New Videos Educate Urban Applicators and Citizen Scientists
Urban IPM Coordinator Carrie Foss and her colleagues continue to produce videos to educate home gardeners and professional pesticide applicators about IPM. New this quarter is European Chafer: A Priority Pest in Washington. Featuring Entomologist Todd Murray and Turfgrass Specialist Gwen Stahnke, this video covers identification, history, and life cycle of this invasive turf pest recognized as a priority pest by the Washington Invasive Species Council.
The chafer video was shown to a webinar audience of 1,075 licensed pesticide applicators in January along with the highly informative Plant Problem Diagnosis video produced last quarter. This latter video features WSU Puyallup Plant Diagnostician Jenny Glass, who walks viewers through the steps for successful identification of plant problems. Correct diagnosis of plant problems is essential to achieve effective pest management and reduce pesticide misapplications.
These videos are part of the WSU Urban IPM and Pesticide Safety Education series, conducted in cooperation with Washington State Department of Agriculture Pesticide and SPI Licensing and Recertification program.
Another video released this quarter, Western Redcedar Dieback Research and Community Science at Washington State University, features Forest Health Watch Program Director Joseph Hulbert describing symptoms and impacts of dieback of this important Pacific Northwest species and ways that citizen scientists can engage to help protect these trees.
Plastic Mulches May Improve Raspberry Success
Vegetable Horticulture Specialist Carol Miles and her team continue their work with biodegradable plastic mulches as a tool to enhance production and pest management in high-value fruits and vegetables.
“Plasticulture,” or use of plastic materials in an agricultural setting, is a new technology for raspberry growers in the Pacific Northwest, who are using it to improve establishment of raspberry planted as tissue culture transplants. Proper establishment is essential for plant vigor and healthy plants are a key component of IPM. There is limited horticultural research evaluating conventional polyethylene (PE) mulch and soil-biodegradable plastic mulches (BDMs) in raspberry and other perennial fruit crops, and limited understanding of growers’ perception of risk associated with plasticulture.
A new publication is under development summarizing results from 5 years of ongoing raspberry field trials with both PE and BDMs as well as a study regarding grower risk perception of various materials and applications in raspberry. The publication will be available later this summer on the WSU Small Fruit Website’s Plastic Mulches web page, which is also home to fact sheets, videos, reports, and scientific publications about BDMs in agriculture.
IPM Outreach in Hops, Alfalfa Seed, and Mint
Washington State IPM Coordinator and Extension Entomologist Doug Walsh kicked off the quarter with a trio of presentations in a combination of in-person and virtual formats.
In January, he presented the latest information on IPM in hops at the 66th Annual American Hop Convention. This year’s convention theme was Growing Resilience: A Hop Industry Summit on Cultivating Adaptation, Innovation, & Sustainability in a Changing World. Walsh’s presentations included emerging information on mite management (including new and alternative acaricides, evaluating resistance, and integrating biocontrol), strategies to reduce pesticide residues (thereby enhancing export opportunities), and control of pest caterpillars in an IPM context.
Next stop on the winter speaking circuit was the Western Alfalfa Seed Growers Association annual convention, where Walsh presented Enhancing and Protecting Populations of Alfalfa Seed Pollinators (a perennial challenge in an industry that must balance protection of specialty pollinators with management of key pests) and Managing Pyrethroid Resistant Alfalfa Weevils Without Organophosphates (a timely topic in response to control failures and the regulatory status of chlorpyrifos).
This quarter was also Walsh’s annual report to the Mint Industry Research Council’s Scientific Affairs Committee. This year’s presentations included the latest results and recommendations about the pest management implications of Nitrogen and Water Management on Spearmint.
Codling Moth Summit and Tree Fruit Guide Release
Tree Fruit IPM Extension Specialist Betsy Beers co-organized and moderated the Codling Moth Summit, an all-day virtual event taking a long-term look at the biology, control, and treatment of this perennial pest of tree fruit. Using an architectural metaphor, the summit discussed the foundation of CM control being: 1) biology & ecology, 2) use of predictive models, 3) pest monitoring & identification, and 4) the socioeconomic aspects.
On top of that foundation, the various types of control tactics form the four pillars of CM control:
- Autocidal approaches that reduce reproduction
- Mating disruption
- Sterile insect release (SIR)
- Cultural controls
- Orchard sanitation and bin management (direct tactics)
- Netting, bagging, and other exclusion tactics
- Chemical control, including
- Resistance management
- Building an effective spray program
- Biological considerations
- Natural enemies
- Other pests and overall ecosystem
Overarching the pillars and foundation is the apex or roof: IPM. Control of a highly mobile, multigenerational pest like CM requires perpetual attention and an areawide approach.
Also this quarter, the 2022 Crop Protection Guide for Tree Fruit was released. With over 60 product updates and a new section for leafhopper control in cherries, the guide is also available in a printed format.
IPM Resources and Information for Wheat and Small Grain Growers
In a Weeders of the West blog post in January, Small Grains Extension Specialist Drew Lyon wrote about the importance of herbicide mixing and rotation. Not only does the use of multiple modes of action help delay the development of herbicide resistance in weeds, it is often the most effective weed control strategy. This article, entitled I Can’t Say This Enough! illustrates why herbicide rotation and managing resistance are key focal points of Lyon’s outreach in small grain IPM. Other IPM-related blog posts this quarter included Understanding Weed Competition Below Ground, a focus on Russian thistle, kochia, and prickly lettuce by Oregon State University colleague Judi Barroso, and Herbicide Resistance is for the Weak: A Message from Common Lambsquarters, an in-depth look at the biology of this persistent weed by University of Idaho colleague Albert Adjesiwor.
Lyon’s Wheat Beat podcasts this quarter dealing with IPM included What’s Been Happening at the WSU Wilke Farm with Aaron Esser, an update on how three different rotational schemes impact (among other things) the pest complex at this 340-acre facility, and Sensors & Remote Sensing in Agriculture with Dr. Joaquin Casanova, which includes discussion about using drones to identify weedy areas and help target more precise herbicide application.
Wine Grape Web Content, Pest Management Guide, and Conference
Extension Viticulturist Michelle Moyer added links and content to the Phylloxera Management Resources page on the WSU Viticulture & Enology website. The page includes a risk map based on soil temperature and sand content as well as resources on scouting and rootstocks. Phylloxera is a small, aphid-like insect that feeds on grape roots.
The 2022 Pest Management Guide for Grapes in Washington was released this quarter. This annually updated guide helps grape growers and vineyard managers understand and control diseases, insects, weeds, and vertebrate pests on commercial grapes. Weed controls (both soil-active and foliage-applied herbicides) are outlined for new and established plantings, and disease and insect controls are coordinated to pest and crop stage.
Moyer and her team also took part in WineVit 2022, the annual convention and trade show organized by Washington Winegrowers. She managed a session on New Varieties and Pest Management and graduate student Lexie McDaniel spoke about how to Keep Your Vineyard Thriving in a Challenging Labor Environment. Graduate student Bernadette Gagnier took first place in the student oral presentations with her work on Plants Helping Plants: Cover Crop Alternatives for Nematode Management in Washington Vineyards (pdf) while both Moyer (pdf) and McDaniel (pdf) took poster honors in their respective categories.
Bringing Resistance Tools and Degree Day Modeling to Small Farms
Regional Horticulture and IPM Specialist Laurel Moulton continued her efforts to bring science-based IPM to the small farm operators in Clallam, Jefferson, and Kitsap counties on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.
Moulton is working one-on-one with grower-cooperators on a sweet potato trial in collaboration with Extension IPM team member Carol Miles. The trials serve two purposes: 1) to determine whether sweet potato is a viable crop for the tri-county area, and 2) to compare conventional sweet potato varieties with a newly released wireworm resistant variety. Finding pest-resistant vegetables is important for the organic and low-till growers in western Washington who don’t have the same management options as conventional farmers.
Also in the works is a collaboration with the Clallam Conservation District and WSU AgWeatherNet to identify sites for new weather stations in Clallam County. Moulton seeks to make degree day modeling and weather-based decision aid systems accessible for the growers she and the WSU Regional Small Farms Team serve. While this project is in its early stages, sites are being considered in Port Angeles, Neah Bay, and Forks. In March, Moulton made a presentation, Harnessing the Power of Heat Units for Your Garden’s Success, to introduce home gardeners and small farmers to the basics of degree day modeling.
Potato, Onion, Pea, and Seed Crop IPM Outreach
Regional Vegetable Specialist Tim Waters made several presentations at the Washington & Oregon Potato Conference in January, on topics including control of yellow nutsedge, utilizing newly labeled pesticides, and an evaluation of IPM in commercial potato fields. He served as moderator for an afternoon session that included presentations on potato surface blemish diseases, use of statistics, use of remote sensing technologies, and a new online decision aid system. The 4-day conference, presented by the Washington State Potato Commission and the Oregon Potato Commission, was attended by over 600 growers.
Other presentations by Waters this quarter included control of thrips in tree fruit (Wenatchee and Yakima) and control of insects in peas and insects in vegetable seed crops (Moses Lake).
Waters continues to be an active participant in the Stop the Rot project, a federally funded effort to combat onion bacterial diseases. The project, which began in 2019 and continues through 2023, brings together 24 scientists representing 140,000 acres of onions across seven U.S. regions in an effort to stem the >$60M losses to the onion industry due to these diseases annually.