Strawberries and Caneberries

Some questions have been coming up concerning "what's new" in SWD management in berries, so I thought I would share this work that I've presented at some of the meetings during the winter cycle.

I had an interesting conversation a number of weeks ago with my boss, Assistant Vice Provost Mark Lagrimini, concerning how we extensionists present information in a format that successfully changes the way people think about and approach a subject.

I was holding some strawberry fruit a few weeks ago to check on a pathogen for a local grower (it's very likely anthracose, but more to come on that account), and of course this being late season had a lot of leak rot showing up.

My colleagues and I just finished our revision of the Organic Strawberry Cost of Production Study. The previous study was from 2014 and really not up to date. This new one incorporates a lot of what is going on with labor as well as updates on fertility and pest managment practices.

One of the tasks of the UCCE Farm Advisor is to assist his or her colleagues from the UC with their outreach to growers, at the same time they help growers interpret information coming to them from these sources.