Pest Alert - Spotted Winged Drosophila

Update by Jaime Pinero, LU IPM Program.  For the latest information keep checking the website - http://www.LU-IPM.net

On June 6^th, 2014, we received the report that the first Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) male has been captured by a monitoring trap deployed on an early-season blueberry cultivar in the Webb City area. Farmers in the region are advised to start monitoring for this pest in their own orchards and fruit patches and apply a control measure if SWD is detected.

Male on left.  Female on right.

Should I spray insecticide against SWD again after a rainfall?

Research has shown that the amount of rain that occurs right after the application of some of the main insecticides used against SWD affects the durability of the insecticide on the fruit. For example, Dr. Rufus Isaacs (entomologist at Michigan State University) and his team have documented that Malathion effectiveness decreases immediately one day after a rain greater than 0.5 inches; the effect was that SWD control was only around 20 percent of the control in another field not exposed to the rain. This means that Malathion’s efficacy was almost lost after 0.8 inches of rainfall. In their trials, after a 0.8 inch rainfall, Lannate 90SP kept nearly all of its effectiveness even after 7 days, whereas Mustang Max lost about 20% efficacy within 7 days after the rain event. In general, a 2-inch rain one day after the application will substantially reduce the effectiveness of most of the products.

Remember, the label is the law, so if it doesn't prohibit re-application a farmer can go back again in with a particular insecticide she/he may have applied before a rain event. Otherwise, she/he will need to switch products. Some products explicitly state that farmers need to wait a week or some other period between applications.

As an example, the label of Malathion 8F (Gowan, 79.5% active ingredient) has these comments for blueberries:

·         The maximum application rate is 1.25 pints of product per acre

·         The maximum number of applications per year is 3

·         The minimum re-treatment interval is 5 days

The take-home message is that if rainfall occurs after insecticide application, re-application is needed to maintain fruit protection, but check the product’s label.

If you are a commercial berry / grape producer, the 2014 Midwest Small Fruit and Grape Spray Guide (freely available as PDF in this URL: https://ag.purdue.edu/hla/Hort/Documents/ID-1saa69.pdf) lists the following products against SWD for use in blueberries: Brigade WSB (10WP), Danitol 2.4EC, Delegate 25WG, Entrust 2SC (organic), Entrust 80WP (organic), Imidan 70W, Lannate LV, Lannate SP, Malathion 8F, and Mustang Max 0.8EC.

No endorsement of products mentioned is intended nor is criticism implied of products not mentioned.

If you are interested in monitoring for SWD at your farm, free traps and bait (purchased using funds provided by a grant from the Missouri Department of Agriculture to the Lincoln University IPM program) are available. They can be mailed at no cost to you. Please contact Jacob Wilson at (573-681-5591).

Census Drilldown” Beginning Farmers and Ranchers – Part 2

Where are Beginning Farmers Farming?

Interestingly, there is not necessarily a strong correlation between states with the youngest (or oldest) farmers, and what percentage of the state’s farming population is new to agriculture and considered a “beginning farmer” by USDA definitions.

Since the USDA definition of “beginning farmers” does not have an age requirement and only refers to farmers who have been farming for ten years or less, the Census data reveals that farmers enter into, and retire from, agriculture at different stages in their lives depending on where they live and where they farm.

For example, Texas has one of the oldest farming populations, but also has the greatest number of beginning farmers and one of the highest percentages of beginning farmers compared to other states.  In contrast, Minnesota farmers are some of the youngest on average when compared to other states, but only 20 percent of the state’s farmers have been farming for less than 10 years.

What this means is that farmers in states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Indiana are getting started in agriculture earlier in life but may not be farming as long as farmers in the South, Southwest, and West.  It may also be the case that there is more succession planning in Midwestern and Great Plains states where the family farm is successfully passed down to the next generation, and that this transition of land is not happening to the same extent in other parts of the country.  Finally, it could be that some farmers are relocating or retiring to states like California, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona to pursue farming as a second or post-retirement career.

The top states with the greatest number of beginning farmers roughly follow those states with the most total farmers, with Texas having the most new farmers by far with over 60,000 beginning farmers.  There are several states in the Plains, Midwest and Appalachian regions which have higher numbers of beginning farmers than other parts of the country.  California is the only state outside these regions that falls into the top ten states with greatest numbers of new farmers, and it also has one of the highest proportionate shares of its farming population being new to agriculture (36 percent compared to the national average of 29 percent).  Beginning farmers in Iowa on the other hand are significantly more outnumbered by more established farmers, with only 22 percent of its farmers being considered beginning farmers.  Minnesota is the only state that is in both in the top 10 states for total number of farms but not in the top 10 for number of beginning farmers.

Similarly, the states with the fewest number of beginning farmers are also the states with the fewest number of total farmers and include mainly states in the Northeast, Alaska and Hawaii.  However, these same states have some of the highest concentrations of beginning farmers with over half of Alaska’s farming population having been farming for ten years or less.

Which States are Attracting (and Losing) Beginning Farmers?

The Census data also reveals some interesting trends in terms of which states are doing a better job than others in recruiting new farmers and supporting their successful transition into agriculture.

In total, only nine states increased the number of farmers entering agriculture in the past five years compared to the previous Census.  New England is one region that although it has a relatively small farming population, has been successful in growing new farmers over the past ten years.  Rhode Island, Connecticut and Vermont lead the region with the biggest growth in beginning farmers.  Interestingly, neighboring states like New Jersey lost a significant number of farmers, perhaps due to development pressure or severe flood events in recent years.  And although New York State did see its beginning farmer population decrease, the loss was not as drastic as other parts of the region, perhaps due to the resurgence of local agriculture and small farms in the Hudson Valley and other regions across the state.

Nebraska is the only state in America’s heartland that saw their new farmer population increase.  Nebraskan beginning farmers increased by 9.8 percent over the past five years, compared with significant losses in neighboring states including 20 percent loss in Colorado, 15 percent loss in Kansas, 26 percent loss in Missouri, and 15 percent loss in Iowa.  Part of this trend may be due to the fact that Nebraska has many state resources available for beginning farmers – including state tax incentives to transfer land to new farmers, a state land-link program that helps connects beginning farmers with retiring landowners, and a new farmer training program targeting veteran farmers and ranchers.  Organizations like the Center for Rural Affairs, based in Lyons, NE, have also been at the forefront of some of these innovative models for decades.

New Mexico posted a sizable gain in new farmers, and there were a few other states in the West that saw their new farmer populations increase, including Utah, Nevada, and Alaska, although their total farming populations are relatively small.

In general, Southern states witnessed the most significant loss of new farmers entering agriculture over the past five years, with Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama experiencing the greatest decline.

So what explains the overall decrease in the number of beginning farmers in almost every state across the country?  Some of these new farmers that started farming in the past ten years would also have been counted in the previous Census.  What this data represents is that in most states, fewer farmers entered agriculture between 2008 and 2012 than they did between 1998 and 2002.  It may also be the case that some of the new farmers who started farming between 2003 and 2007 were not able to maintain viable farm operations and left farming before the 2012 Census was conducted.  There are many reasons why a new farm fails, and considering the Great Economic Recession and several severe droughts and floods over the past five years, these may be some of the contributing factors to the loss of these new farms.

It is clear that more needs to be done to grow the next generation of producers.  The 2014 Farm Bill that was signed into law earlier this year includes many programs and gives USDA additional tools to help support, train, and provide technical assistance to new farmers.  However, more funding for new farmer training programs are urgently needed.  Additional state and federal tax incentives to incentivize landowners to sell their farmland to a young farmer are urgently needed.  New, innovative models to help new farmers finance their farm dreams — like the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Account that is currently being debated in appropriations — are urgently needed.

In short, the programs and tools new farmers have had at their fingertips over the past ten years have perhaps made a dent in slowing the aging of our country’s farm population, but a greater investment and a more coordinated, national strategy is urgently needed to truly buck this trend and ensure the next generation of farmers have the opportunity to successful pursue a career in agriculture.

(NSAC blog, May 28, 2014)

Census Drilldown” Beginning Farmers and Ranchers – Part 1

On May 2, USDA released data from the 2012 Census of Agriculture.  The Census of Agriculture has been conducted since 1840 and currently is collected once every five years.  This 2 day series will look at particular themes from the Census that relate to beginning farmers and ranchers.

The new Census data continues to show the aging of the American farm population, with the average age of the American farmer increasing from 57.1 in 2007 to 58.3 in 2012.  What’s more concerning however, is the slow rate at which new farmers are entering agriculture, and the much faster rate at which older farmers are retiring from farming.  On the whole, the U.S. farm population shrunk by roughly 4 percent in the last five years.  This is not all that surprising, given the economic recession and severe weather conditions from the past several years.

However, there were 20 percent fewer beginning farmers (those farmers who have been farming for ten years or less) in 2012 than there were five years earlier.  Our take away?  For starters, that statistic alone signals that recent efforts to reverse the trend of the aging of our farm population have not been as impactful as initially hoped.

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) has long championed the need for a scaled up investment in the next generation of farmers, and we have had many successes.  The new Census results, however, could not be a clearer signal that our country urgently needs a far more robust national strategy to restore farming as a viable career for the next generation of producers who will step in and continue to farm our country’s land and feed people well into the future.

Below, we break down these Census results further in order to better understand which regions of the country are losing ground fastest with respect to growing the next generation of farmers and which states are leading the way as potential models for how to successfully transition farmland down to a new cohort of young and aspiring farmers.

General Trends

While the farming population in general shrunk by about 4 percent over the past five years, the most significant decrease occurred in farmers who have been farming five years or less.  This pool of very new, beginning farmers shrunk by 23.3 percent since the last Census was released in 2007, whereas those farmers who got started farming ten years ago (between 2003 and 2007) fared slightly better and only decreased by 19.6 percent.  However, even the more “established” beginning farmers shrunk at a much faster rate than their more established farmers who have been farming for more than ten years.

And while there may have been many more farmers who started farming since the last Census, this trend tells us that either not as many farmers chose to pursue agriculture as a career since the last Census, or those who did start farming in the past ten years, and especially over the past five years, did not make it and quit farming temporarily or altogether.

The 2012 Census also had a slightly lower response rate than previous years, and it wouldn’t be surprising if beginning farmers had a lower response rate compared with more established farms that are accustomed to filling out the Census every five years.  In some ways, it is much harder for USDA to track down beginning farmers compared with more established farmers.

Still, there is real concern about the meager numbers of new farmers who are transitioning into agriculture, given that large numbers of their predecessors will be retiring in droves in the coming decades.  The new Census results show that there are now more farmers over the age of 75 than those between the ages of 35 and 44.  From the chart below, it is obvious to see the “lost generation” of farmers under the age of 45 who have chosen to pursue a career other than agriculture.

Despite this gloomy news, the latest Census does show a small increase in the very youngest farmers between the ages of 25 and 34.  While this modest increase is not substantial enough to offset the large droves of farmers reaching retirement age, it is a notable trend that suggests that more and more young people are finding their way into agriculture as a first career option. Groups like the National Young Farmers Coalition have recognized this trend in recent years and have helped develop federal programs, resources and network opportunities for these very young farmers who are coming into agriculture without farm backgrounds and without much capital, but a lot of passion for growing food and taking care of the land.

However, the huge gap between the number of “young” farmers under the age of 44 and those older farmers which make up the vast majority of our country’s farming population suggests more needs to be done to not only recruit more young people into farming, but also those farmers who may be considering agriculture as a second career in their mid-30s to late 40s.

States with the Oldest (and Youngest) Farmers

In general, the new Census data shows that the Plains, Upper Midwest, and a few Northeastern states tend to have younger farmers than the South, Southwest, and Western regions of the country.  Nebraska leads the country as the state with the youngest farmers (55.7 years) and Arizona farmers are the oldest on average (61 years).

Average Age US Farmers

However, there are very localized pockets of both old and young farmers.  Two counties in Colorado (Broomfield and Denver) and two counties in West Virginia (Mingo and McDowell) have some of the oldest farmers in the country with the average farmer being as old as 73.6 years old.  On the opposite spectrum, the counties surrounding New York City (NY), Boston (MA), and Ithaca (NY) have some of the youngest farmers across the nation, including an average age as low as 37.4 years.  This trend points to the growing number of younger farmers settling in urban and peri-urban areas where they are able to take advantage of direct access local markets – including farmers’ markets, Community Supported Agriculture, and direct to retail sales.

(NSAC blog, May 29, 2014)

New Pilot Program Offers Coverage for Fruits and Vegetables, Organic and Diversified Farms

2014 Farm Bill Expands Crop Insurance Options, Provides Premium Discounts for Qualified Operations

A new risk management option will be available for fruit and vegetable growers and producers with diversified farms. The policy, called Whole-Farm Revenue Protection, will provide flexible coverage options for specialty crop, organic and diversified crop producers. The program will be implemented in counties across the country and will expand in availability over the next several years.

Whole-Farm insurance allows farmers to insure all crops on their farm at once, rather than insuring commodity by commodity. Traditionally, many fruit and vegetable crops have not had crop insurance programs designed for them—making it less attractive for a farmer that primarily planted a commodity crop like wheat or corn to use another part of his or her land for growing fruits and vegetables or other specialty crops. This allows farmers greater flexibility to make planting decisions on their land.

"Crop insurance has been the linchpin of the farm safety net for years and continues to grow as the single most important factor in protecting producers of all sizes from the effects of unpredictable weather," said Vilsack. "Providing farmers the option to insure their whole farm at once gives farmers more flexibility, promotes crop diversity, and helps support the production of healthy fruits and vegetables. More flexibility also empowers farmers and ranchers to make a broader range of decisions with their land, helping them succeed and strengthening our agriculture economy."

The 2014 Farm Bill requires a whole-farm crop insurance policy option, and paves the way for the Risk Management Agency (RMA) to make it broadly available to specialty crop, organic, and diversified growers. The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation Board of Directors (FCIC Board) approved the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection pilot policy for RMA to offer it through the federal crop insurance program in 2015.

USDA has taken many steps to provide effective insurance coverage for diversified, organic and specialty crops. The whole-farm crop insurance policy provides flexibility to meet the needs of specialty crop growers, organic producers and those with diversified farms, and who have farm production and revenue history, including five years of historic farm tax records. This policy is also part of USDA's commitment to small and mid-sized producers managing diversified operations.

USDA has been strengthening crop insurance by providing more risk management options for farmers and ranchers. The policy offers coverage levels from 50 to 85 percent; recognizes farm diversification through qualification for the highest coverage levels along with premium rate discounts for multiple crop diversification. The Market Readiness Feature, as outlined in the Farm Bill, simplifies insurance coverage for producers under the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection pilot policy by allowing the costs such as washing, trimming, and packaging to be left in the insured revenue instead of having to adjust those amounts out of the insured amount.

The new Whole-Farm Revenue Protection policy combines Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) and AGR-Lite along with several improvements to target diversified farms and farms selling two to five commodities, including specialty crops to wholesale markets. The new policy is also designed to meet the risk management needs of diversified crop or livestock producers including those growing specialty crops and/or selling to local and regional markets, farm identity preserved markets, or direct markets.

As part of the pilot, Whole-Farm Revenue Protection will be available where AGR and AGR-Lite are currently offered, and will expand to other counties as data are available for underwriting and actuarial ratemaking. RMA will release information on the policy later this summer when it becomes available. This information will be announced on the RMA website at www.rma.usda.gov.

How Many Eggs Can I Expect from My Chickens?

Having fresh eggs for meals or for baking can be a rewarding part of raising your own chickens.  But what is a realistic expectation for how many eggs your chickens will produce each day?

The laying cycle of a chicken flock usually covers a span of 12 months.  Egg production begins when the young hens (pullets) reach about 18 - 22 weeks of age depending on the breed and season.  Flock production rises sharply and reaches a peak of about 90% 6 - 8 weeks later. This period of peak production lasts about 10 weeks, after which a hen's egg production slowly begins to decline. Production declines to about 65% after 12 months.

* 90% production - 9 eggs in 10 days for a single hen or 9 eggs from 10 birds daily
* 65% production - 6 to 7 eggs in 10 days for a single hen or 6 to 7 eggs from 10 birds daily.

Chickens can live for many years and continue to lay eggs for many of these years.  However, after two or three years many hens significantly decline in productivity.  This varies greatly from bird to bird.

Maximizing Egg Production

There are many factors that can adversely affect egg production.  Egg production can be affected by such factors as feed consumption (quality and quantity), water intake, intensity and duration of light, parasite infestation, disease, and numerous management and environmental factors.

Laying chickens require a completely balanced diet to sustain maximum egg production over time.  Inadequate nutrition can cause hens to stop laying.  Inadequate levels of energy, protein or calcium can cause a drop in egg production.  If hens are out of feed for several hours, a decline in egg production will probably occur.

Water is often taken for granted, and yet it is probably the most essential nutrient.  Access to water is important, and a lack of water for several hours will probably cause a decline in egg production.  Hens are more sensitive to a lack of water than a lack of feed.

Hens need about 14 hours of day length to maintain egg production.  The decreasing day length during the Fall and shorter day lengths in the Winter would be expected to cause a severe decline, or even cessation, in egg production unless supplemental light is provided.  Hens exposed to only natural light would be expected to stop laying in the winter and then resume egg production in the spring.

High environmental temperatures pose severe problems for all types of poultry.  Egg production is adversely affected under conditions of severe heat stress.

There are a variety of other problems which can cause an apparent drop in egg production.  Other factors can include predators and snakes consuming eggs, egg eating by hens in the flock, excessive egg breakage, and free-ranging hens hiding their eggs instead of laying them in the nests.

(By Steve Tonn, UNL Extension Livestock Educator)

Cultivating the Next Generation: Resources and Policies to Help Beginning Farmers Succeed in Agriculture

Based on a new study released by American Farmland Trust, finding and affording farmland to rent or buy is universally the greatest challenge for beginning farmers to overcome. While many types of resources are available to support the next generation, when it comes to land access, resources have been too far and few between to address this pervasive and persistent challenge.

Chapters include:

• Challenges
• Public Programs that Support Beginning Farmers
• Access to Capital
• Access to Land/Infrastructure
• Agricultural Production, Business Planning and Marketing Assistance
• Resource Management
• Succeeding in the Face of Challenges
• Profiles of Beginning Farmers

Despite the challenges, beginners are finding opportunities to enter and succeed in agriculture, often inspired by and taking advantage of the local food movement. Cultivating the Next Generation: Resources and Policies to Help Beginning Farmers Succeed in Agriculture reports on state and federal programs, and profiles 12 beginning farmers to show what it takes for them to succeed.

Elderberry Workshop and Field Tour

A Comprehensive Elderberry Workshop & Field Tour will be held Thursday and Friday, June 12-13^th in Jefferson City MO.  The workshop is for both beginners and experienced growers.

Agenda

Thursday, June 12

8-9 am             Registration

9-10 am           Introduction to Workshop & the World of Elderberry Production

10-10:45 am    1. From cuttings to crop in one year: Bob Macord, Mount Ida, AR

                        2. Using round bales for mulching: Torey Frees, Frees Family Farm, Redbud, IL

Break

11-Noon          Pests and Beneficial insects you must know about:

                        1) Japanese Beetle, Sawflies & Mites, Jacob Wilson

                        2) Spotted Winged Drosophila, Jamie Pinero, Lincoln University, Jefferson City

Noon               Lunch

After lunch: Field Tour

2:30-3:15 pm   Irrigation techniques: Craig Pisarkiwicz, MPR Irrigation, St. Louis, MO

3:15-4:00 pm   Fertilization study results: Patrick Byers, Horticulture Specialist, University of Missouri

4-4:45 pm        1. Financial Assistance from NRCS, Lauren Cartwright, National Resource Conservation Service, Columbia, MO

                        2. The Financial Calculator/New Guide Sheet, Mike Gold, University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry

4:45-5:30 pm   Expo Hall: Networking, Visit vendors and see the post-harvest handling equipment

5:30 pm           Dinner and Speaker “Market Demands Across the Nation” Chris Patton, RHH Marketers, Minneapolis, MN

Friday, June 13

8:30-9:30 am   New Selection Releases, Patrick Byers, Horticulture Specialist, University of Missouri

9:30-10 am      Propagate your Own Elderberries

10:00 am         Break

10:15-11:15     Post-harvest Handling from Field to Processor, Terry Durham, River Hills Harvest, Hartsburg, MO & John Bunge, Stony Hill, MO

11:15-11:30     RHH Grower Group Advantage

11:30 am         Lunch with Mid-West Elderberry Growers Association

Registration is $60/person or $100 for two people from same farm which includes lunch and dinner on Thursday and lunch on Friday.  Hotels are available in Jefferson City.  For any questions, information about the hotels and to RSVP call 573-424-9693.