In this Issue:
GUEST ARTICLE
Leaf Analysis as a Guide to Apple Orchard Fertilization
VEGETABLE NEWS
Time to Watch for Squash Vine Borer and Squash Bug
STRAWBERRY NEWS
Strawberry IPM Update Plus Weather and Fruit Diseases
APPLE NEWS
Join us for the Upper Midwest Organic Tree Fruit Growers Network June Field Day
Weekly Trap Counts: June 6- June 15, 2005
| Vol 2 No.7 | June 20, 2005 |
Join Us for the Upper Midwest Organic Tree Fruit Growers Network June Field Day
Harry Hoch
We are hosting an interesting field day at Hoch Orchard and Gardens next week. If you are an organic farmer or have an interest in low input systems and the ecological balance of the orchard environment then you should join us on Tuesday. Professor Mark Whalon will discuss practices to improve the ecosystem within the orchard allowing beneficials to increase while lowering pest pressure. Professor Emily Hoover will discuss orchard floor management and organic mulches that she has worked with. She will also give an overview of the National Organic Conference that she attended last week. I will outline how I manage the organic portion of my orchard and how I use weather data loggers. Jeanne Ciborowski of MDA and I will run the Specware disease modeling program and project it for all to see. We will use the weather data from my site and explain how I used the models to time my pesticide applications. LaCrescent Orchard Supply UAP will also be there with a display and answer questions about their organic products. The presentations should be interesting to both the organic growers and the IPM apple grower looking for new apple growing techniques.
Tuesday June 21st 10:00 to 3:00 at Hoch Orchard near LaCrescent MN. $15.00 includes lunch
Please call or email me ASAP to register and get directions. Registration is limited, but we are extending registration deadline for IPM Newsletter recipients. You can call 507 643-6329 or email hoch1@acegroup.cc to register.
10:00 Registration
10:10 Introduction
10:15 Overview of the fruit production system at Hoch Orchard – Harry Hoch
- Soil health, weed control, pruning, chipping prunings, mowing/mulching, habitat for beneficials, flowering plants, birdhouses, animals in the orchard system
10:35 Orchard floor management options for Organic Systems - Prof Emily Hoover
- Ground cover, mulching, and results of a wool mulch project
11:00 The Orchard as an ecosystem – Prof. Mark Whalon
- An introduction to ecological concepts that combine orchard structure and process to produce fruit in an environmentally soft system. Prof. Whalon will also discuss a system for rating the degree of ecological balance in a specific orchard site.
11:45 Workshop in the organic block
- Prof. Whalon will conduct a workshop in the orchard. He will identify species of beneficials and indicator species to evaluate the ecological balance of the orchard.
12:30 Lunch
1:00 Overview from the National Organic Conference – Prof Emily Hoover
1:30 Pest control at Hoch Orchard, what we have done this year in the organic block
- Fertilizer program, trap counts, pest pressure, spray records- when and what
2:00 Trapping and weather monitoring in the field
- Look at pheromone traps and Spectrum Weather Data Loggers
2:30 Two Options
- Continue discussion of organic practices in the orchard with Prof Hoover
(or)
- Return to the packing shed for a demonstration of the Specware computer modeling systems for insects and disease.
3:00 End of tour, head home or stay and socialize or take a walk through the farm
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Co-Editors: Bill Hutchison ( hutch002@umn.edu), Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, Jeanne Ciborowski, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Ag. Resources Management and Development Division, and Suzanne Wold-Burkness ( woldx018@umn.edu), Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota
The Newsletter is published weekly from May through August, cooperatively, by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the University of Minnesota (U of MN). Reports are posted on the U of MN and MDA web sites on Fridays. If you have suggestions and/or comments, please send your contributions by 4 p.m., Wednesday to Jeanne Ciborowski, 651-297-3217, jeanne.ciborowski@state.mn.us , MDA, 90 W. Plato Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55107-2094. You can access the Newsletter at the U of MN web site in htm format at: www.vegedge.umn.edu/MNFruit&VegNews/mnindex.htm and at the MDA web site in pdf format at: www.mda.state.mn.us/biocon/fruitreports/
Partial funding for this publication is provided through partnership agreements with the Minnesota Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (MFVGA) and the United States Department of Agriculture – Risk Management Agency (RMA). These institutions are equal opportunity providers.
DISCLAIMER
Reference to products in this publication is not intended to be an endorsement to the exclusion of others which may have similar uses. Any person using products listed in this publication assumes full responsibility for their use in accordance with current manufacturer directions.
The University, including the Minnesota Extension Service, is an equal opportunity educator and employer. ©1999-2005 Minnesota Extension Service, University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. Contact copyright@extension.umn.edu for information on reproduction or use of this material.