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December 2005
Looking for methyl bromide alternatives: P.V. strawberry
growers say pesticide is essential to production (Santa
Cruz Sentinel.com, Dec. 1, ’05). “Methyl
bromide is to strawberries what fuel is to cars or water
is to plants, growers say. Without it, the strawberry crops
in the Pajaro Valley (California) wouldn't come in like
they do — plentiful and perfect-looking. . . . U.S.
officials are heading to a Montreal Protocol meeting in
Senegal, Africa, on Wednesday to begin negotiations on
exemptions for 2007 and are preparing requests for 2008.
. . . But ultimately . . . the controversy surrounding
methyl bromide is competitive, not environmental — at
least as it concerns strawberry growers. Developing countries
can use the substance until 2015 — including China
and Mexico, which have undercut the fresh produce markets
in the United States because they have cheaper labor and
fewer governmental restrictions. Complete text available
at http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/December/01/local/stories/01local.htm.
Despite ban, farmers still use pesticide (USA
Today, Nov. 27, ’05). “Methyl
bromide's survival demonstrates the difficulty of banishing
a powerful pesticide that helps deliver what both farmers
and consumers want: abundant, pest-free and affordable
produce. The Bush administration, at the urging of agriculture
and manufacturing interests, is making plans to ensure
that methyl bromide remains available at least through
2008 by seeking and winning treaty exemptions. Also, the
administration will not commit to an end date. . . . With
methyl bromide probably sticking around for several years,
the EPA is re-examining its health and safety standards.
. . . The size of the U.S. inventory of methyl bromide
inventory is secret. The EPA refuses to disclose how much,
saying the figure is confidential business information.” Read
the complete article at http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-11-27-pesticide-politics_x.htm.
Illegal
immigration highlights the farm labor dilemma (The
Vegetable Growers News, Nov. ’05). Asst. Editor
Dick Lehnert writes, “On labor issues, small farmers
do not have the same interest as large farmers. An abundant
supply of cheap labor works to the advantage of large farmers
and against small farmers who grow fruits and vegetables
using their own family labor. . . . Most everyone agrees
that, if the borders were closed, there would not be enough
labor to harvest the produce of the West. . . . . the U.S.
public as allowed its fruit and vegetable industries to
grow, depending on unemployed men from rural Mexico who
can successful cross the border illegally to hoe and harvest.
(Agricultural economist James Holt) estimates 70 percent
of seasonal farm workers are in the country illegally.” (A Vegetable
Growers News article about the proposed AgJOBS bill
is available at http://www.vegetablegrowersnews.com/pages/arts.php?ns=208).
Managing
Weeds: A War We Can Win, Part 1, by Virginia Tech professor
Ron Morse, is the “Sustainable Ag” feature
in American Vegetable Grower (Nov. ’05). Morse
discusses three “interrelated principles: space capture
- farmers have weeds because their production practices provide
a space for them to grow . . . ; allelopathy – living
plants and their dead residues contain compounds (allelochemicals)
that, when released into the soil, directly affect growth
of neighboring plants. . . .; and minimum weed-free period
(MWFP) - . . . the MWFP is defined as the length of time
a crop must be free of weeds after planting in order to prevent
yield loss.” Morse says, “Understanding
these interrelated principles helps growers select a combination
of production practices that collectively constitute the
basis of effective sustainable weed management.”
Strategies to Avoid Herbicide-Resistant Weeds in
Strawberry Production by Jed Colquhoun, U. of
Wisc., appears in The Badger Berry Dispatch (Conference
2006 edition). “The primary culprit in developing
herbicide-resistant weeds is the overuse or reliance on
a single management tool or mode of action. . . . Even
though herbicide options are somewhat limited in strawberries,
the tools that are available represent several modes of
action that can be rotated for reduced resistance risk.
Most importantly, while the short-term economics might
favor the repeated use of a single herbicide year-after-year,
the long-term utility in strawberry production would be
favored by multiple modes of action in the life of a crop.
Also, consider herbicides and mode of action used in other
crops in the rotation when planning long-term resistance
management programs.”
New Resources for Berry Growers are
featured in the Canadian publication The Grower (Nov. ’05). ‘Our
Strawberries’ by Shahrokh Khanizadeh and Jennifer DeEll “includes
descriptions of over 170 strawberry cultivars, plus information
on strawberry breeding programs, insects, diseases, production
methods and post harvest handling. For more information, http://publications.gc.ca or http://cyberfruit.info/book.” The
second resource is ‘Farm Food Safety Booklet’ prepared
by the Waterloo Public Health Unit “for growers who
sell food from the farm, about food safety requirements enforced
by the health unit. . . . This booklet is now available on-line
in PDF at www.region.waterloo.on.ca/ph.
Once here, select ‘Reports and Fact Sheets’ and
then choose the ‘Farm Food Safety booklet.’”
New
Blueberry Web Site Developed reports Kathleen Demchak in
the “Berry Production” section of Pennsylvania
Vegetable Growers News (Oct. ’05). “A comprehensive
website www.blueberries.msu.edu has
been developed that provides information on all aspects of
blueberry production and management. The site can be navigated
easily through clickable categories that include blueberry
production, varieties, diseases, insects, nutritional and
other disorders, weeds, pest management . . . weather . .
. and related industry and academic links.” The complete
article is also available on the Vegetable & Small
Fruit Gazette website at http://hortweb.cas.psu.edu/extension/vegcrops/vegetable_gazette/
2005/oct2005.html#blueberry
.Consumers have specific tastes for
gourmet jams, jellies by Cornell University’s
Wen-fei Uva is reprinted in The Fruit Grower News (Nov. ’05). “Gourmet
jams and jellies are perceived and used as self-indulgent
luxuries by many of the consumers interviewed, and, therefore,
are eminently ‘giftable.’ . . . Gourmet consumers
were generally very excited about trying new products,
as new products evoke their curiosity. They are willing
to pay a higher price (upwards of $10 per jar) for it if
they perceive the product to possess the exceptional characteristics
that appeal to them. Packaging combined with price was
the primary tool that consumers used to judge these products
as gourmet, giftable and other wise special.” The
article originally appeared in Smart Marketing and
can be read at http://hortmgt.aem.cornell.edu/pdf/smart_marketing/uva7-05.pdf. Archived articles
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