- Author: Ben Faber
UC Riverside and CAPCA SoCal Chapter partner to provide:
UC Riverside Citrus Field Day for growers and industry members
Thursday, March 10, 2022
7:30 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. (lunch to follow)
1060 Martin Luther King Blvd, Agricultural Operations, Riverside, California
7:15 – 7:45 Registration
7:45 – 8:00 Welcome, Tracy Kahn and Peggy Mauk
8:00 – 8:30 Update on HLB quarantine and pesticide regulations, Ruben Arroyo, Riverside Co. Ag Commissioner
8:30 – 8:45 Develop effective protectants and therapies to manage citrus HLB using a novel class of citrus-derived antimicrobial peptides, Hailing Jin, UCR
8:45 – 9:05 Next generation of HLB tolerant rootstocks and their potential in California, Danelle Seymour, UCR
9:05 – 9:20 Break and travel to field stops
9:20 – 9:40 Potential planting strategies in the presence of HLB, Peggy Mauk, UCR
9:40 – 10:00 Controlling Asian Citrus Psyllids using beneficial insects, Nic Anne Irvin, UCR
10:00 – 10:30 DEMONSTRATION: Utilizing drone technology for pest management, Mehdi Shahbazi, Talos Drone
10:30 – 11:00 Control of citrus brown rot using fungicides – Rodger Belisle and Wei Hao, UCR
11:10 – 11:40 Long-term solutions for citrus huanglongbing – Chandrika Ramadugu, UCR
11:40 – 12:40 Display and opportunity to provide feedback on unreleased hybrids, new irradiated selections and introductions, Mike Roose and Tracy Kahn, UCR
12:40 – 1:40 LUNCH
Register online at https://capca.com/events/uc-riverside-citrus-field-day/ Cost is $25 and includes lunch.
This will be an outdoor field meeting. Participants should wear footwear appropriate for walking in citrus groves and on uneven ground. Be prepared for adverse weather conditions. Participants may need to drive their own vehicles to the various stops. Those who need assistance or are unable to participate on the walking portions of the meeting, please contact Agricultural Operations at 951-827-5906 so we can try to accommodate your needs.
UCR researchers appreciate the ongoing support of the Citrus Research Board
- Author: Ben Faber
Image: Allen King
A Fillmore grower recently reported honeybees collecting rust spores on willow trees!!! Her baskets are loaded with rust spores. Rust-collecting honeybees are reported by others so it's not an unusual occurrence.
From: Randy Oliver, “Fried Eggs” Identified! https://scientificbeekeeping.com/fried-eggs-identified/ Oliver shows bee-collected rust pollen from poplar trees in Spain in hive frames.
Quote: "Above is a photo of a typical comb filled with beebread consisting of rust fungus spores. Note the lousy brood pattern and the dying brood. When the colony is feeding upon this beebread, it goes downhill quickly. However, if we feed the hive several pounds of high-quality pollen sub, it will turn around immediately and grow again.
Antonio Pajuelo (pers comm) also reports a correlation between the consumption of poplar rust spores and colony mortality, but doesn't know whether it is due to spore toxicity or lack of better nutrition. It may be that the collection of rust spores is due to the lack of more attractive and nutritious floral pollen, and as such would simply be a generic indicator of poor colony nutritional status.
On the other hand, Schmidt (1987) found that caged bees fed Uromyces spores as a sole protein source actually had their lifespan reduced compared to those fed sugar syrup only—strongly suggesting that the spores were toxic. The spore-fed bees lived about 20 days less than those fed the most nutritious pollens!"
John Menge, a retired UC Riverside plant pathologist and mycologist has this reasoning:
The bee rust problem is very interesting.
I would have liked to work on that problem when I was at Riverside.
Two thoughts:
First I thought poplar rust was a Melampsora not Uromyces.
All the old literature gave the Uromyces name to all Uredospore stages.
Second, as you know, rusts have five different spore stages.
It would help to know what spore stages are in the hives.
One spore stage is pycniospores.
It is the spermatia stage and is sweet as honey.
It attracts all types of insects including bees.
Its job is to promote fertilization of the fungus so the bees are pollinating the fungus.
In the process of gathering the spermatia sugar, the bees are inadvertently gathering urediniospores.
Or perhaps there is lingering pycnia sugar on the urediniospores.
Or perhaps there are other attractants on the spore so the bees will disperse them.
At any rate I can tell the researchers are entomologists because they are worried about the bee colonies.
Mycologists worry about the cottonwood trees and the success of the rust fungi.
Apparently the fungi have outsmarted the insects again.
- Author: Ben Faber
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- Author: Ben Faber
Attention Members of Ventura County's Agricultural Community:
Demonstrate your commitment to safe farming by participating in the DRIVE- IN SPRAY SAFE program, developed by fellow growers and applicators to control drift, ensure worker safety and protect public health. Please attend our seventh countywide meeting. Bring your supervisors, foremen and employees!
(Simultaneous Spanish translation will be provided through an AM radio station.)
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2022 l Ventura County Fairgrounds Parking Lot C
10 West Harbor Blvd.
Ventura, CA 93001
4 Continuing Education Hours Approved
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RSVP by Tuesday, March 15th, to allow for lunch planning.
Fill out this form and fax it to (805) 987-3874, or email it to SpraySafe2022@farmbureauvc.com. Attendance is free, but advance registration is required.
Attendee's name Company Preferred language
English Spanish
English Spanish
English Spanish
English Spanish
(Attach additional pages if necessary)
Total Number of Attendees:
February Is About Safe Pesticide Use
—Petr Kosina, UC Statewide IPM Program
To raise awareness of pesticide safety practices, February is celebrated as National Safety Education Month. This year the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program offers help to refresh your knowledge about safe and effective pesticide use. Two frequently sought-after online courses focused on proper pesticide use to avoid illegal residues and proper selection, use, and removal of personal protective equipment are offered for free during the month of February. Use code safety100 at checkout to get your continuing education units (CEU) for free.
Pesticides are among the most regulated chemicals in the country. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the use of pesticides. All pesticides must be registered with the EPA, and the agency requires a battery of scientific tests to determine the potential risk to humans and the environment.
Best practices for using pesticides safely start with reading the label before each pesticide application. How will reading the label help you? Pesticide labels answer most of the basic questions you need to know about the product, its safe application and handling. Always make applications in strict accordance with all label instructions. Following label instructions will ensure safe, effective, and cost-effective use of the pesticide. Apart from the label, it is important to know what your state regulations are because some state regulations that also have to be observed are not written into the label. Note that not all pesticides approved by the EPA and available for purchase in the United States can be used in California. California is one of the few states that have more strict pesticide regulations for certain pesticides than what is required by the EPA. Even if you have used a given pesticide in the past, make sure you have an up-to-date label, as EPA may occasionally change labels. To learn more about pesticide labels and how to extract information relevant to the specific setting and situation in order to apply pesticides safely, enroll in the online course Proper Pesticide Use to Avoid Illegal Residues. Pest management professionals will earn 2.0 hours of Laws & Regs CEUs.
Because pesticides have the potential to cause injury or illness to anyone working with them, it is important to wear personal protective equipment, or PPE, to reduce a person's exposure to pesticides. PPE includes clothing and certain devices worn to protect the human body from contact with pesticides or pesticide residues. Regular clothing is not considered PPE even though some pesticide labels may indicate that these specific items of regular work clothes can be worn during certain activities. All employees who handle pesticides in California are legally required to wear PPE. They must follow all PPE instructions on the pesticide label and follow all California laws and regulations. To learn how to select the proper PPE, use it, remove it, and dispose of it or clean and store it before, during, and after each incidence of pesticide handling and application, enroll in the online course Proper Selection, Use, and Removal of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Pest management professionals will earn 1.5 hours of Laws & Regs CEUs.
Visit the UC IPM website to see all 22 online courses that are available for continuing education credit.