In this issue:

ECB and CEW Moth Flight Update

Cabbage Looper Alert

Soybean Aphid Update

Cowpea Aphids Arrive, in Alfalfa

Business Planning Guide Available

Swedish Machine for Fresh-Market Growers

Fresh Market Growers: Swedish Machine Offers Relief to Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA) Newsletter, July Issue

Minnesota and western Wisconsin fruit and vegetable growers who have had enough of aching necks, backs, wrists, and knees came to see the Swedish Drängen (DRANG-en) work cart and other efficiency-boosting tools in action at a field day in Foreston, Minn. Aug. 4, 2003.

"Vegetable growing can be really hard on bones, joint, and muscles with all the stooping, kneeling, reaching, and crawling required," says grower Nett Hart. "It's been fun to try out the Drängen this season and see how much more comfortable a lot of these tasks can be. Having both hands free to work together is wonderful."

This self-propelled machine allows workers to "float" over the rows on their stomachs, leaving hands free to transplant, weed, or harvest. The cart looks like a massage table mounted on snowmobile treads and is powered by a small motor. One or two workers can lie on their stomachs while padded supports suspend them over the crop row.

Both hands are free to pick, weed, or tend. Foot controls steer and adjust speed. The frame adjusts so the position of the worker and the tracks can be changed. The use of treads, rather than wheels, minimizes soil compaction. (See photo.)

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Sustainable Agriculture Program is co-sponsored this field day.

For more information, contact Meg Moynihan (651) 297-8916, meg.moynihan@state.mn.us

Co-Editors: Bill Hutchison, Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, hutch002@tc.umn.edu
Jeanne Ciborowski, IPM Program, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, jeanne.ciborowski@state.mn.us
Production Editor: Suzanne Wold, Research Fellow, Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, woldx018@tc.umn.edu

Last Revised August 7, 2003.
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