2024 Quarter 2 Newsletter

Small Farms Are a Big Deal in Western Washington

Regional Horticulture and IPM Specialist Laurel Moulton, along with her colleagues on the WSU Regional Small Farms team, provided troubleshooting advice to flower farmers in western Washington in May. The event, Planning for an Early Cut Flower Season, was part of the Dirt Talk Farm Walk series and was held at Petal & Pitchfork flower farm in Poulsbo.

The WSU Regional Small Farms program supports small to mid-sized farms in Clallam, Jefferson, and Kitsap counties with a broad range of classes, workshops, and networking opportunities. Individual farmers can get answers by filling out a Farmer Technical Assistance Request on the website. This quarter, Moulton responded to a number of these requests and conducted one-on-one IPM outreach with farmers on topics including:

• leaf oedema on greenhouse-grown tomatillos
• preventing carrot rust fly
• managing horsetail on an organic flower farm
• preventing deer and rabbit from grazing on sweetpotato greens
• sclerotinia in sunflowers
• diseases on a u-pick blueberry operation

In some cases, the Small Farms Team provides direct and immediate assistance, while in other cases they connect their clients to the broader resources across the university, such as the Puyallup-based WSU Plant Pest Diagnostic Clinic or individual experts within the WSU system.

Entomology Award and SWD Outreach

Tree Fruit IPM Extension Specialist Betsy Beers is the 2024 recipient of the prestigious C.W. Woodworth Award. Presented at the Pacific Branch Entomological Society of America (PBESA) meeting in April, the award “recognizes an individual PBESA member for outstanding accomplishments in entomology over at least the past 10 years.” Beers spoke to conference attendees about her work on direct and indirect pests in many tree fruit systems (both traditional and organic), including her focus on invasive species such as brown marmorated stink bug and spotted-wing drosophila. Throughout her career, Beers has taken a grower-centric approach, solving pest problems, communicating the results of her own and colleagues’ research, and facilitating the adoption of IPM practices.

The PBESA meeting also provided an opportunity for additional spotted-wing drosophila (SWD) outreach to peers in the field of entomology. Beers was a co-author on two presentations:

• Impact of canopy and groundcover management on Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in Eastern Washington cherry orchards, presented by Beers’ Postdoctoral Research Assistant Dylan Beal
• Comparison of sampling methods for Figitid parasitoid wasps of spotted-wing drosophila, presented by Beers’ Master’s student Robert Czokajlo

Congratulations, Betsy, on your well-deserved award and kudos for your team’s outreach at PBESA!

Grape Presentation & Dissertation, Pollinator Tour & Taping

Washington State IPM Coordinator and Extension Entomologist Doug Walsh participated in Washington Advancements in Viticulture and Enology (WAVE) Connect program in April. His presentation, Grape Mealybug Mating Disruption: Potential to Sustainably Slow Leafroll Virus Spread recapped recent work his team has been conducting in cooperation with the Washington State Wine Commission with funding from the  Washington State Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. This work was also presented by Walsh’s graduate student, Stephen Onayemi, in his dissertation, Investigating the Effectiveness of Pheromone-Based Mating Disruption For The Grape Mealybug, Pseudococcus maritimus. Dr. Onayemi earned his PhD in May.

In June, Walsh spoke to members of the North American Alfalfa Improvement Conference when they convened in southeastern Washington for their biennial meeting. The 2024 meeting included a bus tour of the alfalfa seed fields of the Touchet Valley area. This region, near Walla Walla, is one of the nation’s leading producers of alfalfa seed, thanks in large part to the unique pollination services of alfalfa leafcutting bees and alkali bees. Walsh is the region’s leading specialty pollinator entomologist. Walsh was interviewed by the producers of the PBS series, Human Footprint, in June for a pollinator episode scheduled to air in Summer 2025.

More Grape Outreach, Boot Camp, and National Award

Extension Viticulturist Michelle Moyer also spoke at the Washington Advancements in Viticulture and Enology (WAVE) Connect program in April. Her presentation was entitled What to Integrate with Nematode IPM.

The Spring Edition of Viticulture and Enology Extension News (VEEN) was released in April. This newsletter, which is edited by Moyer, included the following IPM-related articles:

• Digging into Meloidogyne hapla Sampling in Vineyards, by newly graduated PhD Bernadette Gagnier and Moyer, which explains the life cycle and sampling techniques for northern root-knot nematode
• Overview of Spotted Lanternfly by Joshua Milnes and Cassie Cichorz of the Washington State Department of Agriculture Plant Protection Division
• Japanese Beetle Quarantine Boundaries: Regulations Expanded, also by Cichorz

The 2024 edition of Pest Management Guide for Grapes in Washington was released.

Moyer and colleagues conducted the 2024 Viticulture Intern Boot Camp, an all-day workshop intended to provide a baseline level of knowledge on topics including Integrated Pest Management to company interns specializing in Washington State Viticulture.

Finally, Moyer received the Excellence in Extension award from the American Phytopathological Society, which recognizes “individuals who have made outstanding contributions by creating, developing, or implementing extension-related programs or materials or who have provided significant leadership in an area of extension plant pathology.” Congratulations, Michelle!

Wheat and Grain Extension in Print, Online, and In Person

Small Grains Extension Specialist Drew Lyon, along with co-authors Ian Burke, Joan Campbell, and Judit Barroso, released Italian Ryegrass Management in Inland Pacific Northwest Dryland Cropping Systems in May. The 14-page Pacific Northwest Extension publication discusses identification, biology, and integrated management tactics for this troublesome weed species.

The WSU Extension Dryland Cropping Systems Team posted several IPM-related updates in the Timely Topics section of the WSU Wheat & Small Grains website this quarter:

• Another Year Detecting Soilborne Wheat Mosaic Virus in Eastern Washington by WSU Regional Extension Agronomist Rachel Wieme and WSU Plant Pathologist Tim Murray
• Stripe Rust is Widespread in Eastern Washington, a presentation of colleague Xianming Chen’s latest stripe rust update by Murray
• Those are NOT cutworms or armyworms in my wheat, so what type of “worm” are they? by WSU Regional Extension Specialist Dale Whaley

Lyon and colleagues conducted the WSU Weed Science Field Tour in Pullman and the Lind Field Day in June. IPM-related topics included broadleaf weed control in both spring and winter wheat, weed emergence, Italian ryegrass control in spring canola and spring wheat, harvest weed seed control, and residual herbicides for fallow weed management. The 2024 Dryland Field Day Abstracts (pdf) includes an extensive section on pathology, weeds, and insects

Potato Field Days, Electronic Alerts, and Magazine Article

Regional Vegetable Specialist Tim Waters joined colleagues from WSU, University of Idaho, Cornell, and USDA-ARS to present the WSU Potato Field Day (pdf) in June, which included an interactive Potato Virus Y demonstration, a session on cultural management practices and a session on potato pest management. Topics included:

• pest diagnostics
• virus research updates
• cutting-edge monitoring strategies
• controlling insect pests without neonicotinoid insecticides

Also in June, Waters also conducted a Nutsedge Management Field Day with WSU Weed Scientist Rui Liu, presenting integrated management of nutsedge and herbicide efficacy trials.

WSU Potato Alerts this quarter addressed pests including beet leafhopper (and the pathogens it transmits), Colorado potato beetle, nematodes, late blight, Lygus bugs, aphids, potato psyllid. The weekly alerts were also utilized to enlist growers to participate in the Insect Monitoring Network (tracking pest presence to share with other growers), encourage use of the Potato Decision Aid System and the 2024 Potato Crop Protection Guide, educate growers in identifying beneficial predators, and inform stakeholders about the Potato Virus Initiative Newsletter.  

Waters co-authored an article, Introducing the Potato Decision Aid System (pdf), with WSU colleagues Carrie Wohleb, Emily Rampone, Camille Wagstaff, Liesl Oeller, and David Crowder, that appeared in the May/June issue of the magazine Potato Country.