Researchers have been awarded a $1.2 million National Science Foundation grant to improve the efficiency of automated apple harvesting robotics. Led by Ming Luo, Flaherty assistant professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State University (WSU), the interdisciplinary team of researchers will develop a cyber-physical system that aims to integrate human intelligence and machine learning, enhance decision-making and actuation, and improve picking efficiency. The team includes Yan Yan from computer science, Manoj Karkee from biological systems engineering, Matthew Whiting from horticulture and landscape architecture, and graduate students Ryan Dorosh and Christopher Ninatanta.
Agricultural robotic technologies currently are inefficient for orchard operations because of the unpredictable environment there as compared to industrial settings, said Luo.
As part of the 3-year project, the researchers will create a network for human-robot interaction. The network will enable robots to function effectively in farm fields, allowing users to remotely monitor and guide the robots in addressing challenging tasks through teleoperation. Additionally, the robots will learn from the user’s input to enhance their harvesting efficiency.
The researchers are developing a simple, low-cost robot system with a soft body and a fabric arm. The design is intended to delicately harvest apples without causing damage to the trees, while also allowing the robot to respond quickly.
“Safety is a concern because the robot might accidentally collide with the tree,” said Luo. “Rigid robots require time to calculate the optimal path for apple picking with minimal damage, which is time-consuming. Therefore, we designed a soft robot that ensures safety in human-robot interactions and is also gentler on the trees. This reduces the computation time required for obstacle avoidance.”
The robot will eventually automatically help with other operations, like flower thinning, pollination, and pruning as well. — By Tina Hilding, Washington State University
Washington State University’s newest apple variety, WA 64, is a sweet, tart, firmly crisp hybrid of Honeycrisp and Cripps Pink, a variety that includes the well-known Pink Lady®.
Officially released for commercial licensing this summer, WA 64 is expected to reach stores in 2029. WSU will select a partner in the coming weeks to make trees available to growers, and the college will choose a brand name for the new apple in 2024.
“With WA 64, we’re hoping to fill a useful space in the apple market,” said Jeremy Tamsen, director of innovation and commercialization for WSU’s College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences.
Jeremy Tamsen
Crossed in 1998, WA 64 was chosen for its outstanding eating and storing qualities. Featuring a pink blush over a yellow background, it is slightly less hard but crisper and juicier than its Cripps Pink parent.
“In its bite, it’s more akin to Cripps Pink than Honeycrisp,” said Kate Evans, professor and WSU apple breeder. “In consumer taste-tests, people have preferred its texture to Cripps. It’s crisper than Cripps Pink.”
WA 64 maintains that crisp texture after months in cold storage. Like WSU’s successful WA 38 variety, also known as Cosmic Crisp®, it’s self-thinning, meaning growers don’t have to invest as much labor in thinning fruit. It also has high packout, ensuring that apples aren’t tossed for bruising or punctures before they reach the grocery store. WA 64 is harvested at about the same time as Golden Delicious, giving growers of that apple a fresh alternative.
Kate Evans
“The main focus of our breeding program is to provide new and improved apples that appeal to consumers and work for the Washington apple industry,” Evans said.
The timing of harvesting should also appeal to growers, Tamsen said.
“It makes sense for the industry to have an apple that falls within the Golden Delicious harvest window, with qualities that consumers want right now,” he said. “We think apple buyers will love it.”
WA 64’s number comes from the fact that it’s the WSU breeding program’s 64th apple to move into the second phase of a three-phase process of selection.
In the first phase, a single new hybrid is evaluated for fruit quality alongside as many as 15,000 other unique individuals. By the second phase, that large group has been winnowed down to about 50 different individuals, compared in groups of five trees. By the third phase, only a handful of finalists are left, compared in groups of 50 trees.
“With more and more trees, we get more fruit to fully evaluate,” Evans said.
Each phase takes several years to complete, so it can take decades for a new hybrid to emerge as a release candidate. The decision on how to move forward is made by a committee of growers and scientists, who weigh whether a new apple can find a useful place in the Washington fruit industry.
Each WA 64 tree is a clone, reproduced through cuttings, with fruit-bearing budwood, or scions, grafted onto different rootstocks. Each scion is genetically identical to the original mother tree seedling.
With specialty crop funding from the Washington State Department of Agriculture, WSU scientists have been studying how WA 64 performs on different rootstocks and orchard systems. Plantings were made in 2022 at WSU’s Roza Orchard at Prosser and the Sunrise Research Orchard near Wenatchee. Some Washington nurseries have already begun growing WA 64 budwood to support future expansion.
“We’re starting with a small amount of budwood,” Tamsen said. “Part of what we’re looking for in a licensee is someone who can scale that up at nurseries so that commercial growers can buy trees. That supply doesn’t exist today, and it can take years to scale it up.”
WA 64 is the fourth WSU apple to be officially released. WA 38, branded as Cosmic Crisp®, was released in 2013, reaching consumers in 2019. WA 2, a cross of Splendour and Gala, branded as Sunrise Magic®, was released in 2010. WA 5, a cross of Splendour and a variety called Co‑op 15, was released in 2009.
WA 64’s debut likely won’t be in the same scale as Cosmic Crisp®, which was one of the largest and fastest commercial plant releases ever. Last fall, Cosmic Crisp® joined the ranks of the top ten best-selling U.S. apple varieties by sales and volume.
Sliced WA 64 apples show the newly released variety’s yellow-pink skin and white interior.
Tamsen expects fresh, creative ideas to flow from the new apple’s naming process, which could involve WSU community input as well as focus-group sessions. “Apples aren’t one-size-fits-all,” Evans said. “Different consumers have different preferences. Isn’t it wonderful that we can release WSU varieties that meet more of those different preferences?” — By Seth Truscott, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences, Washington State University
Today, Congressman David G. Valadao (CA-22) introduced two bipartisan bills to improve the domestic specialty crop industry – the Specialty Crop Domestic Market Promotion Program Act and the Specialty Crop Mechanization Assistance Act. Specialty crops are a cornerstone of California agriculture – the state produces the most specialty crops in the country both in quantity and diversity, with over 400 different commodities produced in the state per year.
“Our specialty crop producers in California have faced many challenges over the last few years. From supply chain backlogs at our ports, rising input costs, labor shortages, and drought – farmers have continued growing our nation’s food despite these obstacles,” said Congressman Valadao. “Specialty crop producers face unique challenges, and we need to ensure they are better equipped to handle them. These bills make technology and resources available to our specialty crop producers so they can access new markets and remain competitive.”
“American farmers produce some of the best quality and nutritious food in the world. Our fresh fruit and vegetable industries are critical to our food security and rural economies,” said Congressman LaMalfa. “I’m pleased to join my colleagues in cosponsoring these important pieces of legislation for our specialty crop producers and California agriculture.”
“California produces over half of the nation’s fresh produce. But supply chain disruptions, COVID-19, and the drought have made it more difficult for specialty crop producers to put food on America’s dinner table,” said Congressman Costa. “I’m proud to support these pieces of legislation to equip producers with the tools they need to access new markets and safeguard our food supply chain.”
“CFFA is proud to have worked with the California Table Grape Commission to co-lead this effort to expand the promotion of the U.S. specialty crop industry domestically. Many healthy specialty crops are grown in the U.S. and should be enjoyed by all Americans. The Specialty Crop Domestic Market Promotion and Development Program Act of 2023 will enhance the opportunity of American growers, including CFFA members, to better market their produce to U.S. consumers. CFFA thanks Congressman Valadao and Congressman Costa for their bipartisan partnership to support American farmers and consumers,” said President of the California Fresh Fruit Association Ian Lemay.
California Fresh Fruit Association President Ian LeMay (Photo by Matthew Malcolm)
“CFFA is proud to have worked with the California Table Grape Commission to co-lead this collaborative effort to help equip farmers with the tools and technologies they need to thrive in a rapidly changing world. I would like to thank Congressman Valadao and Congressman Costa for their partnership to support the needs of American agriculture. This bill will not only support farmers, but also their employees, to ensure that America continues to a global leader in agricultural production,” said President of the California Fresh Fruit Association Ian Lemay.
The Specialty Crop Domestic Market Promotion Program Act would create a program that helps specialty crop producers market their products to access American markets. It replicates the popular Market Access Program (MAP) through USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) specifically for specialty crop producers to break into niche domestic markets. Rep. Valadao was joined in introduction of the bill by Reps. Darren Soto (FL-09), Jim Costa (CA-21), and Doug LaMalfa (CA-01).
The Specialty Crop Mechanization Assistance Act makes it easier for specialty crop producers to remain competitive in the face of labor shortages by making expensive automation technology more accessible to producers. This bill aims to create a reimbursement-based cost-share program which would permit growers and processors to invest more in these time and money-saving technologies. Rep. Valadao was joined in introduction of the bill by Reps. Jim Costa (CA-21), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), and Dough LaMalfa (CA-01).
Developing disease-resistant, high-quality improved crop varieties to benefit agricultural producers and consumers may seem like a “hairy” task, but Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists may have gotten to the root of the issue.
At the root of their project is developing new ways to fight fastidious pathogens, which infect living plants and resist growth in a lab setting for study. One such fastidious pathogen causes citrus greening — a significant problem for the citrus industry.
“Fastidious plant pathogens infect citrus, tomatoes, potatoes, grapes, peppers and other crops grown throughout Texas,” said Dirk Hays, Ph.D., director of the Texas A&M AgriLife center at Weslaco. “Often transmitted by insect vectors, these disease agents are responsible for billions of dollars in agricultural losses yearly.”
A breakthrough in plant disease therapies
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the citrus industry would prevent $3 billion in losses per year by controlling citrus greening alone.
Assay plate of “hairy roots” that may be used to develop improved varieties of citrus and other plants. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo)
In recent years, Mandadi and his team at Weslaco developed a breakthrough method as an alternative means to propagate fastidious bacteria responsible for citrus greening and other insect-vectored diseases such as potato zebra chip and tomato vein greening disease.
“We developed a technology that uses pathogen-infected host tissues to produce so-called ‘hairy roots’ that can serve as biological vessels for the propagation of these pathogens in the laboratory,” Mandadi said.
The hairy root screening technique has already led to the discovery of new antimicrobial peptides and chemicals with proven efficacy in plant materials, said Sonia Irigoyen, Ph.D., an AgriLife Research scientist who helped develop the hairy root technology.
“These antimicrobials, either singly or in combination, could be used as near- and long-term therapies to control citrus greening, potato zebra chip and tomato vein greening diseases,” she said.
Now, in their most recent study, Mandadi and his team investigated how to use this hairy root technique in plant transformation and bioengineering improved citrus.
Hairy root-based genetic engineering of citrus
Citrus plant regeneration from hairy roots. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo)
Building on previous success, in their latest study called “Rhizobium rhizogenes-mediated hairy root induction and plant regeneration for bioengineering citrus,” recently published in the high-impact Plant Biotechnology Journal, Mandadi and his team showed proof of the concept of engineering citrus using hairy roots.
In addition to Mandadi and Irigoyen, study co-authors include Manikandan Ramasamy, Ph.D., Michelle Dominguez, B.S., and Carmen Padilla, Ph.D., all AgriLife Research scientists at Weslaco. The study was supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research, Texas A&M AgriLife Research Insect-Vectored Disease Seed Grants, and the Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture.
“Developing new plant varieties with improved genetics using conventional breeding or the latest bioengineering and CRISPR tools can be quite laborious, often taking multiple years,” Mandadi said. “The ability to overcome this bottleneck and improve this process, particularly for hardy, slow-growing, perennial trees like citrus, can be a game changer and a boon to producers and consumers.”
A more efficient, quicker method for breeding hardier citrus
In their most recent study, the researchers used R. rhizogenes to induce transgenic hairy roots from diverse citrus cultivars such as grapefruit, sweet orange, rough lemon and citron at efficiencies of 28% to 75%. This level of efficiency is at least twice — potentially greater — than those seen with previous methods for citrus transformation, making for a faster and less costly process.
After making sure a transgenic root had the proper genetics, the team was then able to regenerate and clone several identical, transgenic plants from it.
Ramasamy said while scientists have used multiple methods in the past to transform crops, the efficiency of genetic modification of tree crops like citrus has been challenging due to their slow growth and difficulties in regeneration.
“However, we were able to demonstrate a versatile R. rhizogenes-mediated hairy root induction, plant regeneration and clonal propagation approach that could be helpful for multiple bioengineering and gene-editing applications in citrus and other tree crops,” he said.
The proposed R. rhizogenes-mediated citrus hairy root induction, shoot regeneration and multiplication process achieved in about six months what typically took approximately 12-18 months using the previously described transformation method.
“This means we will be able to develop and multiply disease-resistant citrus plants using root tissue more quickly and get them established much faster than when using the previous approaches,” Mandadi said. “The entire throughput for developing more disease-resistant citrus and other plants will be greatly expedited.”
Mandadi said the hairy-root mediated transformation could benefit citrus producers in many ways by speeding the development of new varieties with superior disease resistance, as well as resilience to environmental stresses, increased production efficiency and improved nutritional quality.
“It will also benefit the consumer in that they can expect to continue to have a supply of their favorite fruits and other items with characteristics they find most appealing in their produce,” he said.
USDA Foreign Ag Service — We see them every time we purchase fresh fruits and vegetables: price look up (PLU) labels. The little coin-size stickers are stuck to everything from apples, bananas, and cantaloupes to watermelons, yams, and zucchini.
According to the Sustainable Packaging Coalition , PLU labels have been used globally for more than 30 years with the International Federation for Produce Standards issuing more than 1,400 PLU codes.
PLU labels offer many benefits to the agriculture, trade, and retail industries. The labels lower costs and optimize handling by digitizing supply chain management, minimizing packaging, and reducing time at the point of purchase – something we can all appreciate when rushing through the self-checkout lane. When it comes to agricultural trade, PLU codes also help exporters and importers consistently and quickly identify and track products across the globe. Whether you purchase a Red Delicious apple in the United States, Mexico, or Vietnam, the PLU code is the same.
USDA Research Chemist Dr. Gabriel Patterson pours one of the experimental home compostable adhesives to sticker backing during the research process. The team tested more than 100 formulas to determine the top three adhesive (photo by James McManus).
Unfortunately, PLU labels have also created a sticky situation for composters, the environment, and even U.S. exporters. Why? PLU labels are not biodegradable, which means they contaminate produce that’s tossed in the compost pile or sent to commercial composting facilities. As a result, the produce generally ends up in landfills, which creates more food waste, increases methane emissions, and negatively affects climate change.
Several countries, led by France and New Zealand, have enacted legislation that will require PLU labels to be certified home compostable. This has posed a challenge for U.S. exporters by creating a trade barrier that puts millions of dollars of U.S. fresh fruit and vegetable exports at risk. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has stepped in to help solve the problem in an effort to help reduce trade barriers and mitigate climate change.
With research and development funds provided by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service’s (FAS) Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops Program, FAS and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service are working to produce compostable PLU labels. FAS and ARS are collaborating with the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) and Sinclair Systems International to meet the EU standards. The goal is to develop adhesives that are both food-safe and compostable. When achieved, this will allow American companies to export fruits and vegetables as usual while helping to decrease food waste and methane emissions.
Scientists at the USDA Western Regional Research Center in Albany, CA apply test and control PLU labels to grapefruits and sweet potatoes to evaluate their effectiveness (photo by James McManus).
To date, the research team has tested more than 100 formulas to determine the top three adhesives that produce the desired biodegradation process. The team is performing final tests to confirm that these bio-based adhesives pass the home-compostable degradation test. They will then tackle scale-up adhesive coating trials as a key milestone toward commercialization.
USDA has also coordinated closely with the IFPA on outreach and education to U.S. produce exporters to demonstrate the benefits of greener, environmentally friendly PLU labels and adhesives. Once implemented, the new PLU labels and adhesives will solve a sticky problem for U.S. exporters and ultimately help reduce methane emissions, another step towards more sustainable agricultural production and trade.
Announced by the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Division (CPDPD), the CDFA’s Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) quarantine program now requires all harvesters/farm labor contractors (FLCs) – referring to any person/establishment who employs people to perform work related to grove management and/or harvesting commercial citrus fruit – to have a valid compliance agreement to harvest citrus groves.
FLCs will have until June 15, 2023 to obtain and sign a compliance agreement. Any FLCs operating in citrus groves without a compliance agreement by the June 15th deadline will be in violation of quarantine requirements.
Compliance agreements can be provided to you by directly reaching out to your local CDFA ACP/HLB Program contact. Completed compliance agreements can be returned to CDFA via local regulatory staff or by email to ACPCompliance@cdfa.ca.gov. Contact details by region can be found below:
Spotted wing drosophila (SWD), a small fly native to Asia that first appeared in Michigan in 2010, isn’t like most pests. Populations of crop-damaging insects tend to have distinct generations. Not SWD. Several generations overlap and build through the year, attacking vulnerable agricultural crops and wild plants. The situation has created a major challenge for the Michigan berry and cherry industries.
Spotted wing drosophila in the lab.
Rufus Isaacs, a professor in the Michigan State University Department of Entomology, was one of the first to discover the pest in the state 13 years ago. While researchers didn’t know much about SWD then, they’ve had to get up to speed quickly.
Rufus Isaacs, professor of entomology at MSU.
“SWD is so destructive because it can insert eggs into ripening fruit,” said Isaacs, whose work is supported in part by MSU AgBioResearch. “Larvae can be present in harvested fruit, which can be a big problem for producers. It is also able to reproduce so quickly to build up the population, and it can infest wild fruit outside of farms, creating a reservoir population that continually invades crop fields after they’re treated.”
After hearing about SWD arriving in California in 2008 and then being detected in Florida in 2009, concerns began to mount.
“Shortly after SWD was found in Florida, I went to a conference in Oregon where we discussed measures we may need to take to get ready for the pest,” Isaacs said. “We expected it would be in Michigan before too long.”
Sure enough, Isaacs was right. He received a grant from Project GREEEN — a partnership among MSU AgBioResearch, MSU Extension and the plant agriculture industries of Michigan — in 2010 to monitor for SWD. Isaacs worked with members of the MSU Fruit Team to set small plastic traps with holes that were filled with a cider vinegar lure.
In late 2010, SWD was collected from a site in West Michigan. At that point, the difficult work began and persists today. Research in Isaacs’ lab has been performed in partnership with mostly blueberry and raspberry growers.
The team has tested already-registered pesticides to determine their efficacy, as well as non-chemical controls such as pruning, mulching and physical exclusion methods, where growers place netting around and on top of crops as they begin to ripen.
As a result of this research, online resources have been created to assist growers with SWD identification, pesticide timing and other management strategies.
“We want to ensure we’re responsive to grower needs, first and foremost,” Isaacs said. “That’s why the pairing of research and grower education programs through MSU Extension is so valuable to our team.”
Dennis Vander Kooi, a blueberry grower and owner of Woodland Enterprises Berry Farms in Zeeland, Michigan, and his family have been working with MSU researchers for many years. He is also a board member of the Michigan Blueberry Commission (MBC), helping to set research priorities for the industry.
“Rufus is one of the nation’s leading researchers on this issue, and we’ve worked with others at MSU as well,” Vander Kooi said. “He’s run several experiments on our farm, and we’ve learned a lot from them. The MBC has supported this work and will continue to in the future as we look for effective ways to manage this pest.”
Vander Kooi said the blueberry industry is undergoing a rejuvenation in Michigan, adopting newer genetics and planting varieties that meet the demands of today’s consumers. This, in conjunction with SWD, makes it a critical time for growers as they look to protect an industry that contributes nearly $132 million to the state’s economy, according to the Michigan Ag Council.
“With the creation of the MBC in 2017, we got the opportunity to start advocating for more dollars for research, and MSU has been instrumental in that,” he said. “To date, we’ve supported more than $390,000 worth of research, much of that going to MSU, and leveraged an additional $600,000 in other funding.”
In addition to the MBC, Project GREEEN has been a significant supporter of Isaacs’ SWD efforts, along with state funding through the Specialty Crop Block Grant program and national projects funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Assessing biological control options
One of the primary challenges for scientists is focusing on immediate grower needs while also investigating long-term management tactics. It’s a monumental task to balance both simultaneously.
Marianna Szucs, assistant professor of entomology at MSU.
Alongside Isaacs, Marianna Szucs, an assistant professor in the Department of Entomology, has been exploring biological control to reduce populations in the long run. As she noted, when SWD came to the U.S., its natural predators did not.
“Anytime there is introduction of an invasive pest, one of the main issues is that the new landscape doesn’t have natural enemies for it,” she said. “They don’t come with the pest, and the native insects in the new place aren’t equipped to deal with it right away. What we wanted to know is if we exposed parasitoid wasps native to Michigan to SWD, would they begin to see them as a food source?”
A parasitoid insect lays its eggs in or on a host insect, and the developing larvae consume the host until it eventually dies.
Szucs and her team chose two parasitoid wasp species commonly found throughout North America. Researchers initially saw that attack rates in the wild were quite low, and the ability of native species to rapidly adapt to a new food source was unknown. In the lab, the parasitoids were exposed to SWD and forced to prey on them.
Within three generations of selection from a small number of parasitoids — 30 wasps or fewer — successful parasitism improved by 259% for one species and 88% for the other.
“Obviously this is an artificial scenario because we only gave them one option, and in the wild they only attack something if they know to do it,” Szucs said. “But this was a novel way to show that there is some potential to raise native parasitoids and influence their fitness to attack SWD.”
Besides improving native species, the other biological control option is to introduce natural predators. That’s what an MSU team including Isaacs has done with the samba wasp, which is native to Asia. After years of testing and applying for permits, the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service and Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) approved the release of the samba wasp in SWD-threatened locations.
The samba wasp detects already-infested fruit and targets the smallest stages of SWD larvae. Laying its eggs inside its host, the growing samba wasp feeds and ultimately kills the larvae, emerging as a wasp in roughly a month.
The team will continue to evaluate the wasps’ success in the coming growing season, as well as assessing the ability to survive Michigan winters.
“Hopefully they’re able to survive the winter and the populations are robust enough to be successful next year,” Isaacs said. “We don’t expect results right away, but this is a long-term project for us to determine if this can help reduce the need for insecticides and other management strategies moving forward.”
‘Perfect conditions for SWD’
The northwest portion of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula is world renowned for its cherry production. Growers in the Great Lakes State are responsible for 70% of the U.S. supply of tart cherries, about 80% of which are grown in the northwest Lower Peninsula. But the industry is under siege from a variety of sources, from invasive pests and climate change to competition abroad.
SWD, however, has hit the industry particularly hard. Nikki Rothwell, the coordinator of the NWMHRC and fruit specialist with MSU Extension, said this challenge affects every Michigan cherry grower.
Nikki Rothwell, coordinator of the Northwest Michigan Horticulture Research Center.
“If an orchard starts with 100 flies in mid-June, and each female can lay 300 eggs each week, even the best growers with the best programs have a hard time controlling millions of flies,” she said. “Plus, cherries are so attractive that it’s hard to monitor the populations once the fruit get ripe, which makes it hard to make good management decisions based on traditional trapping and integrated pest management strategies we’ve successfully used with other pests.”
One of Rothwell’s initial studies showed that tart cherries create the optimal conditions for SWD. While the flies leave most cropping systems during the day to avoid the hot sun, tart cherry canopies provide a cool layer of protection for them to mate and infest fruit. She found that simply pruning the trees and keeping grass clipped helps immensely.
“We did a pruning study in which we removed different numbers of branches and found that if you remove six to 10 branches in a tart cherry canopy, you can reduce SWD infestation by 40% even without insecticides,” Rothwell said. “We also showed that mowing grass short between tree rows reduced infestation.”
Recent research includes modeling SWD in cherries. Rothwell hypothesized that flies seem to be in the orchard at all times during the summer and begin to lay eggs suddenly. She believed flies were present and waiting for the right time to infest ripening fruit.
To better understand this timing, Rothwell and her team have monitored tart cherries as they ripen over the course of the growing season and brought fruit back to the lab. There, they look at when flies begin infestation. Using this information, the team is producing a model for growers that will more precisely indicate ideal timing for pesticides and other management techniques.
“We’re refining the model now, but we’re hoping to have something soon that growers can use,” Rothwell said. “The industry really depends on MSU to help work through this problem.”
Rothwell’s work has been supported by the Michigan Cherry Committee, MDARD, Project GREEEN and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research. — By Cameron Rudolph, Michigan State University
To teach PCAs about citrus mealybug (an emerging concern for citrus growers) this field day will focus on lectures on pest identification and biology, scouting/monitoring, and management, lecture on ant control. With this knowledge, PCAs can monitor the fields for mealybug infestation and develop informed management strategies. Attendees will receive instruction from Sandipa Gautam and David Haviland from the UC Cooperative Extension. The field day will take place in a citrus block in Ivanhoe, CA. Growers can register to attend by April 21 HERE, or by emailing sangautam@ucanr.edu. Attendees should bring a 10x hand lens. An email will be sent out with a location ping to registrants 1-week prior to the event. 3 hours of Other Continuing Education Units are pending approval with CDPR.
AGENDA
8:00 a.m. Registration: Ivanhoe citrus block
8:30-9:30 am
Introduction: The citrus mealybug problem and best management practices (chemical, biological).
Seasonal phenology and monitoring males using pheromone lure (Georgina Reyes)
9:30 am: Sugar-feeding ants and their management in orchard systems
10:15 am: Microscope time: Identification of mealybug stages, and parasitism.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced the appointment of 28 members and alternate members to serve on the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC). Members and alternates will serve a three-year term ending Dec. 31, 2025. Four of the appointments are the exporter members and alternates whose terms will expire Dec. 31, 2024, to remain in the council’s nomination rotation.
The 21-member council is composed of 12 producers, four importers, four exporters and one public member. Each member seat has a corresponding alternate seat. Members and alternates can serve up to two consecutive three-year terms.
“The USHBC has an ambitious vision for the future of blueberries,” said USHBC President Kasey Cronquist, also president of the North American Blueberry Council (NABC). “With these newly appointed members of the council, we’ll be working together to inspire all the possibilities yet ahead for blueberries, while helping to ensure the future success and profitable returns back to our growers.”
The newly appointed USHBC members are:
California Producer: Doug LaCroix
Florida Producer: Brittany Lee (formerly Florida Alternate)
Georgia Producer: Tiffany Crosby
Michigan Producer: Dennis Vander Kooi
North Carolina Producer: Jimmy Horrell
Importer #3: Ryan Lockman (formerly Importer #3 Alternate)
Importer #4: Joe Barsi (formerly Importer #4 Alternate)
Exporter #2 (CA): Mark Adams
Exporter #3 (PE): Daniel Bustamante
Exporter #4 (MX): Jose Luis Bustamante
Newly appointed alternates are:
California Producer: Bill Steed (formerly California Member)
Florida Producer: Michael Hill
Georgia Producer: Tammy Brannen
Michigan Producer: George Fritz Jr. (formerly Michigan Member)
New Jersey Producer: Chelsea Consalo
North Carolina Producer: Kristen Johnson-Brinkley
Oregon: Ellie Norris
Washington Producer: Leif Olsen
Importer #3: Andrew Maiman
Importer #4: Bo Slack
Exporter #2 (CA): Ray Biln (formerly Exporter #2 Alternate)
Exporter #3 (PE): Jose Antonio Castro
Exporter #4 (MX): Jose Guillermo Romo
USHBC members who were reappointed are:
New Jersey Producer: Paul Macrie III
Oregon Producer: Doug Krahmer
Washington Producer: Bryan Sakuma
Importer #2: JC Clinard
Reappointed alternates are:
Importer #2: Guy Cotton (formerly Handler member)
Since 1966, Congress has authorized industry-funded research and promotion boards to provide a framework for agricultural industries to pool resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen existing markets and conduct important research and promotion activities. The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) provides oversight to 22 boards. The oversight ensures fiscal accountability and program integrity and is paid for by industry assessments.
About the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council
Established in 2000, The U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) is a federal agriculture research and promotion program with independent oversight from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). USHBC represents blueberry growers and packers in North and South America who market their blueberries in the United States and overseas, and works to promote the growth and well-being of the entire blueberry industry. USHBC was established by blueberry growers and currently has 2,500 growers, packers and importers. USHBC is committed to providing blueberries that are grown, harvested, packed and shipped in clean, safe environments. Learn more at ushbc.org.
Now in its fifth year, the agriculture industry collaboration led by Growing Matters kicked off its annual BeSure!stewardship awareness campaign to promote best stewardship practices when using neonicotinoid products on farms and urban landscapes.Using a wide range of media channels, the BeSure! campaign reminds growers, crop protection applicators, urban landscape applicators, agricultural supply retailers and others to follow label directions and responsible stewardship measures for neonicotinoid products to minimize any potential impact on pollinators and other wildlife.
Since its inception in 2019, the BeSure! campaign is estimated to have reached millions of growers and applicators by providing them with access to multiple informational resources to help use crop treatments and plant protection treatments responsibly and avoid exposure to pollinators and wildlife.
“These past five years of the BeSure! campaign have been a testament to the longstanding, collaborative commitment by the industry to communicate about the importance of care and safety when using treated seed,” said Bethany Shively, Vice President of Strategic Communications at the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA). “When it comes to stewardship, we all have a role to play. We’re proud to partner with BeSure! to extend the reach of our mutual efforts around stewardship – to everyone who treats, handles or plants treated seed.”
In addition to ASTA, the campaign has been endorsed by the National Pesticide Safety Education Center (NPSEC), National Corn Growers Association, CropLife America, the Agricultural Retailers Association and the American Soybean Association (ASA), among others.
The food industry depends on crop protection products to meet consumer needs. Along with Brazil, India, and China, the United States ranks as one of the top countries for food production in the world and is also the world’s top food exporter. Neonicotinoids and other crop protection products ensure that growers can continue to grow the U.S. food supply at a sustainable rate, while minimizing risk to surrounding wildlife.
“Seed treatments, including neonicotinoid products, are an indispensable part of a grower’s toolbox. This vital application type can reduce the amount of pesticide being used and allow the product to be applied in a more environmentally sensitive manner, all while ensuring crops are protected when they are most susceptible to pests,” said Daryl Cates, ASA President and soybean farmer from Illinois. “The BeSure! stewardship program helps increase grower and applicator awareness so they are incorporating seed treatments into their practices safely, responsibly, and yet effectively. The American Soybean Association values its partnership with the Growing Matters coalition through the BeSure! program to achieve these important protections for our wildlife and natural resources.”
In addition to corn and soybean crops, the BeSure! campaign also includes fruits, nuts, vegetables, turf, trees and ornamental plants that are protected with neonicotinoid products.
“Honey bees, other wildlife, and all segments of the Florida orange blossom honey industry rely heavily on blossoming citrus trees, and the BeSure! campaign reminds us that we all have a responsibility to protect the biodiversity of our planet through proper stewardship practices,” said Mike Aerts, Vice President of Science and Regulatory Affairs at the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.
Growers, applicators and others can go to GrowingMatters.org/BeSure for up-to-date stewardship tips and information. The BeSure! site also includes ASTA’s Guide to SeedTreatment Stewardship, including videos and brochures to show how treated seeds can be used in a way that avoids exposure to pollinators and other wildlife. The site contains a host of links to explain how neonicotinoids applications can be used responsibly, including the comprehensiveInsect Pollinators and Pesticide Product Stewardship Guide. Two downloadable fact sheets with five quick tips to guide best stewardship practices during planting season – one for growers and one for applicators – are also available.
Over the coming weeks, the campaign will share relevant updates and best stewardship tips via social media content (search using hashtag #BeSure), radio programming, outreach via industry trade groups, and a variety of digital content. For more information, please visit: GrowingMatters.org/BeSure.
About Growing Matters
Agriculture and horticulture are key to nourishing families and communities. Feeding a growing population, enhancing the beauty of our surroundings and a sustained commitment to environmental protection are fundamental needs that matter. Crop protection products, both natural and synthetic, are important tools that protect plants from tough and invasive pests that can devastate crops and urban landscapes. Growing Matters is funded by a consortium of companies committed to open and healthy scientific discourse on stewardship, benefits and alternatives to neonicotinoid insecticides in North America. Consortium members include Bayer, Syngenta, Valent U.S.A., BASF, and Mitsui Chemicals Agro, Inc. TheBeSure! campaign is also supported by Gowan Company and PBI Gordon Corporation.Go to www.GrowingMatters.org for information, reports, videos and infographics on the benefits of neonicotinoid insecticides.
About American Seed Trade Association (ASTA)
Founded in 1883, the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) represents over 700 companies involved in seed production, plant breeding and related industries in North America. ASTA is the leading voice of action in all matters concerning the development, marketing and movement of seed, associated products and services throughout the world. The association’s broad membership offers varieties from alfalfa to zucchini and all production types including conventional, organic and biotech. ASTA promotes the development of better seed to produce better crops for a better quality of life. Go to www.betterseed.org.
About The American Soybean Association
The American Soybean Association represents U.S. soybean farmers on domestic and international policy issues important to the soybean industry. ASA has 26 affiliated state associations representing 30 soybean-producing states and more than 500,000 soybean farmers. Find more information at soygrowers.com.
About the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association
The Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association (FFVA) acts as a strong voice for Florida farmers who grow nutritious fruits and vegetables to feed our country. FFVA is the state’s leading full-service specialty crop organization, serving Florida’s grower-shipper community since 1943. We represent a broad range of crops, including vegetables, citrus, tropical fruit, berries, sod, sugar cane, tree crops and more. Our mission is to enhance the business and competitive environment for producing and marketing fruits, vegetables and other crops.
