New Role and Summer Outreach for Lyon
Small Grains Extension Specialist Drew Lyon accepted the role of Interim Chair of the WSU Department of Crop and Soil Sciences this summer. He takes the helm as the department resumes in-person collaboration, teaching, and extension activities and as they prepare to move offices from their longstanding home in Johnson Hall on the Pullman campus next year.
Despite his new responsibilities, Lyon’s IPM extension outreach didn’t miss a beat.
- Timely Topic features on the WSU Wheat & Small Grains website included:
- Harvest Aid Treatments Likely Needed in 2021 Pulse Crops, an article to help growers navigate the weed explosion that complicated this year’s post-drought harvest.
- Volunteer Canola Control, with tips from the University of Saskatchewan.
- Weeders of the West blog added posts such as:
- Screening Weeds for Herbicide Resistance, in which colleague Doug Finkelnburg of the University of Idaho called attention to screening programs at U of I, WSU, and Oregon State University.
- Insights Into Alternative Herbicides to Glyphosate, an important reminder from colleague Judit Barroso of OSU, as well as a shout-out to promote additional trials to find products and tank mixes that can be used instead of the ubiquitous but increasingly problematic herbicide.
Onion Outreach Virtual but Vibrant
Regional Vegetable Specialist Tim Waters was unable to conduct the in-person Onion Field Day originally scheduled in August due to a combination of COVID resurgence, wildfire smoke, and other factors, but he and WSU colleagues Lindsey du Toit, Carrie Wohleb, and Gabriel LaHue collaborated on a special edition of the WSU Onion Alert that addressed a host of current issues. Among them:
- The low populations of onion thrips seen in 2021 (which may or may not have resulted from extreme temperatures) emphasize the importance of scouting before spraying.
- Irrigation and nitrogen impacts on bacterial bulb rots.
- Whether postharvest disinfectants reduce rot-related crop losses (early indicators say no).
- Highlights from the international “Stop the Rot” project.
Waters also worked one-on-one with potato and cucurbit growers in July and August for arthropod pest (Colorado potato beetle, aphids, potato psyllids, and potato tuber moth) and virus issues, respectively. Leafhopper and aphid populations were very high this spring and summer, and drought conditions desiccated weedy alternate hosts sooner than usual; this combination resulted in a variety of unusual pest impacts.
Small Farm IPM Education Reaches Individuals and Groups
Regional Horticulture and IPM Specialist Laurel Moulton’s outreach this quarter included conducting a round table discussion on IPM concepts and application with interns serving on farms in Kitsap County and working one-on-one with six small Olympic Peninsula farms to troubleshoot issues with:
- insect pests including wireworms and flea beetles
- diseases in crops including tomatoes, garlic, squash, currants, and tree fruit
- weed identification and control strategies
- pollinator protection by identifying native plants in hedgerows to conserve habitat
Moulton and the WSU Regional Small Farms Team host a program called “Dirt Talk” in which a WSU expert is paired with a local farmer to discuss a specific issue requested by the local farming community. Presentations are followed by an open dialogue among presenters and attendees. Topics earlier this year included spring pests (cutworms, cabbage root maggots and carrot rust fly) and wireworms. The next Dirt Talk will be November 4 and will focus on clubroot. For registration and other events, visit the Workshops & Classes page of the team’s website.
The Small Farms Team also launched a technical assistance portal to make it easier for local farmers to request assistance in identifying pests and diseases and developing IPM plans.
Beers Boosts Awareness of BMSBs and Beneficials
Tree Fruit IPM Extension Specialist Betsy Beers and her team continue to increase awareness of brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) across the state. They used their Twitter feed (@BeersLab) to announce collaboration with the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office’s Invasive Species Council to gather images and document sightings of this invasive pest. Additional BMSB information appears on Beers’ Orchard Pest Management BMSB page and documented sightings are shown on the BMSB Finds in Washington (Map). Fall is a good time to spot BMSB as they seek overwintering locations. Individuals spotting BMSB are encouraged to email a photo and location information to the Beers lab.
High-resolution photo galleries are being added to the Orchard Pest Management website, with links to specific pests on the home page. This quarter, photo galleries were added to many of the Natural Enemies and Beneficial Insects links, including lacewings, lady beetles, and syrphid flies, among many others. Colleagues are encouraged to utilize these photos within their own IPM education programs; contact Chris Sater for attribution information.
Viticulture Field Day, Trial Results, and Newsletter
Extension Viticulturist Michelle Moyer and her team conducted a viticulture field day on July 29th—the first in-person event in many months. Moyer and graduate students Alexa (Lexie) McDaniel and Bernadette (Bernie) Gagnier addressed approximately 60 attendees, presenting the latest research on:
- Chemigation timing
- How soils influence chemigation set management
- How chemigation timing and management relate to nematode locations in the soil
- How to best use the “field swabbing” approach in powdery mildew management
The team has also been doing fall research harvests in their rootstock and nematode trial plots and gathering the related data. Data on these trials are still being processed, and results will be communicated to growers this fall and winter.
Moyer contributed to and edited the fall edition (pdf) of Viticulture and Enology Extension News, which included:
- A summary of the challenges of the 2021 vintage in A Note from the Editor
- A report on the Japanese beetle outbreak in Grandview from WSDA
- Release notes on a new mobile-friendly AgWeatherNet portal
- Information and links on high resolution vineyard nutrient management
Melon Grafting Education for Students, Outreach to Scientific Community
Vegetable Horticulture Specialist Carol Miles has been providing opportunities for undergraduate students in her melon grafting studies and outreach at the WSU Mount Vernon Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center (NWREC). Melon grafting is primarily employed to control soil-borne diseases caused by Fusarium oxysporium f. sp. melonis and Monosporascus cannonballus. Grafting can also promote tolerance to environmental stresses such as low temperature and soil salinity and can increase yield. Two undergraduate students have been involved in melon grafting experiments to overcome sudden vine wilt, assess graft compatibility, and evaluate the technique’s effect on fruit yield, vigor, size, and quality. Students learned about the one-cotyledon grafting method that is commonly used for cucurbits. Certain rootstocks provided more successful results and diminished vine decline. The students learned that high-value, marketable melons can be produced in northwestern Washington by grafting onto compatible rootstocks, and this information is being shared with growers in the region.
In other outreach news this quarter, the article Exogenous Treatments to Enhance Splice-Grafted Watermelon Survival by Miles’ PhD student Pinki Devi, WSU’s Lisa Wasko DeVetter, Oregon State University’s Scott Lukas, and Miles was published in July. Devi received her PhD in May. Congratulations, Pinki!
New Video Helps Urban Applicators Diagnose Plant Problems
Correct diagnosis of plant problems is essential to achieve effective pest management and reduce pesticide misapplications. Urban IPM Coordinator Carrie Foss and her team will soon release their most recent video, Plant Problem Diagnosis, to help urban pesticide applicators with this task.
The new video features Jenny Glass, Diagnostic Plant Pathologist from the WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center. Topics covered include:
- The art and science of diagnosis
- Promoting plant health to proactively reduce problems
- The importance of proper tools (shovel, knife, hand lens, camera, references)
- Types of pathogens
- Prerequisites for disease development (pathogen present, susceptible plant, conducive environment)
- How to collect and submit a sample for diagnosis
- Steps in diagnosis
Upon completion, trainees should have a more complete understanding of how to diagnose plant problems, the first step toward managing the damage with effective IPM strategies.
The video is the latest in Foss’s WSU Urban IPM and Pesticide Safety Education series, conducted in cooperation with Washington State Department of Agriculture Pesticide and SPI Licensing and Recertification program.
Bee Team Addresses Hornets, Varroa, Nosema, and More
Honey Bee Health Specialist Brandon Hopkins and his team developed an extension fact sheet on diagnosing Asian giant hornet damage to honey bee colonies. They also published an article through Project Apis m. on the indoor storage inspection program by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Nearly all commercial honey bees travel to California for almond pollination late January. Indoor storage over the winter dormant period is becoming more popular and this article provides guidance for beekeepers throughout the West.
The Hopkins lab works closely with Washington State beekeepers to diagnose disease and pest pressures and educate about appropriate, IPM-based management tactics. This quarter, they processed 68 samples to detect for Nosema, a devastating honey bee parasite.
Outreach presentations by Hopkins and his team, including postdoctoral researchers Kelly Kulhanek and Rae Olsson, included:
- A talk on the importance of wild pollinators and how to support them, to the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association.
- Hosting the Washington Specialty Crop Tour at the Othello Pollinator Research Facility.
- A talk on varroa mite treatment, to the Inland Empire Beekeepers Association.
- A webinar, IPM for Varroa, for the Montgomery County (Maryland) Beekeepers Association.
- Hosting an informational booth on honey bees and honey bee research at the Whitman County Fair.