- Author: Mark Bolda
If you at all have any production relationship to caneberries, you should not miss this caneberry meeting. My colleague Mark Gaskell has brought in caneberry experts from around the country to put together probably the best caneberry meeting we have ever had!
Meeting will take place February 3 at the Veteran's Memorial Building on 780 Bello Street in Pismo Beach, California. Sign in starts at 8 am, meeting starts at 815 am.
Agenda posted below.
- Author: Mark Bolda
A summary of the last year's soil health symposium sponsored by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation was recently posted:
http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/pestmgt/strawberry/work_group/action_plan.pdf
This symposium is a result of one of the recommendations made in the "Nonfumigant Strawberry Production Working Group Action" plan which was about developing alternative strategies as the industry transitions away from traditional pre-plant fumigation.
http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/pestmgt/white_paper_final.pdf
Key takeaway from the summary:
There is a sense of frustration expressed in the paper that our understanding of soil biology has not kept pace with fumigant research. The hope is that from here on out smart policy and well directed research funding that increases scientific knowledge of soil health can lead to the development of IPM solutions for soils and result of less fumigant use.
To wit, a total of 9 recommendations are given as research priorities, including the development of diagnostic tools to monitor soil health, establishment of economic thresholds for soil pests and pathogens, identification of components of crop plant root exudates which shape microbial communities and consequently develop strategies to enhance the growth of these beneficial microbes. Facilitation of dialog, perhaps through some sort of online format, between growers, researchers and regulatory agencies is also given as a priority.
- Author: Mark Bolda
Great reminder from UCCE colleague David Doll on thinking about changing your sprayer nozzles this winter. Great point made here on the loss of money from using worn nozzles that spray more than what you are expecting. Looks like they use about $200 of pesticides per acre in almonds, so the 5% extra going through the worn nozzles comes out to be $10 per acre. If he thinks that's a lot for almonds, David should look at how much is potentially being lost here in strawberries!
The average spray bill per acre for strawberries is over $1000, so a 5% loss per acre from worn nozzles comes out to be $50 per acre x 30 acres for the average farm = $1500. That's way too much money to be losing for something as small as worn out nozzles.
I can't agree with David more - check your spray nozzles!
- Author: Mark Bolda
For those of you of who haven't received the notification for this meeting, it is really one to consider going.
Presentations and posters by top University and industry scientists on a wide variety of topics, yours truly has like four. Well worth the time and money for anybody involved in strawberry production and research.
Announcement included in the pdf below, if you register before December 31 there is an early bird discount.
2015 North American Strawberry Symposium
- Author: Mark Bolda
In case you didn't know this already, but Americans have really been eating a lot more berries than they used to. According the article linked below, raspberry consumption has increased 475% from 2000 to 2012, and consumption of strawberries is up 60% in the same timeframe.
Interestingly, since volume of fresh fruit consumed per person in the USA is basically flat in this 12 year period at 48 lbs per year, this means that berries are making up a increasing share of the total, with apples (down 9%), oranges (down 9%) and bananas (down 11%) taking the hit.
The best part of the article is the explanation of why this is happening. It says it's because berry farmers have figured out how to grow more berries and better berries.
Read the article, it's good:
