By Clint Thompson A drier year meant a good production season for Florida strawberries regarding a lack of diseases. A state known for its high-quality strawberry crop was ravaged in prior seasons because of neopestalotiopsis fruit rot disease. But rainy seasons exacerbated the problem. This year’s dry weather led to minimal disease impact, said Vance Whitaker, University of Florida Institute …
Lack of Neopestalotiopsis a Blessing for Producers
By Clint Thompson A drier year meant a good production season for Florida strawberries regarding a lack of diseases. A state known for its high-quality strawberry crop was ravaged in prior seasons because of neopestalotiopsis fruit rot disease. But rainy seasons exacerbated the problem. This year’s dry weather led to minimal disease impact, said Vance Whitaker, University of Florida Institute …
Clemson Extension Agents Provide Updates
Clemson Extension agents provide updates in The South Carolina Grower this week about the status of various crops being produced throughout the state. Midlands Justin Ballew reports, “Last week was cooler and felt like spring again, but that seems to be gone now. We got a little rain late last week (0.4 inches on our weather station in Lexington), though …
What’s Happening? Alabama Extension Plant Pathologist Provides Disease Update
By Clint Thompson There have been no signs of downy mildew disease in Alabama vegetable crops, while tomato spotted wilt has been observed in one tomato field. Those are observations shared by Ed Sikora, professor and Extension plant pathologist in the department of entomology and plant pathology at Auburn University. One of the main points so far this season is …
Botrytis Resistance Testing Key for Strawberry, Grape Producers
By Clint Thompson A University of Georgia Extension fruit disease specialist encourages grape and strawberry producers who are concerned that botrytis resistance is developing to their fungicides to comply with testing procedures at Clemson University. Phil Brannen stresses that growers should be concerned with potential resistance forming to the botrytis disease. “Botrytis as a fungus is more adept at developing …
Strawberry Growers Could Benefit From UF/IFAS Research into Powdery Mildew
Strawberry farmers worldwide may get help from new University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) research that shows a way to battle one of the fruit’s fiercest foes. The key: combine genomic data with phenomics. The genome amounts to all the DNA in an organism. Phenomics is the study of plant growth, performance and composition. Through phenomics, …
Clemson Extension Agents Provide Crop Updates
Clemson Extension agents provide crop updates in The South Carolina Grower this week about the status of various crops being produced throughout the state. Weekly Field Update – 5/9/22 Coastal Region Rob Last reports, “Spider mites in the area are increasing in number on a variety of crops including strawberries and watermelons. When choosing an insecticide always choose a specific miticide. …
What’s Happening? Clemson Extension Agents Provide Updates
Clemson Extension agents provide updates in The South Carolina Grower this week about the status of various crops being produced throughout the state. Weekly Field Update Coastal Region Zack Snipes reports, “It seems like everything happened all of a sudden this week. We are flushed with strawberries right now. I am seeing some anthracnose on berries as well as lots of …
Farm Policy Should Focus on Food Security
By Frank Giles As talks get underway for the 2023 Farm Bill, the Biden administration has made it clear that its focus will be on climate change. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack made the priority clear when he took the lead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). “USDA is committed to addressing climate change through actions that are farmer, …
Clemson Extension Agents Provide Weekly Crop Updates
Clemson Extension agents provide crop updates in The South Carolina Grower this week about the status of various crops being produced throughout the state. Coastal Region Rob Last reports, “Some welcome rainfall last week will help establish cucumbers and watermelon. Cucumber beetles are present in a large number of fields at present. While this is the first flux of the …