike, University of California Cooperative Extension, Monterey County (Coastal, CA); and Joe Nunez, University of California Coop-erative Extension.

CROP PROTECTION | DISEASE

Field Scouting Guide: Southern Blight

What you need to know to identify and control this disease.

Southern BlightScientific name: Sclerotium rolfsii

Common name: Southern Blight

Crops affected: A particularly big problem on tomatoes and peppers, but also Swiss chard, beans, Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes), onions, carrots, canary beans, sunflowers, cucumbers, eggplants, cucurbits (cantaloupes, watermelons and pumpkins), potatoes, peanuts, and sweet potatoes.

Geographical range: Worldwide, especially in warmer tropical and subtropical climates

Compiled by Karli [email protected]

Traditional ControlsName Active Ingre-

dientClassification Mode of Action

Priaxor (4.17SC) [BASF]

fluxapyroxad 14.3% plus pyraclostrobin 28.6%

FRAC 7 + 11 In general, both active ingredients interfere with respiration and energy metabolism. Fluxapyroxad inhibits the enzyme succinate dehydrogenase, and pyraclostrobin inhibits the enzyme ubiquinol oxidase.

Fontelis (1.67SC) [DuPont]

penthiopyrad 20.4%

FRAC 7 In general, Fontelis interferes with respiration and energy metabolism. Pen-thiopyrad inhibits the enzyme succinate dehydrogenase.

Cabrio (20EG) [BASF] pyraclostrobin 20%

FRAC 11 Cabrio interferes with respiration and energy metabolism. Pyraclostrobin inhibits the enzyme ubiquinol oxidase.

Organic ControlsName Active Ingredient Mode of Action

Actinovate AG [Mon-santo]

Streptomyces lydicus WYEC 108 Colonizes plant roots and foliar surfaces

Double Nickel LC [Certis USA]

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain D747

Colonizes plant roots

RootShield [BioWorks] Trichoderma harzianum Competitive exclusion and mycoparasitism

The Pathogen’s ImpactNunez: Southern blight is a very de-

structive, fast acting crown rot disease that rapidly kills the plant. In 2017, southern blight was a big problem. Out of more than 40 crown rot samples re-ceived in the University of California Davis Vegetable and Agronomic Crop Pathology program in summer 2017, 50% were southern blight.

This disease was commonly reported to cause more than 50% mortality in af-fected fields. Most unusually, this disease caused major losses in many northern counties in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, where it is not typi-cally an issue, including Colusa, Yolo, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, and Merced.

The widespread distribution we saw this year is not likely due to pathogen spread to new fields. Since southern blight is favored by high temperatures (more than 86°F), high soil moisture, dense canopies, and frequent irrigation, it seems most plausible that a combination of late planting dates and record high summer temperatures created unusually favorable conditions for the pathogen in the north-ern part of the valley. Although not a new disease to the state, the increased damage from the disease this year may mean that this will be a bigger issue next year if the environment is conducive and the disease is not properly managed.

Egel: In the Midwest, the problem is not important on vegetables. To individ-

California growers reported that southern blight caused more than 50% crop mortality in infected fields.Photo courtesy of Purdue University.jpg


ual growers who have experienced this problem in a field or high tunnel, how-ever, the economic loss can be high.

Keinath: The economic impact is dif-ficult to measure. In my fungicide trials, I did not see a significant reduc-tion in weight or number of tomato fruit on nonsprayed plants compared to sprayed plants. Large growers have reported losing 10% to 15% of their tomato plants in a year from severe southern blight, but I have seen almost 70% of tomato plants affected with southern blight in a field worked by a small grower.

Koike: In coastal California, south-ern blight is an occasional concern with minimal economic impact but it is not a major disease. Growers don’t usually experience problems until the crops are near or reaching maturity.

How to ID the DiseaseNunez: Southern blight misdiagnosis

is likely if it occurs in an area where it has not historically been an issue. Part of the trick to diagnosis is to look at both the plant and the soil right around the crown. Some diagnostic traits include:

• Small tan to reddish brown sclerotia form at the base of the plant and/or in the soil right around the plant. The sclerotia look like alfalfa seeds when young but turn brown with age.

• White fungal mycelium (thread-like strands) will grow into the soil. No other fungus will grow extensively in the soil.

• White fan-like mycelial will grow on

the crown and/or affected tissues. Severely affected plants can have vascular discoloration, which may be confused with Fusarium wilt.

• Plants go from looking healthy to dead in less than a week — much faster than most crown rots. In affected fields, the disease patches are roughly circular.

Recommended TreatmentSee the charton page 18 for a list of

recommended treatments.

Keinath: The most effective treatment is preventative fungicide applications on tomatoes, peppers, and possibly beans. Use the traditional chemistries suggested below, as organic controls have not proven to be effective.

Priaxor can, and should be, applied twice per tomato and pepper crop. Fontelis should be applied twice early in the season followed by two applica-tions of Cabrio. In my tests on tomato, the fungicides were ranked from most to

A plant infected with southern blight has small tan to reddish brown sclerotia form at the base (top). White thread-like fungal strands may also grow extensively in the soil, a trait unique to southern blight. Fu-sarium crown rot (bottom), however, has a distinctive browning beginning from the base of the stem and traveling upwards throughout the plant.

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least effective as follows: Priaxor, Fon-telis then Cabrio, Cabrio alone, and Fon-telis alone, although Fontelis alone still was more effective than not spraying.

Egel: Managing southern blight can be difficult because the sclerotia persist for years without a host. The host range includes many crops from many plant families. Therefore, crop rotation is not always effective. The best bet is to scout fields where vegetables or other suscep-

tible hosts are planted. Note fields where southern blight has been observed. Usually, the distribution of southern blight will be patchy. In the early to mid-season, check the base of plants for le-sions. Later in the season, look for wilted plants. Use crop rotations with small grains. Deep plow crop residue, which will hinder sclerotia survival.

In addition to some of the traditional chemistries mentioned in this article,

growers should check out Evito 480 SC with active ingredient fluoxastrobin.

Nunez: Once sclerotia levels become too numerous in a field, consider fumi-gation. Metam sodium (Vapam, K-Pam) can be effective, but ideally it needs to be applied through sprinklers, so it percolates down into the soil at least 6 inches to kill the fungus in the soil zone where it is active. Because of re-strictions in application, sprinkler appli-cation is not allowed in many counties; growers must shank it in.

This method is not as effective since the fumigant does not penetrate deep enough into the soil. Fields with shanked applications may still suffer major south-ern blight losses. Also, the requirement of buffer zones for metam applications means the field may become re-infested in a short time since various tractor op-erations can move sclerotia from the buf-fer zones into the rest of the field.

Sclerotia near the surface of the soil can be killed when exposed to high temperatures (105°F-120°F ) for two to four weeks during the summer months. Solarization alone is not generally con-sidered a viable management strategy, but when soils were solarized before adding a biological control or a fungi-cide, disease was reduced by 70% to 100% compared to the same biological or chemical treatment without solariza-tion. Make sure to prepare the soil for planting before solarizing, since cultiva-tion and incorporating amendments can bring buried sclerotia back to the upper soil layers.

There are several fungi that appear to have some antagonistic effects on south-ern blight, including RootShield (Tricho-derma harzianum). There are no field studies that indicate efficacy of bacterial products (e.g., Serenade Soil). To my knowledge, there are no studies to sup-port the use of plant defense-inducing products such as Regalia. AVG

Karli Petrovic is a freelance writer and former editor for Greenhouse Grower®

magazine, a Meister Media Worldwide publication.

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Editor’s note: American Vegetable Grower® magazine welcomes its new-est columnist, Carrie Wohleb. She was personally selected by Potato Pointers’ longtime and now retired columnist Phil Nolte. The American Vegetable Grower team is excited to have her share her expertise and insights with you.

POTATO VIRUS Y (PVY) is one of the most common problems in potato fields, but few people know

it when they see it. With plenty of other things to worry about, some growers may not consider PVY a serious threat and have not learned to recognize the symptoms. But this attitude is changing as more potato crops are impacted by the virus.

PVY has been around a long time but only recently has become a seriousprob-lem for potato growers in North America. There are some reasons for this.

Why Is PVY Is a Bigger Problem Now?

Hidden infections go undetected too long. Visual detection of infected plants is more difficult since the adoption of new cultivars that show no symptoms or only mild symptoms when infected with PVY. ‘Russet Norkotah’ is the most notorious of these mildly symptomatic cultivars, but there are many others. Moreover, new PVY strains that only cause minor symptoms in potato foliage have become more prevalent.

Both of these circumstances have al-lowed the amount of PVY circulating in potato-growing regions to increase. It’s a “Typhoid Mary” effect where asymp-tomatic plants become an important reservoir for the virus.

Seed potatoes are now screened for PVY. Many of the seed certification agencies, which traditionally rated seed lots for virus based on visual inspections, have added PVY testing. The impact on potato seed growers has been significant, since infected seed lots are downgraded or rejected if they have PVY levels that

exceed established tolerances. Seed grow-ers are now challenged to manage a prob-lem tht can’t always be seen.

PVY is causing secondary, more se-rious problems. Another reason for in-creased concern is that some of the new strains can cause potato tuber necrotic ringspot disease (PTNRD). PTNRD cre-ates sunken or necrotic rings on the tuber surface that can extend into the flesh.

These strains are on the increase; we have already seen some loads of pota-toes rejected due to PTNRD. This trend will continue unless we are more vigi-lant about managing PVY. An impor-tant first step is being able to recognize the symptoms.

How to Identify PVYA characteristic symptom of PVY

infections involves a yellow or light green mottling of leaf tissues — also known as mosaic.

Mild symptoms can be difficult to ID. Some mosaics are quite noticeable, but others only show up under cloudy conditions when the contrasting colors are easier to see. The mildest symptoms only give a lighter green hue to the plant.

PVY-infected plant leaves may be crin-kled. Entire plants may be stunted.

Some cultivars have a hypersensi-tive reaction to PVY that results in dark brown necrotic streaks on the leaves and stems and often progresses to leaf drop. Few growers associate these symptoms with the virus, though some commonly grown cultivars (‘Dark Red Norland,’ ‘Ranger Russet,’ and ‘Yukon Gold’) can have a hypersensi-tive response to certain PVY strains.

Symptom expression depends on the strain involved. The ordinary strain (PVYO) rarely causes tuber defects but usually gives the most severe foliar symp-toms. The tobacco necrosis strain (PVYN) and the recombinant strain (PVYNWi) usually cause mild foliar symptoms.

The tuber necrosis strain (PVYNTN), as the name implies, is the most likely of the strains to cause PTNRD. All of the strains reduce yields.

How to Manage PVYClean seed. The best thing that you

can do to minimize PVY in your crop is to start with clean seed. Buy limited generation seed known to have little to

This is what PVY looks like on two different varieties: Canela Russet (left) and a chipping potato (right).

Ph

oto

s b

y C

arri

e H

. Wo

hle

b

POTATO POINTERS | DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Carrie H. WohlebWhy Potato Virus Y

Needs Your AttentionThis once minor disease is now a serious problem. Here’s why.

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POTATO POINTERS | DISEASE MANAGEMENT

no detectable PVY. Get a copy of the health certificate and scrutinize the re-sults from field inspections (percentage with mosaic ) and ELISA tests (percent-age with PVY).

A couple of years ago, I was seeing a lot of PVY in ‘Alturas’ fields. It turns out that ‘Alturas’ seed was in short supply and many growers bought seed that had more virus than they usually accept. Most of these growers knew that yields could be reduced, but they did not understand the risk they were taking with tuber quality: ‘Alturas’ is susceptible to PTNRD when infected with PVYNTN. Some of these grow-ers planned to limit further spread by applying insecticides to control aphids, but this tactic does not always achieve the desired results.

Be strategic in controlling aphids. The virus adheres to their mouthparts when they feed on infected plants and spreads when the aphids move to feed on nearby healthy plants.

Rapid transmission of PVY by aphids offers little opportunity to limit virus spread with insecticides. Some may help by controlling colonizing aphids, like green peach aphids, but they work too slowly to stop other aphids that spread PVY as they are passing through in search of plants they like more.

It’s better to apply products that in-terfere with virus transmission — like mineral oils or insecticides — that act as feeding deterrents. Mineral oils require frequent (sometimes weekly) applications using ground equipment when aphids are flying. This makes them a feasible choice for small acre-ages or some potato seed operations but not for larger operations.

Insecticides that are classified as selective feeding blockers, like Fulfill (pymetrozine, Syngenta) and Beleaf (flonicamid FMC Corp.) can be ap-plied by air and offer some residual activity. Consult labels for appropriate rates and use patterns. AVG

Carrie H. Wohleb, Ph.D. is ssociate Professor/Regional Specialist - Potato, Vegetable, and Seed Crops, Washington State University

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CONNECT WITH US @GenNextGrowers Facebook.com/GenNextGrowers GenNextGrowers.com

The GenNext Growers Initiative connects young growers to enhance their business skills and create the next wave of produce industry leaders.

Know Your Numbers Keeping good records of expenditures and profits are key to benchmarking business success.

GENNEXT GROWERS

By Frank [email protected]

ALL GROWERS CAN attest that the cost of doing business has

been on the rise in recent years. Seed, fertilizer, pes-ticides, and herbicides continue to creep up while the prices paid for the produce grown remain mostly flat. That puts a premium on accounting and recordkeep-ing to identify and cut waste in the farm business budget. For young growers, this is especially important to help ensure long-term sustainability of the farm.

According to Clay Worden, a Managing Partner of RSM US LLP in Orlando, FL, keeping track of it all is critical to success.

“Input costs are tough to manage in a rising cost environment,” he says. “Thus, the importance of good records to tie back yield, gain, and sales results against the cost to bring your ag prod-ucts to the market cannot be overstated.”

Keep it Simple Worden says growers should try to

keep recordkeeping systems simple with a focus on understanding direct and in-direct expenditures. And, he says there are tools that can be used to help with the effort.

With some of the new precision ag-riculture tools and software platforms, Worden says it has gotten a lot easier to track costs and results. But, even if you don’t use those tools, you can keep track of input costs per acre and trace that back to the sales price per acre. This will give a good idea of the economic outcome of business decisions made.

“Make sure you have a solid general ledger package and capture all the input costs related to a specific activity,” he says. “For example, if you have two dif-ferent crops and you just keep one line item for fertilizer, you really don’t know the fertilizer cost for each crop unless you always apply the exact same rate to both crops. It is tough to manage what

you don’t mea-sure. Set up some simple measurement tools, share them with your team, and allow them to help you find ways to reduce costs.

“Too often, I talk with farmers that say they know their costs, but they keep it all on a yel-low pad and do not tie it back to the checkbook or general ledger. It is im-portant to have a system that captures all the costs of operations. For example, if your crew is hard on equipment and shop costs are high, that has a direct im-pact on your profitability.”

Know Thy Neighbor In accounting, benchmarking is a

great tool to see how expenses are being managed on the farm. Simply explained, the practice is comparing your business to other similar businesses.

“Most of us want to know how we compare to our neighbors,” Worden says. “In essence, that is benchmarking. Comparing similar crops or operations with several others is a great way to benchmark your progress. Many of the state universities publish standard cost guidelines. That may be a good place to start, but the data is usually hypothetical and not a true actual cost comparison incurred by actual agricultural produc-ers. Finding a CPA firm that specializes in a particular sector of agriculture also may be a great place to start asking for some general comparative data.”

The hardest part of benchmarking is finding a good comparison, because

most growers believe their operations are unique. There is truth in this be-cause farming tends to be such an indi-vidual business.

“Despite the challenge, any chance you get to compare your activities and costs with another is a chance to learn something that just might save you some money,” Worden says.

Planning for the Long Haul Farms that last are ones that are prof-

itable. While many growers are great stewards of the land and know how to raise a quality crop, profits reign when it comes to sustainability.

“Long-term success requires profits that can be used to pay down debt and reinvest for the future,” Worden says. “Just like with crops, there is a time to sow and a time to harvest. Savvy financial operators know how to manage costs and understand the importance of yields and expenditures on the profit-ability of their business.”

In other words, business savvy is just as important as production prowess. AVG

Frank Giles is Editor of Florida Grower® magazine, a Meister Media Worldwide publication.

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VARIETY SPECS | SWEET CORN

SEMINOLE SWEET XRBREEDER: Illinois Foundation SeedsDISTRIBUTOR: Siegers Seed Co.Ear length: 7.5 to 8 inchesType: High-quality sh2Disease package: High resistance to Ps, and intermediate resistance to EtDays to maturity: 80Region(s): Highly adaptable to all markets, both North and SouthOther: Seminole Sweet XR has a high-stress tolerance. This variety offers a very strong tip fill and beautiful kernel color. IFSI.com; Siegers.com

EUPHORIABREEDER: Crookham SeedsEar length: 7.5 inchesType: Augmented/sh2Disease package: Intermediate resistance to EtDays to maturity: 72Region(s): Northeast, Midwest, Northwest, and CanadaOther: Bred by Dustin Batt and George Crookham, Euphoria is an early variety, with strong emergence and vigor. Augmented means the highest eating quality. It boasts a sturdy clean plant at 5 feet 5 inches and has good tip fill and easy snap with a large ear. Crookham.com

CAPPUCCINOBREEDER: Seneca Vegetable ResearchDISTRIBUTOR: SeedwayEar length: 8 inchesType: Syngergistic bicolorMarket: FreshDisease package: Intermediate resistance to northern corn leaf blight (Et, also known as NCLB) and PstDays to maturity: 73Region(s): Northeast and MidwestOther: Cappuccino will work in any planting window. SenecaVegetable.com Seedway.com

CALIBER XBREEDER: Illinois Foundation Seeds DISTRIBUTOR: Stokes SeedsEar length: 7.5 to 8 inchesType: BicolorMarket: FreshDisease package: Ps tolerantDays to maturity: 76Region(s): Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, MidwestOther: Caliber X is tender and sweet. IFSI.com; StokesSeeds.com

AFFECTIONBREEDER: SeminisType: Sh2 (Bicolor)Disease package: Intermediate resistance to Stewart’s wilt (Pst)Days to maturity: 78 Region(s): Midwest, Mid Atlantic, Georgia, and Florida Other: Affection, bred by Kendell Hellewell, is the newest Sh2 bicolor that provides exceptional eating quality, texture, and sugar, differentiating itself from other varities. The attractive dark-green husk color offers a great tip fill and husk cover. Overall, this strong plant is easy to harvest and offers high-yield potential. Seminis-US.com

ALLURE ORGANICDISTRIBUTOR: Johnny’s Selected SeedsEar length: 8 inchesType: Syngergistic bicolorDisease package: High resistance to common rust (Ps)Days to maturity: 75Region(s): Temperate U.S.Other: This certified organic seed, bred by Seneca Vegetable Research, is an excellent performer in organic or other low-input systems. There’s no compromise on flavor, though. It features beautiful ears with good tip fill and husk protection.

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9 Sweet Corn Varieties You’ll Want to See

Compare these varieties’ disease resistance, regions, and other features to find the right one for you.


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VARIETY SPECS | SWEET CORN

TEMPTRESSBREEDER: Crookham SeedsDISTRIBUTOR: Rupp SeedsEar length: 7.75 inchesType: Quad sweetDisease package: High resistance to Ps and intermediate resistance to EtDays to maturity: 70Region(s): Eastern U.S.Other: It’s the first “Quad Sweet” variety in corn lineup; attractive ear with eye-catching husk package; moderately good cool soil tolerance

Crookham.com; RuppSeeds.com AVG

SUPER SURPRISEBREEDER: Illinois Foundation Seeds DISTRIBUTOR: Rispens SeedsEar length: 8 inchesType: Bicolor supersweetDisease package: High resistance to Ps (Rp1-gene) and maize dwarf mosaic virusDays to maturity: 76Region(s): Most corn growing regions; highly adaptableOther: ‘Super Surprise’ has a good ear size and eating quality suitable for either fresh market or shipping. It boasts strong agronomic qualities.

IFSI.com; RispensSeeds.com

SS28802MRBREEDER: Abbott & CobbDISTRIBUTOR: Siegers Seed Co. and Rupp SeedsEar length: 9 inches Type: SuperSeedWare (SSW)Disease package: High resistance to Ps and intermediate resistance to Et/Ht1 geneDays to maturity: 81 Region(s): Southeast, Northeast, Midwest, and CaliforniaOther: Great germination and vigor; excellent rust and NCLB resistance; maintains ear size in the fall and winter growing seasons

AbbottCobb.com; Siegers.com; RuppSeeds.com

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WHEN IT COMES to farm market-

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This past February, North American Farmers’ Direct Marketing Associ-ation (NAFDMA) hosted farm marketers from across North America at the annual Farmers’ In-spired Convention in Los Angeles County, CA.

Touring area farm mar-kets was a highlight of the event. Here are the top 10 ideas you can steal to use in your own business.

FARM MANAGEMENT | FARM MARKETING

10 IDEAS YOU CAN STEAL FROM CALIFORNIA FARM MARKETS

There were inspirations galore on the NAFDMA farm marketing tour this year. Here are the top picks you can use at your own market.

By Lisa [email protected]

Re-think your produce displays by using volume to draw in attention.

Be one of the first to market with kombucha on tap!

Bring your entertainment to the next level by adding animal shows.

3

1

5 7

6

Install a cat door in the nursing/changing area so that garbage goes to a receptacle outside the building.

Offer lost child tags at big events.


Feature a flavored lemonade station. Serve in clear plastic cups for free advertising as your guests walk the farm with a cup in hand.

contnued on page 34

2

4

Hang a toddler seat in each portable restroom.

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Lisa Dean manages the community for NAFDMA’s Farmers Inspired program. NAFDMA offers peer-to-peer learning opportunities, connections, and resources for farmers

who are passionate about the business of agritourism and farm direct marketing.

FARM MANAGEMENT | FARM MARKETING continued from page 33

Add lollipops in the first aid kits around the farm. Genius!

10

Set up eye-catching photo backgrounds to encourage posting on social media.

The next convention will take place in Indiana, Feb. 1-7, 2019. Check FarmersInspired.com for the

latest association news and details about the 34th Annual

Farmers Inspired Convention.

8 Have fun with a DIY spin wheel featuring prizes for free concession or retail items during specified time intervals throughout the weekend.

9

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website: www.mechanicaltransplanter.come-mail: [email protected]

Model 1000For small cells or

bareroot plants. Popular with small growers.

Model 5000Our most productive

carrousel transplanter. Packing wheel units

also available.

Model 912Transplants plugs through

plastic mulch. Twin row machines also available.


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GROWERVegetableA M E R I C A N

®


B IOLOGICAL CONTROL HAS moved

into the mainstream. After years of experi-mentation and new and improved technologies, biocontrol is becoming a more regular part of many growers’ inte-grated pest manage-ment (IPM) programs.

And the timing couldn’t be better, as consumer demands for more sustainable production methods for the produce and ornamentals they buy are moving back upstream. Retail-ers have taken notice and many are beginning to set expectations for what they want to see from the growers they choose to buy from.

Biocontrol, of course, is a good fit for growers looking to add more sustain-able tools in their production. Those that aren’t becoming familiar with these op-tions risk being left behind as the mar-ket moves forward without them.

This was one of the most prominent themes of the recent Biocontrols USA West Conference & Expo, held March 7-9, 2018 in Carlsbad, CA, just north of San Diego. Nearly 400 growers, crop

consultants, researchers, crop protection retailers, and industry suppliers took part in the event.

Attendees took a look at all aspects of biological control, from new products, to production and application tech-niques, to marketing promotions and supply chain considerations. They also had access to one-on-one discussions with 45 of the biocontrol industry’s leading suppliers on their latest products and crop protection techniques.

What the Retail Chain Thinks of Biocontrols

The conference’s kickoff session, Biocontrol: The Retailer and Consumer Perspective, dug into some of the expec-

tations from the ultimate customers for U.S. growers.

Certis USA Executive Vice President Tim Damico shared data from the In-ternational Food Information Council Foundation’s 2017 Food and Health Sur-vey, citing sustainability as an important factor for more than half of consumers. And underlining the importance of bio-control, Damico said, of those people, the most important aspect of sustain-ability is “Reducing the amount of pesti-cides used to produce food.”

Organic Vegetable Growers Share Their Strategies

Attendees at the conference heard from a wide range of presenters, including leading vegetable growers who are suc-cessfully incorporating biocontrols into their day-to-day production strategies.

An Organics and Biocontrol panel discussion included presentations on strategies from some of the largest or-ganic producers in the nation including Alan Boyce from Materra Farming, Arnott Duncan from Duncan Family Farms, Gerald Davis from Grimmway Farms, and Anthony Duttle from Tan-imura & Antle.

“Over the last 10 years the under-standing of the biology of our systems has improved tremendously,” Duttle told the audience. “We have engaged this

EVENTS | BIOCONTROLS

Biocontrol in Demand from Produce Retailers and Consumers

The Biocontrols USA West Conference & Expo showed growers the market potential — and other benefits — of incorporating biological control into their production systems.

Amanda Raster, The Sustainability Consortium

Anthony Duttle, Director of Agronomic Services at Tanimura and Antle

By Richard [email protected]

Organic panel discussion.


understanding to maintain a healthier balance in our systems.”

Davis recounted how he has been able to control root knot nematode popula-tions in infected fields with a compost and green manure application regime, while Duncan discussed how compost is a major line of defense for his crops.

Boyce, who grows in Brazil, Africa, as well as the U.S., discussed how bio-controls help him navigate differing standards in multiple markets.

Straight Talk about Trialing New Products

During the vegetable break out ses-sion, Grimmway Farms’ Kim Horton shared her procedures for field trialing biocontrol materials.

She was frank about what she expect-ed in the products she trialed, including valid third-party testing of the test prod-uct on vegetable crops, as well as active ingredients that are on Grimmway’s approved-products list. The crops grown in the trials will be sold into the whole-sale market, so products must be ready for primetime.

She also said she prefers to buy the product rather than allow the company to donate it. While it’s a cost, it helps keep the relationship with the supplier clearly defined.

Biostimulants Discussion Explored Production Advantages

The conference concluded with a panel discussion on the ins and outs of an intriguing new class of biologi-cal products, biostimulants. Panelists including a consultant (David Holden, Holden Research & Consulting), a re-searcher (The Ohio State University’s Matt Kleinhenz), a grower (J&D Pro-duce’s Carlos Lazcano), and a supplier (Michael Austin from Agrinos), each offered their takes on where these prod-ucts fit for growers and how they can make the best and most profitable use of them in their production.

Real-World Examples of Biocontrols Being Used

A pre-conference Biocontrols field tour visited greenhouse, fruit produc-tion groves and vineyards, and research facilities in the San Diego area. More than 50 tour attendees rode the bus to four stops where they learned about the

latest biocontrol strategies for managing the Asian Citrus Psyllid, the vector for citrus greening, a tremendous potential threat to California’s fresh citrus indus-try; proper sanitation techniques for bio-control programs; and the latest control strategies for key fruit pests including vine mealybug, red scale, purple scale, and citrus mealybug.

The next event in the Biocontrols Conference & Expo Series was also announced. The Biocontrols USA East Conference & Expo (BiocontrolsCon-

ference.com/USA-East/ ) will be held Oct. 11-12, 2018 in Rochester, NY. Further details about the program and exhibitors will be announced in the coming weeks. AVG

Richard Jones is Executive Editor of Meister Media Worldwide’s U.S. Horticulture Group.

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SINCE 2002, AMERICAN Vegetable Grower® has chosen a producer to highlight and honor with the coveted

Grower Achievement Award. It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly a year since we, along with support from United Fresh Pro-duce Association, crowned Jones Potato Farm as the 2017 winner. Time flies, but we are now searching for the American Veg-etable GrowerSM 2018 Grower Achievement Award winner.

From the onset of the award program, each winner has been selected from a note-worthy list of nominees submitted to us by growers, suppliers, consultants, and other in-dustry stakeholders like you. We need your help again to shine the spotlight on a deserv-ing individual.

Key Criteria to ConsiderAre you striving to be a sustainable veg-

etable growing operation? Do you embody

the spirit of excellence in our industry? Are you looking to implement the latest technol-ogy on the farm?

Or, do you know a grower that is innova-tive and stands above the rest? If so, here are qualities that stand out to us.

• Industry Leadership. Not only are they involved with others in the industry and act as advocates to local or national gov-ernment, but fellow growers turn to them for new ideas.

• Innovative, Consumer-Oriented Market-ing Efforts (including sustainability and community involvement)

• Excellence in Food Quality and Safety

• Embraces Technology Advances

To find out more or to submit a nomina-tion, visit GrowerAchievementAward.com, email [email protected], or call 440-602-9207. AVG

GROWER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD | NOMINATIONS

Help Us Find the Next Grower Achievement

Award Winner

Who’s the most respected vegetable grower in 2018? Now’s the time to nominate a candidate.

Why Jones Potato Farm Won in 2017Alan Jones of Jones Potato Farm in Parrish, FL, approaches all problems with a mindset of,

“How can I be part of the solution?” For example, when he heard consumers blame farmers for harming the environment, he

pushed pass his knee-jerk defensiveness and assessed his practices. After changing his irriga-tion methods, he found a way to save 1 million gallons a day on his 3,000-acre farm.

He brings a similarly innovative spirit to solving common production issues. He wanted to fine-tune fertility and pest control applications, so he recruited ideas from his consultants, his local ag associations, the Nature Conservancy, and tech companies. Working together, he now has a brilliantly simple soil mapping system that allows field workers to know exactly what to apply where (and when).

If you know anyone like this, make sure you submit their name for us to consider for this year’s Grower Achievement Award!

A Collection of Winners

To date, 15 deserving farms have been called to Washington, DC, to receive American Vegetable Grower’s annual Grower Achievement Award at United Fresh’s Washington Conference. Here is a list of the past re-cipients. Who will be added for 2018?

2002: A. Duda & Sons Oviedo, FL2003: Betteravia Farms Santa Maria, CA 2004: Michael Farms Urbana, OH 2005: Gary Shiflett Farms Deming, NM 2006: Teixeira Farms Santa Maria, CA 2007: Anthony Farms, Inc. Scandinavia, WI 2008: Lewis Taylor Farms Tifton, GA 2009: Hansen Farms, Inc. Stanley, NY 2010: Alstede Farms LLC Chester, NJ 2011: TKM Bengard Farms. LLC Belle Glade, FL 2012: Steven Lyles Farms Las Cruces, NM 2013: Torrey Farms Elba, NY2014: Sakata Farms Brighton, CO2015: Pero Family Farms Delray Beach, FL2016: Tasteful Selections Arvin, CA2017: Jones Potato Farm Parrish, FL

Alan Jones of Jones Potato Farm in Parrish, FL, embodies what the Grower Achievement Award stands for. He and his operation were recognized for their efforts in 2017.

BCS_LUN_M7_1778_Lettuce_WesternVeg_O.indd 12-18-2017 10:19 AMSaved at NonePrinted At Client BayerMedia Type PrintLive 7” x 10”Trim 8” x 10.75”Bleed 8.25” x 11”Job Title 2016 Luna Print ProductionPubs Western Vegetable GrowerAd Code None

DEPARTMENT:

APPROVAL:

Art Director Copywriter Acct. Manager Studio Artist Proofreader Traffic Production

Addl. Notes: None

© 2018 Bayer CropScience LP, 2 TW Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. Always read and follow label instructions. Bayer, the Bayer Cross, and Luna are registered trademarks of Bayer. Luna is not registered in all states. For additional product information, call toll-free 1-866-99-BAYER (1-866-992-2937) or visit our website at www.CropScience.Bayer.us.

BeautifulF RO M PL A N T I N G TO H A RV E S T

From planting to harvest, Luna® fungicide protects leafy vegetables throughout the growing season, improving plant health for beautiful crops and abundant leafy harvests season after season. As a breakthrough systemic fungicide, Luna provides outstanding control of Lettuce drop, Powdery mildew, Botrytis and other problematic diseases. Make Luna a cornerstone of your fungicide program to consistently produce a high-quality crop – and more of it.

Find out what Luna can do for you at LunaFungicides.com/leafy-veg.

From planting to harvest, Luna® fungicide protects leafy vegetables throughout the growing season, improving

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DURING THE LAST few decades, the acres of drip-irrigated vegeta-bles have greatly increased in Cal-

ifornia. Research studies have shown that drip can increase the efficiency of water and nutrient applications.

But in practice, many farming opera-tions may not be reaping all the benefits of drip. Perhaps because the shift from sprinklers and furrow irrigation to drip requires giving up some old habits.

Shorten Timing Between Irrigation for Drip

Waiting seven or more days between irrigations is one common practice for irrigating by furrow and sprinklers in order to dry out furrows so trac-tors can access fields. Or in the case of sprinklers, it avoids frequently soaking leaves and promoting foliar diseases.

Studies we have conducted in Califor-nia’s coastal valleys show many growers drip irrigate vegetable crops at an inter-val commonly used with sprinklers.

Irrigating at this longer interval lim-its the water and nutrient use efficiency benefits that drip irrigation provides. At these longer irrigation intervals, a vegetable crop is more likely to experi-ence water stress, slowing growth. Plus, more water must be applied with each irrigation, potentially causing nitrate to leach below the root zone.

There’s No Need for Side-Dress Applications

Another custom practice that has per-sisted is to fertilize drip irrigated fields in the same way you would in sprinkler

and furrow irrigated fields: using a tractor-side-dress applicator.

When you use the side-dress appli-cator, you’re generally limited to two applications before a vegetable crop is too large for fertilizer to be knifed into the bed. So fertilizer side-dressed early on may exceed the crops’ needs and increase the risk of nitrogen deficiency developing later.

Fertigating through drip has a couple advantages over side-dress applications:

1. It allows you to spoon feed fertil-izer to match crop nutrient needs.

2. You can place nutrients where roots are most concentrated.

Take Advantage of Fertigation’s Timing Flexibility

Though most of us are familiar with fertigation’s benefits, many vegetable operations fertigate drip-irrigated crops in two split-applications, similar to side-dressing with a tractor.

And although drip provides flexibil-ity to finely adjust fertilizer rates, many vegetable operations fertigate more ni-trogen than the plants can utilize early in the crop cycle.

What’s Limiting Fertigation’s Widespread Use?

There may be several reasons why many growers have not fully transi-tioned their management to maximize the water and nutrient efficiency ben-efits of drip.

The labor shortage can thwart plans. In California, labor has become more expensive, and skilled irrigators are hard to find. Every irrigation and fertigation activity on a farm requires labor. At the start of a drip irrigation, an irrigator needs to monitor the pres-sure and check and fix leaks in the tape. Fertigation requires the added steps of setting up a pump and a fertilizer tank by a field, as well as someone to monitor that the fertilizer is properly injected.

Drip irrigation doesn’t always ap-ply evenly. You may be uncertain if the fertilizer applied through the drip lines is distributed evenly. The uniformity of many drip systems we have evaluated in vegetables is less than optimal. Leaks can stem from reusing tape for eight to 12 crop cycles. Clogged emitters make the drip system operate below the rec-ommended pressure.

Improperly injecting fertilizer lim-its fertigation’s payoff. Injecting too quickly or not completely flushing it be-fore the end of the irrigation cycle will reduce application uniformity.

Tips to Get More from Your Fertigation System

Drip fertigation can be a valuable tool for efficiently using water and nutrients to produce vegetables, but all

For a variety of reasons, growers aren’t using fertigation to its potential. Here’s how you can overcome common obstacles on your own farm.

Michael CahnHow to Get What You Need from Fertigation

VIEW FROM THE WEST | IRRIGATION

Traditional methods require enough time between irrigations to allow the field to dry out enough,

either to avoid foliar disease in the case of sprinklers, or to prevent tractors from getting bogged down in

the furrows. Drip removes these issues.



tools must be used correctly to achieve the best results. A prerequisite for op-timizing water and fertilizer in drip is to assure that the system has a high ap-plication uniformity. Well designed and properly managed drip systems should have an application uniformity greater than 85% (where 100% represents per-fect uniformity).

Fertilizer applications often can be skipped or greatly reduced by identifying fields with sufficient soil nitrogen. This strategy allows fertilizer programs to be flexible so they can be adjusted for the site-specific conditions of each field.

Fertigation allows growers to fine-tune fertilizer rates. In contrast, most side-dress applicators can only coarsely adjust fertilizer rates, often in incre-ments of more than 5 gallons per acre.

Evaluate the distribution unifor-mity on a subset of fields can deter-mine if the drip systems are operating as designed.

Provide proper training and equip-ment to irrigators helps improve the uniformity of irrigation and fertigation applications. Irrigators should know how to use calibrated gauges and make ad-justments so drip systems are operating at the pressure (usually between 8 and 12 psi) required for maximizing application uniformity. Training on the best prac-tices for fertigation also will improve fertilizer application uniformity.

In western states like California, wa-ter-quality regulations continue to be-come more restrictive and will require that growers manage water and nitrogen fertilizer as efficiently as possible to prevent nitrate contamination of under-ground aquifers and surface waters.

The flexibility to adjust fertilizer rates midstream based on soil nitrate readings is an advantage of fertigation that is difficult to match using a side-dress approach to fertilizing. AVG

Michael Cahn is the Irrigation and Water Resources Advisor at the University of California, Cooperative Extension, Monterey.


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• Protects against major soil-borne and foliar diseases

• Excellent fit in an IPM program

• Wide range of fruit and vegetable crops, including organic

• Compatible with beneficial arthropods, including pollinators

• Proven performance with 300+ field trials

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Always read and follow label instructions.Taegro 2 is a registered trademark of Novozymes A/S Corp. Denmark and is distributed by Isagro USA

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DURING THE LAST few decades, the acres of drip-irrigated vegeta-bles have greatly increased in Cal-

ifornia. Research studies have shown that drip can increase the efficiency of water and nutrient applications.

But in practice, many farming opera-tions may not be reaping all the benefits of drip. Perhaps because the shift from sprinklers and furrow irrigation to drip requires giving up some old habits.

Shorten Timing Between Irrigation for Drip

Waiting seven or more days between irrigations is one common practice for irrigating by furrow and sprinklers in order to dry out furrows so trac-tors can access fields. Or in the case of sprinklers, it avoids frequently soaking leaves and promoting foliar diseases.

Studies we have conducted in Califor-nia’s coastal valleys show many growers drip irrigate vegetable crops at an inter-val commonly used with sprinklers.

Irrigating at this longer interval lim-its the water and nutrient use efficiency benefits that drip irrigation provides. At these longer irrigation intervals, a vegetable crop is more likely to experi-ence water stress, slowing growth. Plus, more water must be applied with each irrigation, potentially causing nitrate to leach below the root zone.

There’s No Need for Side-Dress Applications

Another custom practice that has per-sisted is to fertilize drip irrigated fields in the same way you would in sprinkler

and furrow irrigated fields: using a tractor-side-dress applicator.

When you use the side-dress appli-cator, you’re generally limited to two applications before a vegetable crop is too large for fertilizer to be knifed into the bed. So fertilizer side-dressed early on may exceed the crops’ needs and increase the risk of nitrogen deficiency developing later.

Fertigating through drip has a couple advantages over side-dress applications:

1. It allows you to spoon feed fertil-izer to match crop nutrient needs.

2. You can place nutrients where roots are most concentrated.

Take Advantage of Fertigation’s Timing Flexibility

Though most of us are familiar with fertigation’s benefits, many vegetable operations fertigate drip-irrigated crops in two split-applications, similar to side-dressing with a tractor.

And although drip provides flexibil-ity to finely adjust fertilizer rates, many vegetable operations fertigate more ni-trogen than the plants can utilize early in the crop cycle.

What’s Limiting Fertigation’s Widespread Use?

There may be several reasons why many growers have not fully transi-tioned their management to maximize the water and nutrient efficiency ben-efits of drip.

The labor shortage can thwart plans. In California, labor has become more expensive, and skilled irrigators are hard to find. Every irrigation and fertigation activity on a farm requires labor. At the start of a drip irrigation, an irrigator needs to monitor the pres-sure and check and fix leaks in the tape. Fertigation requires the added steps of setting up a pump and a fertilizer tank by a field, as well as someone to monitor that the fertilizer is properly injected.

Drip irrigation doesn’t always ap-ply evenly. You may be uncertain if the fertilizer applied through the drip lines is distributed evenly. The uniformity of many drip systems we have evaluated in vegetables is less than optimal. Leaks can stem from reusing tape for eight to 12 crop cycles. Clogged emitters make the drip system operate below the rec-ommended pressure.

Improperly injecting fertilizer lim-its fertigation’s payoff. Injecting too quickly or not completely flushing it be-fore the end of the irrigation cycle will reduce application uniformity.

Tips to Get More from Your Fertigation System

Drip fertigation can be a valuable tool for efficiently using water and nutrients to produce vegetables, but all

For a variety of reasons, growers aren’t using fertigation to its potential. Here’s how you can overcome common obstacles on your own farm.

Michael CahnHow to Get What You Need from Fertigation


Traditional methods require enough time between irrigations to allow the field to dry out enough,

either to avoid foliar disease in the case of sprinklers, or to prevent tractors from getting bogged down in

the furrows. Drip removes these issues.



tools must be used correctly to achieve the best results. A prerequisite for op-timizing water and fertilizer in drip is to assure that the system has a high ap-plication uniformity. Well designed and properly managed drip systems should have an application uniformity greater than 85% (where 100% represents per-fect uniformity).

Fertilizer applications often can be skipped or greatly reduced by identifying fields with sufficient soil nitrogen. This strategy allows fertilizer programs to be flexible so they can be adjusted for the site-specific conditions of each field.

Fertigation allows growers to fine-tune fertilizer rates. In contrast, most side-dress applicators can only coarsely adjust fertilizer rates, often in incre-ments of more than 5 gallons per acre.

Evaluate the distribution unifor-mity on a subset of fields can deter-mine if the drip systems are operating as designed.

Provide proper training and equip-ment to irrigators helps improve the uniformity of irrigation and fertigation applications. Irrigators should know how to use calibrated gauges and make ad-justments so drip systems are operating at the pressure (usually between 8 and 12 psi) required for maximizing application uniformity. Training on the best prac-tices for fertigation also will improve fertilizer application uniformity.

In western states like California, wa-ter-quality regulations continue to be-come more restrictive and will require that growers manage water and nitrogen fertilizer as efficiently as possible to prevent nitrate contamination of under-ground aquifers and surface waters.

The flexibility to adjust fertilizer rates midstream based on soil nitrate readings is an advantage of fertigation that is difficult to match using a side-dress approach to fertilizing. AVG

Michael Cahn is the Irrigation and Water Resources Advisor at the University of California, Cooperative Extension, Monterey.


But it can also be a dangerous place. Each year, more than a hundred children are killed and another 33 thousand are seriously injured on farms and ranches in the United States.

Helping KidsDo The Job SafelyA farm or ranch is a wonderful place to raise a child.

To learn more, call toll-free: 888-924-7233 or online go towww.nagcat.org.

A set of guidelines is available to help you decide what tasks on the farm are suitable for your child.

Helping Kids Safetly 1-3 square.indd 1 2/13/18 11:04 AM

GrowingProduce.com/subscribe

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Renew your subscription or start one today!


AVGMARKETPLACE

■ Rates: Only $1.50 per word (one-time insertion) $1.45 per word/per issue (six-time insertion) $1.40 per word/per issue (twelve or more) (no agency commissions)■ Combination Orders: Call or email for combo rates to include your ad in our other publications.■ Line Classified Border Charge: For an additional $5.00 per insertion, we can add a line border around

your ad. No pictures, logos or enlarged type permitted. For combo orders; $2.50 per publication.

■ Display Classified: Call advertising sales rep for rates.■ Blind P.O. Box Charge: $4.00 per issue.■ Closing date: Must receive copy by the first of the April preceding date of issue.■ Payment: Full payment must accompany order. VISA, MasterCard, Discover and American

Express accepted. Include account no. & expiration date on order.■ Mail typed or clearly printed ad copy and payment to:

American Vegetable Grower Classified CoordinatorP.O. Box 73169

Cleveland, Ohio 44193Phone: 440-602-9188

Fax: 440-602-9388E-mail: [email protected]

EQUIPMENT/SUPPLIESBYRON 103 SWEET CORN HARVESTOR 3PT HITCH; $6,800. John Deere 6000 Sprayer Cab Air, 60’ Boom, excellent condition; $15,000. Ferris Farms 1-Row Polyplanter 13” spacing; $4,500. 419-360-7993.

ACTIONAGBROKER.COM S.P. HARVESTORS (BEANS/PEA, Packaging, Irrigation). 607-382-6929.

3-ROW PLASTIC MULCH & DRIP TAPE LAYER. CAN BE SEPARATED. $3,000. 24” wood stakes. Contact: 519-259-3242.

AGTEC 3004 SPRAYER 150 GAL. TANKS, GOOD CONDITION. 620-331-8108.

USED 3-ROW VOGEL CARROT HARVESTER. CALL 229-246-1340 or e-mail [email protected]

2015 FERRIS FARM PLANTER FOR MULCH PLASTIC. 856-447-3668.

STANHAY 785 AIR SEEDER FOR SALE. HAS 9 SEEDING UNITS mounted on a 3 point hitch frame. Field ready. Has 3 different sets of shoes and 5 sets of new and used plates for onions, carrots, greens and beets. Lots of spare parts. $17,500 Call 567-227-0134.

VEGETABLE CROP MACHINERY FROM TILLAGE TO HARVEST featuring the latest in rototillers, spading machines, chisel plows, subsoilers, bed shapers, tunnel layers, raised and flatbed plastic mulch layers. All types of transplanters for plastic mulch or bare soil. Plastic mulch lifters and winders. Precision vacuum seeders. Specialized pumpkin and potato planters. Strawberry planters, weeders, renovators & straw mulchers. Vegetable cultivators of all kinds. Stainless steel fertilizer attachments and drop spreaders. Air blast and offset boom sprayers for sweet corn and pumpkin. Used 6’ hi clearance spray tractors. Potato diggers, harvest aid conveyor systems, under cutter blades. USED PIXALL® one row sweet corn and snap bean harvesters. Affordable PACKING LINES, brush and barrel washers, top on rinse washers, sizers, pea shellers, snap bean sorters. New & Used. Shipped Direct. www.marketfarm.com. MARKET FARM IMPLEMENT, INC. 814-443-1931. Many Items In Stock! Showroom visitors by appointment please.

USED KENNCO VEGETABLE EQUIPMENT FOR SALE - LOCATED IN northeast Arkansas - contact John Conner at 870-523-1400 for more information.

USED PIXALL® ONE ROW SNAP BEAN HARVESTERS, SORTING tables, elevators and sweet corn harvesters. 814-443-1931.

SWEET CORN PLANTER - MATERMACC VACUUM SEEDER PLANTS all size seeds from raw lettuce to pumpkin! Stainless steel fertil-izer hoppers. Row spacings adjust quickly from sweet corn to pumpkin. Finally, one planter for all seed! In Stock! www.marketfarm.com. 814-443-1931.

HI AND LOW PRESSURE RINSE WASHER FOR WASHING ROOT crops with top on or baby leaf lettuce. 814-443-1931.

MASCHIO ROTOTILLERS WITH FOUR SPEED GEAR BOX. TOP QUALITY.

In Stock! www.marketfarm.com 814-443-1931.

WILLIAM TOOL SYSTEM VEGETABLE BED CULTIVATOR. WEED

an acre in half an hour like it was hand weeded on corn, peas,

beans, cukes, squash, gourds & pumpkin. In Stock!

www.marketfarm.com 814-443-1931.

PLASTIC MULCH LAYERS AND TRANSPLANTERS IN STOCK.

raised or flat bed. www.marketfarm.com 814-443-1931.

PUMPKIN PLANTER PLANT CORN, PUMPKIN, CUCUMBERS,

squash, peas, beans, red beet & spinach. In Stock!

www.marketfarm.com 814-443-1931.

SWEET CORN AND PUMPKIN SPRAYERS - AIR BLAST AND OFFSET boom sprayers with adjustable boom height. www.marketfarm.com 814-443-1931.

PLASTIC MULCH CULTIVATOR FOR CULTIVATING THE WHEEL paths and the buried edge between plastic beds. 814-443-1931.

STAINLESS STEEL FERTILIZER ATTACHMENTS, 150# & 300# capacity. In Stock! 814-443-1931.

SALAD MIX SEEDERS, 24 LINE 2” ROW SINGLE BED 3 POINT hitch high density seed planter. Market Farm Implement, Inc. 814-443-1931.

KERIAN SPEED SIZERS, www.marketfarm.com 814-443-1931.

EARLY SWEET CORN PLANTER & MULCH LAYER COMBINATION plants two rows of sweet corn and covers it with a clear plastic tunnel all in one pass for growing early market sweet corn. www.marketfarm.com 814-443-1931.

SPADING MACHINES FOR IDEAL PRIMARY VEGETABLE TILL-AGE. Tills damp soil without compaction. Can be used with low horsepower tractors. In Stock! www.marketfarm.com 814-443-1931.

USED JOHN DEERE 2 ROW PEQUEA Planters in Stock! www.marketfarm.com 814-443-1931.

PUSHMACC ONE ROW HAND CONTROLLED VACUUM SEED planter, plants all size seed accurately. 814-443-1931.

VEG-VEYER HARVEST AID CONVEYERS. SINGLE AND DOUBLE Wing Models. New & Used. 814-443-1931.

VEGETABLE PACKING LINES: NEW 4 PIECE WASH LINE includes infeed belt, washer, absorber, and round table avail-able in 16”, 24”, 32” and 40” wide machines. Options include stainless steel construction, 12” top brushes, repolisher to reshine tomatoes, waxer, inspection conveyers, custom length outfeed conveyers and two way exit sorting belt. Bin Dumper. Water Dump Tank. Custom grape tomato washer, watermelon washer, carrot washers with top on or off. Order up to 3 months ahead if not in stock. www.marketfarm.com 814-443-1931.

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44 AVG April • 2018 | GrowingProduce.com

TEW MANUFACTURING CORP.FRUIT & VEG. CLEANING & SIZING EQUIPMENT

NEW STAINLESS WASHERS & ABSORBERSQUALITY LATEX & POLY SPONGE DRYING DONUTS

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585-586-6120FAX: 585-586-6083www.tewmfg.com

A farm or ranch is a wonderful place to raise achild. But it can also be a

dangerous place. Each year,more than a hundred children

are killed and another 33thousand are seriously injuredon farms and ranches in the

United States. A set of guide-lines is available to help youdecide what tasks on the farmare suitable for your child. To

learn more, call toll-free: 888-924-7233, or online go to

www.nagcat.org.

Helping kids do thejob safely


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Abbott & Cobb, Inc. 24 800-345-7333 Abbottcobb.com

AeroVironment, Inc. 21 - avdroneanalytics.com

Agro-K Corp. 13,48 800-328-2418 Agro-k.com

AgroLiquid 35 - agroliquid.com/

phosphorous-permanent-plots

Allen International 43 208-520-8222 BestTransplanter.com

*Atlas Mfg., Inc. 41 800-346-9902 AtlasGreenhouse.com

Avian Enterprises LLC 24 888-707-4355 AvianControl.com

*Bayer CropScience LP 39 - LunaFungicides.com/leafy-veg

Brandt 15 800-300-6559 Brandt.co

*Clifton Seed Co. 42 800-231-9359 cliftonseed.com

Daniels Produce 33 402-649-7818

402-276-1445 danielsproduce.com

Fred’s Water Service 44 440-259-5436 fwservice.com

Germains Seed Technology 37 - Germains.com

Grower’s Supply 29 800-476-9715 Growspan.com

Growing Systems, Inc. 41 414-263-3131 GrowingSystemsInc.com

H.M. Clause 23 - HMCFeaturedProducts.com/bean

Huma Gro 20 - HumaGro.com/AVG418

Inocucor Technologies, Inc. 7 352-434-1365

805-235-8337 Inocucor.com

*ISAGRO USA 42 - isagro-usa.com

Kerian Machines Inc. 44 701-3520480 kerian.com

*Kubota Tractor Corp. 47 - KubotaUSA.com

Marrone Bio Innovations 11 - marronebio.com

Mechanical Transplanter

Co., LLC 34 800-757-5268 mechanicaltransplanter.com

*Nelson Irrigation 41 - Nelsonirrigation.com

Outstanding Seed Co., LLC 2 877-248-4567 outstandingseed.com

R & H Machine Inc. 43 800-321-6568 rhmachine.com

Rupp Seeds Inc. 19 800-700-1199 ruppseeds.com

S & R Egg Farm, Inc. 29 302-381-8050 ChickMagic.net

Seeds By Design 27 530-438-2126 seedsbydesign.com

Stockton-Ag (USA) 30 - Stk-ag.com

Summit Agro USA LLC 17 - -

Syngenta 25 - SyngentaUS.com/MinectoPro

Tew Mfg. Corp. 44 800-380-5839 tewmfg.com

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United Fresh Assoc. 31 - Unitedfreshshow.org

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Get your copy of Light Management in Controlled Environments!

The book is available through Amazon in Kindle format or in print format. Go to GreenhouseGrower.com/Lighting to purchase today!

An expanded update to “Lighting Up Profits,”* this new lighting book unlocks the secrets of managing light to enhance greenhouse crop production.

“Light Management in Controlled Environments” brings together the latest findings from scientific studies geared toward advancing the science and application of lighting for specialty crop production. Authors Dr. Erik Runkle of Michigan State University and Dr. Roberto Lopez of Purdue University, along with 19 other leading plant scientists from around the globe, discuss technology options for shade and lighting, including the latest developments in greenhouse and sole-source lighting.

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OVER THE PAST year, each time I speak with growers about or-ganic vegetables, I hear strikingly

different stories.One will say how organic lettuce prices

have dropped so much he is considering getting out of organics altogether. Then a day or so later, another grower will say how organic lettuce prices are booming, and he’s having trouble keeping up. But organic tomatoes? In the basement.

Which will naturally be the exact crop another grower is suc-ceeding in. And that’s just the discussions about finances. There are dozens of other organic topics where growers’ experiences can be the opposite of peers.

There is one thing, though, that most growers agree upon. A dis-connect exists between what consumers think organic food means and reality.

What Consumers Think Organic MeansThe USDA Organic Certified label bears a lot of weight. For

many consumers, it’s the one symbol they trust to indicate that their food is safe and sustainable.

And to a large extent, that trust is deserved. That label means that growers have grown produce in an organic manner, on fields that have either always been treated organically or were absent any non-organic products for three years prior to organic production.

But most consumers read a great deal more into the label than what it promises. A whopping 69% believe organic produce is pesticide free. They do not realize there are organic pesticides being used.

For others, organic produce is all about being responsible with how the land is treated. They think that the fallback position for any grower who isn’t organic is to saturate his farm with chemicals.

It’s a tough position for the vegetable industry to be in. How can growers convey the realities of how they grow? How can they show growers that being a steward of the land is as integral to growing as oxygen is to breathing?

Agriculture, after all, is largely a family business - more specifically, a multi-generational business. Destroying resources like soil and water just makes no sense.

So what is a grower to do when faced with a public demand-ing pesticide-free food? The only viable solution is to workto-gether to show the public how modern farmers care about safety and stewardship. AVG

Giving Consumers What They Want Isn’t Easy

Carol Miller Editor, [email protected]

Oh, One More Thing…With this month’s focus on organics, I thought it would be worthwhile pulling in some of the statistics available. Here are a few striking stats.

EDITORIAL | ORGANIC LABELS

3 The top selling organic produce items:

1 Packaged Salad: $898,322,218 2 Berries: $564,760,119

3 Chicken: $312,756,502 (Source: Nielsen FreshFacts Total U.S., 52 Wks Ending Oct. 28, 2017)

Absence of Pesticides

70%

68%

64%

62%

58%

56%

54%69% 62% 69% 59%

Absence of Herbicides

organic organic

natural

natural

30,000

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0 2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

1 The top responses consumers gave when asked, “What properties do you think are

implied or suggested by the terms “organic” was lack of pesticides and herbicides.

(Source: Beyond Natural and Organic 2010. The Hartman Group, Inc.)

2 With organic produce sales topping $5 billion, it’s no suprise

to see the number of organic operations increase sharply.

(Source: USDA)


1 The top responses consumers gave when asked, “What properties do you think are

implied or suggested by the terms “organic” was lack of pesticides and herbicides.

Sky’s the Limit.

Kubota Specialty M6H-101

Depend on the ultimate performance, control and maneuverability of Kubota’s M6H-101 High Clearance specialty tractor. With some of the slowest standard creep speeds in the market and more standard ground clearance than any tractor in its class,

there’s no better machine for specialty crop operations. Accomplish more with the grower-focused engineering of Kubota.

004315 – 2018 National Finance Print M6H-101 – American Vegetable Grower (April 2018) – 8 x 10.75

*$0 down, 0% A.P.R. financing for up to 60 months on purchases of select new Kubota M6H-101 equipment from participating dealers’ in-stock inventory is available to qualified purchasers through Kubota Credit Corporation, U.S.A.; subject to credit approval. Some exceptions apply. Example: 60 monthly payments of $16.67 per $1,000 financed. Offer expires 6/30/18. See your Kubota dealer or go to KubotaUSA.com for more information. Optional equipment may be shown. © Kubota Tractor Corporation, 2018

KubotaUSA.com

See your local Kubota dealer for details.Offer ends 6/30/2018.

$0 Down, 0%A.P.R. Financing for 60 Months*

For more information contact Agro-K or an authorized dealer today.

Sysstem® SeaCal provides more value to cucurbit growers in one jug than any other competing foliar calcium on the market. No other foliar calcium on the market gives growers a better way to supply the right nutrient at the right time, in the right form and in the right mix, in combination with Agro-K’s superior seaweed spray and a 40 year track record of success.

• Fastest Penetration and Uptake - the low pH calcium phosphite solution is rapidly absorbed by leaf and fruit surfaces making it the best choice to systemically deliver calcium faster and more completely than other foliar formulations. Low pH formulations have significant advantages over neutral pH phosphite products – aiding in the uptake of other larger crop protection molecules. In addition, low pH solutions improve compatibility and stability of most tank mixes without the need of an acidifying agent.

• Root Flush Technology™ - Sysstem® SeaCal works to increase root mass and foraging capacity by enhancing the natural root exudate process that plants create to free-up and extract soil-bound nutrients. Increasing the natural “root flushing” activity allows the plant to extract more nutrients and moisture from the soil while also increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of soil applied fertility programs.

• Seaweed Technology – Agro-K’s 40 plus year history and experience working with seaweed formulations is built into Sysstem® SeaCal. Agro-K utilizes a specific blend of seaweed sources to maximize all levels of the unique compounds found in various seaweed varieties that have been demonstrated to improve various plant processes such as fruit set and cell division as well as helping to alleviate both physiological and climatic stress. The formulation of Sysstem® SeaCal uses a proprietary reaction process to enhance and stabilize these key plant growth promoting compounds ensuring consistent performance from this value-added foliar product. Applied in combination Sysstem® SeaCal helps improve fruit set, cell division and overall plant health leading to improved quality, increased packout and higher grower returns.

SYSSTEM® SeaCal More value in one jug! Can your calcium do all this?

Sysstem® SeaCal is designed to support calcium needs in all fruiting crops but is particularly effective on cucurbits. Meeting peak demand timing for calcium aids in maximizing fruit quality. Once fruit is set, the cell division window begins and calcium demand increases significantly for the next 3-4 weeks as fruit cells divide. Sysstem® SeaCal’s low pH calcium phosphite solution is designed to penetrate fruit cell walls quickly and more completely resulting in higher fruit calcium levels and higher quality fruit.

Sysstem® SeaCal effectively drives calcium in to the fruit cell walls creating firm, strong fruit cells that make better quality fruit. Sysstem® SeaCal also supplies calcium to the leaves improving cell wall thickness. Thicker stronger cell walls are more tolerant to disease and improves overall plant health aiding higher yields and quality.

Science Driven Nutrition © 2018 Agro-K Corporation. Sysstem is a trademark of Agro-K Corporation.

Right Nutrient, Right Form, Right Time, Right Mix

Documents

American Vegetable Grower | Month • 2018 1 More on ...€¦ · Jessie Gunn, Marketing Manager: “We are a conscientious capitalist com - pany. So for us, things like our organic