BERRYagent - strawberry advisories for april 24

Strawberry Plasticulture - Follow-up on Mites, Hail - April 24, 2002 (2:50 pm- Wed)
Volume 3, Number 39
E. Barclay Poling, Extension Strawberry Specialist
Main topics: General roundup, mites, hail damage

Contributors to this issue:
Carl Cantaluppi, carl_cantaluppi@ncsu.edu, Area Agent, Person and Granville Cos.
David Dycus, David.Dycus@ncmail.net, Regional Agronomist, Sanford
Tom Dyson, Tom_Dyson@ncsu.edu, Extension Agent, Chowan Co.
Donn Johnson, U of A, Fayetteville, AR, Professor of Entomology
Frank Louws, frank_louws@ncsu.edu, Extension Plant Pathologist, NC State
Sterling Southern, Sterling_Southern@ncsu.edu, Extension Leader & Prof. of Entomology, NCSU

Topic A. General roundup
Very heavy picking is underway today in the Coastal areas of NC, and the piedmont is now just underway as well. In Raleigh today, 70 high and 54 low. Sunshine is mixed with some clouds, but can't complain! Thursday we may have morning clouds and a shower then some sun (76/44); Friday is looking excellent with 68/48 and sunny most of the day. Saturday looks like a repeat of Friday weather, but slightly warmer. Given the fruit losses of last week to extreme heat, sunscald, mites, disease, etc., it is very encouraging to have such a good weather forecast for strawberry picking.

Interestingly, there were some growers who had to do some early morning frost protection (around 5 am they started) in Virginia! It should not be as cold tonight.

Prices appear to be about the same as last year in this region of NC - in a quick check of the Raleigh/Cary/Apex area "U-hear" of U-pick prices of about $0.99/lb, and $1.40 - $1.60/lb ready pick. One grower in Zebulon said that he normally sells everything by the pound, but they also offer a "full" quart basket for $3.00. In more rural areas of NC the prices are usually lower than around the larger cities like Raleigh. The lowest price I've heard is $0.75/lb and $1.09/lb for ready pick.

NCCES Agent, Carl Cantaluppi, has been assisting newer Granville/Person Co. strawberry farmers with developing information for their answering machines as well as radio/TV. Here is an example of what Carl provided to one of our newest strawberry plasticulture operations, Christmasplace Berry Farm:

Telephone Answering Machine

Thank you for calling Christmasplace Berry Farm. Our strawberry season is about to begin but the berries are not quite ready for picking. Please call us back tomorrow to find out when we will be open and what the picking conditions are like in the field.

We are located________miles ___ off of US Highway __ on the ___ Road, ___miles north of _____, NC and ___miles south of _____, VA. Follow the signs. We are open between __A.M. and ___P.M. Monday-Saturday, but always call before coming out to be sure that we have not finished picking ripe berries for the day. We want you to pick the sweetest berries! We will also let you know the field conditions so you can dress appropriately, especially after a rain. Please bring your own containers for picking, or we can furnish ones for you.

Radio/TV Ad
Fresh, mouth-watering strawberries are ripening at Christmasplace Berry Farm. It won't be long before they are ready to be picked. Please call us at ______ before coming out so you can pick the sweetest berries. We will also let you know the field conditions so you can dress appropriately, especially after a rain.

We are located _____miles ___ of US Highway __ on the _____ Rd, ___ miles ___ of ____, NC and ____miles south of ______, VA. Follow the signs. We will be open between ___A.M. and ___P.M. Monday-Saturday, call before coming out to be sure that we have not finished picking ripe berries for the day. We want you to pick the sweetest berries!

Please bring your own containers for picking, or we can furnish them for you.

Carl is also having a he special produce auction meeting Thursday, April25, 2002 at 7 P.M. at the Granville County Extension Center. The group would like to accomplish the following objectives:
*Give out permanent grower numbers
*Go over the auction bookkeeping system
*Make plans to visit other auctions that are in operation to get
ideas for our auction.
I look forward to seeing you at our next meeting on April 25.

Sincerely,
Carl Cantaluppi, Horticulture Agent, North Carolina State University
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Person County Extension Center
304 S. Morgan St., Rm. 123, Roxboro, NC 27573
E-Mail: carl_cantaluppi@ncsu.edu
Phone : (336) 599-1195 (Person)
Phone : (919) 603-1350 (Granville)
Pager : (919) 572-4735Granville County Extension Center
P.O. Box 926
Oxford, North Carolina 27565
(919) 603-1350
(919) 603-0268 Fax
e-mail: carl_cantaluppi@ncsu.edu

From their April 10th meeting, Carl reports that "We were able to secure a produce buyer for the auction. This buyer will place his order by telephone on the morning of the auction, before it starts. Billy Yeargin, the owner of Yeargin's Tobacco Warehouse and manager of the Oxford Produce Auction, will also serve as an "order buyer". Billy will receive from the buyer the highest price he wants to pay for the produce and will then come onto the auction floor to bid on the produce on behalf of the buyer. He will hold up the buyer's number when the right price is announced and buy for that buyer. He will also arrange for transportation of the produce for the buyer. The order buyer concept should work well for those buyers who can
not be physically present at the auction but would like to bid on the produce by stating a maximum price that they will give to Billy Yeargin in advance. The order buyers will become an
integral part of the auction and will bid along with buyers who come to the auction on each sale day."

Last evening, an advisory on the mite problem we're experiencing was issued, and this advisory produced a lot of feedback (next section).

Topic B. Mites

Let's begin with a re-cap of what was written last night (Apr. 23):

Strawberry Plasticulture Short Note on Mites - April 23 2002 (7:30 pm- Tue)
Vol. 3. No. 38, Dr. Barclay Poling, Strawberry Extension Specialist
Mite problems: We seem to be having unusual difficulty in controlling two-spotted spider mites in a number of areas and states this week. This evening I was able to speak with Dr. Donn Johnson, Extension Entomologist, Univ. Arkanasas (6:15 pm) and Clyde Gorsuch, Entomology Dept Clemson, also sent some very helpful information.
Here are the several concerns of growers and agents today:
-1. Agri-Mek is being applied, but doesn't appear to be having much effect
-2. We've been using Brigade, but now it doesn't seem to be working either
-3. What do we do?
Response of Donn Johnson:
-1. Agri-Mek takes about one full week to take effect. It is also a product that needs to go on early in the season, and has its greatest activity in newest leaves. It is "somewhat systemic" and is a trans-laminar. It was Dr. Johnson's view that the main problem may be related to the grower's desire for a rapid knockdown, but Agri-mek may take up to one week to really take effect and is a good pre-harvest material. This is why Dr. Johnson is inclined to recommend an alternative (no. 3) that may have more immediate effect at this later stage in the season (harvest).
-2. Most miticides are effective for 2 applications/season, but then lose effectiveness on the third and fourth applications (resistance builds). This may be happening in some instances where growers have used more than 2 applications of Brigade this season.
-3. What to do? It was Dr. Johnson's view that growers should consider the use of hexakis (Vendex) 50 W. Many growers have stopped using Vendex in favor of newer miticides (e.g. Brigade), but a resistance management strategy calls for alternating materials, and this may be a very opportune time to use Vendex. In a handout from the North American Strawberry Growers Assn. Program Feb 4-6, 2002, it is worth noting that Vendex is rated Excellent as a two-spotted mite management tool. The NC Ag Chem Manual (2002) indicates that the amount of formulation to apply per acre is 1 lb (1/2 lb active ingredient). The minimum interval between last application and harvest is 1 day (p. 301).
Other comments on Vendex: this product controls about 70% of the mites in the first application. This means that a follow-up application of Vendex is needed (about 10-14 days). Dr Johnson also suggested five days after the application of Vendex, the possible application of hexythiazox (Savey) 50 W. Savey is an ovicide. Savey is applied at 6 oz formulation per acre per year (this is also the total allowed per acre per year). The minimum interval between last application and harvest is 3 days (this could represent a serious problem for growers in full harvest).

Here are the replies this advisory prompted this morning (Apr. 24):
-1. David Dycus david.dycus@ncmail.net, Regional Agronomist, NCDA: "Jimmy (Lee) has used Vendex in our fertility test with no real success. He is going to use Savey next. The growers doing the best job use 200 psi and 100 gallons of water per acre, not 100 psi and 50 gallons of water. They are very widespread in my area. Interesting observation; Steve McNeill who grew his own plants isn't having mite problems yet and he is the only one in my area not having a problem."

-2. Powell Smith
"I have had several growers from the Savannah River through the Sand Hills down into Orangeburg and Colleton counties with mite problems. I have reservations about the use of Brigade due its toxicity to beneficials including honeybees. In the cases that I have investigated, the mite populations had been allowed to get 'out of hand' prior to application and substandard application techniques and equipment had been used. Mike Keisler had used several applications of Brigade with reoccurrence of mites each time. This was with 60+ gals per acre coverage rate and around 150 psi. Early in the picking season, we switched to Agrimek with Dyne-Namic (a novel spreading agent) at 0.33% (per label) and got complete control. This was my experience in trials last year. The Dyne-Namic was written up in Jour. of Econ. Entomol. recently as having physical activity against mites. Good scouting, action at low levels of mites, and though coverage (especially the lower leaves) is the key. Remind the growers about Jim Price's observation about the build up of non-hatching eggs when Savey is used. Caution: growers to not use the Dyne-Namic only (as) their miticide (preferably with Agrimek). There may be phytotoxicity problems if used with Captan. I haven't investigated the full range of tank mixes and effects."

J. Powell Smith, County Extension Agent, JPSMTH@CLEMSON.EDU
Lexington County, SC
CUCES-Lexington County
605 W. Main St. Ste. 109
Lexington, SC 29072
Phone: 803-359-8515 FAX: 803-359-4245

(Editor's note: I will remind Powell to share with us further comments from Dr. Price's excellent presentation at the NASGA meeting in Durham, NC, as I was involved in conduction several other sessions)

-3. Dr. Sterling Southern, Extension Leader, Dept. Entomology, NC State
Dr. Southern is going to be filling-in for Dr. Ken Sorensen, Professor and Extension Entomology, NCSU, while Ken is on another assignment until May 3rd. Dr. Southern was in agreement with Dr. Johnson, U of A, about the importance of using Agri-mek earlier in the season to give it time enough to take effect (I think we've all been too impatient in expecting an immediate knock-down type effect from Agri-mek). Later today or tomorrow, Dr. Southern will be providing us some information about another possible miticide listed in a handout at the NASGA/Southeast Expo meeting in Durham back in Feb.

-4. Tom Dyson, Agent, Chowan Co.
In a brief call from Tom Dyson this early morning, Tom shared that a local grower was also having no apparent success with Danitol miticide.

Editor's note: please keep sharing your experiences with these various mite management tools send to barclay_poling@ncsu.edu

Topic C. Hail Damage

-1. Hail storm rip Virginia Beach area: On Friday evening a devastating hail storm ripped through the VA Beach area and left some fields almost completely destroyed (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Figs. 1 & 2. "We had about 1.8 inches of rain in 30 minutes, 70 mph wind gusts and several minutes of dime size hail,", said the grower who snapped this photo on the left during last Friday night's storm in VA Beach. The photo on the right shows how the storm completely battered the plants.

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 3. Perhaps looking at this photo is enough to remind our whole industry of the vital necessity of a crop insurance program for plasticulture strawberries. This was a beautiful crop up until Friday evening! The cost of growing strawberries on plastic has gotten so high (> $10,000/A is typical) that it really has to be recognized that this is an exceptionally risky crop without an insurance program of some kind. Fig. 4 shows the effects of the same storm at another VA Beach location - photo taken over the weekend. This location was not as hard hit as the farm shown in Figs. 1-3. However, the "spots" on the green fruit from the hail injury will make these berries unmarketable in most cases (certainly, for any type of wholesale market). Go through and strip the damaged red berries and strip the badly injured green fruit as well. But green fruit that has just a spot or two may be suitable for the U-pickers.

-2. Interview with Dr. Frank Louws, Ext. Plant Path., NC State, about the important step of applying a fungicide following hail damage in strawberries:

What is the reason for a fungicide application after a hail storm?
Fungicide use after such a storm could help to reduce the growth of fungi that take advantage of the wounded tissue to colonize the berry (so called opportunistic and secondary pathogens). Warm dry weather would be the best to allow the wounds (on green berries) to heal.

Elevate would have a fairly narrow spectrum of activity (only botrytis). I would consider use of Switch if the land will be planted back to strawberries or onions (no ther crop allowed within 12
months). Switch is a more broad spectrum fungicide and no waiting period as well as having reduced residue. If Switch cannot be used, a broad spectrum product like captan or thiram would also do well.

-3. Additional comments (from B. Poling and Cal Schiemann, April 22-23)

VA Beach Grower: I have a lot of questions. What should I do now? People have coming out and picking some of the less damaged fruit, but the damaged spots will continue to get worse. It would take a lot of work to remove the rotting fruit from the field - is it worth it?

Reply by B. Poling, Apr. 22nd

a) Consider paying a crew to strip off all damaged fruit. Do this if you can see that there are a reasonable number of undamaged green fruits and flowers remaining. (see next report from Calvin A. Schiemann).

Reply by Cal Schiemann to B. Poling about the VA Beach farm hit with hail, Apr. 23rd
Just an update on the strawberries at the farm hit so hard by hail Friday. Actually they live and farm in the City of Chesapeake so I was not aware of their problem until I received your e-mail yesterday morning. Watson Lawrence is the Extension Agent in Chesapeake and he and I work closely together. We visited this farm together late Monday afternoon, after we completed a meeting with marketing personnel from the VA Dept. of Ag. and Consumer Services (VDACS) to arrange newspaper advertising for local strawberries, paid via a grant from USDA.

It was a shame to see the mess hail made their strawberries. 80% of the medium size to large green fruit was damaged. Ripe fruit at the time the hail hit was severely damaged. The storm damage was on Friday evening. When I saw the field yesterday (late Monday afternoon), they, plus u-pickers, had picked a lot of the ripe fruit. There remained a lot of damaged ripe fruit that could be saved, but as the damaged fruit rots, u-pickers will not want to continue picking in the mess that remains.

Fruit is continuing to ripen as the damaged ripe fruit rots. Based your advice, I suggested they should salvage the ripe fruit as quickly as possible, then go through the field cleaning out the damaged and rotten fruit. This material should be put in buckets and removed from the field as it would make a terrible mess if left in the row middles. Barclay, last night they picked 100 ft of row in 22 minutes and harvested 4.5 lbs of fruit. If they can get labor, they will break even on the harvested fruit.

The problem is finding labor. As a small grower, they use only family labor. I gave them the phone numbers of three Virginia Beach growers that have good migrate workers. Hopefully some of these workers can be spared by the Virginia Beach growers for a couple of days. Watson has found workers, but they are not available until hursday.

If he can get the fields cleaned in the next two days, he may be able to salvage 40 - 50% of his crop. It was a large crop. He had used row covers so many of the Chandlers were large and ripe. Damaged to the crop would have been much less if the crop was in a normal growth stage as much of the fruit would have been small, and many blooms not yet opened.

You were right about the size of the local strawberry crop - it will be large. We are picking Sweet Charlies and Camarosas. Chandlers begin next week. VDACS will run 2 large ads in the Virginia Pilot (May 2 and May 8) listing all the growers in SE Virginia. We have a newspaper story coming out in the VA Beach paper soon and hopefully a strawberry article in the Virginia Pilot that will also list all the strawberry farms. Plus we hope to have TV coverage on May 3. Keep your fingers crossed we can get u-pickers to the fields and no more hail!

Thanks for your help with this problem.

Calvin A. Schiemann
Extension Agent
2449 Princess Anne Rd.
Virginia Beach, VA 23456
Phone: 757-427-4769
cschiema@vbgov.com

Later today we'll be posting updated information on fertility questions and anthracnose…

E. Barclay Poling, Small Fruit Specialist
Campus Box 7609
Kilgore Hall - Office 252
NC State University
Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7609

919.418.9687 (mobile)
barclay_poling@ncsu.edu

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