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RMA Offers Virtual Workshops on Improvements to the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection and Micro Farm Insurance Options

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RMA Offers Virtual Workshops on Improvements to the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection and Micro Farm Insurance Options 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is offering virtual workshops on Nov. 15 and Dec. 13 for agricultural producers and stakeholders to learn about the latest updates and improvements to the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) and the Micro Farm insurance options. WFRP and Micro Farm are two of the most comprehensive risk management options available. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) will announce in-person events later this fall. These insurance options are especially important to specialty crop, organic, urban and direct market producers. Policy improvements and these workshops are part of RMA’s efforts to increase participation in crop insurance.

“We want to make sure farmers and ranchers know about these very important insurance options. We invite specialty crop, organic, urban and direct market producers to join the virtual ‘RMA Roadshow,” RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger said. “The RMA Roadshow will include me and leadership to highlight important improvements to Whole-Farm and Micro Farm and answer your questions.”

Improvements include:

  • Doubling the maximum insurable revenue under WFRP, now up to $17 million
  • More than tripling the size of farm operations eligible for Micro Farm to $350,000 in approved revenue
  • Reducing paperwork requirements for WFRP.

More information can be found on the RMA Road Show website here: https://rma.usda.gov/Topics/Outreach-and-Education/RMA-Roadshow

UMES Small Farm Conference & Mid-Atlantic Crop School

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UMES Extension’s 19TH Annual Small Farm Conference will be held in-person on the UMES campus, on November 4-5, 2022. The main objective of this two-day event is to equip farmers and landowners in Maryland and along the Delmarva Peninsula with tools and strategies to increase farm profitability and promote farm sustainability. Registration is $70 for both days or $35 for only one day. More information and registration can be found here: https://wwwcp.umes.edu/extension/small-farms-program/conference/

The Mid-Atlantic Crop Management School well be in-person in Ocean City, MD on November 15-17, 2022. Registration is $325 until October 15 and will increase to $375 until registration closes at midnight on November 7th.The Princess Royale will have discounted room rate till avaible till October 14th. More information and registration can be found here: https://go.umd.edu/crop22registration.

ALEI Farmer Survey

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The Agriculture Law Education Initiative (ALEI) at the Maryland Carey Law School is working on a grant proposal that would help direct marketing farmers in Maryland diversify revenue streams and increase market opportunities.

Please fill out their farmer interest survey to share your opinion about their proposed education and technical assistance, which would help farmers accept payments from customers using supplemental nutrition benefits. Your input will help to inform resource development and training opportunities to support your direct marketing farm operation, and to increase access to local, fresh food for Maryland shoppers.

Maryland farmer respondents will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card. Winner selected by random drawing. One prize available. Limited to residents of Maryland. Survey closes 10/24/2022. Winner will be notified no later than 10/28/2022.

Your individual survey responses will remain confidential.

Fungicide Resistance in Botrytis from Strawberry Fields, 2021-2022 Season

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Fungicide Resistance in Botrytis from Strawberry Fields,
2021-2022 Season

Mengjun Hu, Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture

Strawberry Botrytis fruit rot, also called gray mold, is a common disease that typically drives fungicide sprays throughout a season. Flowers are considered the gateway for the pathogen, and some flower infections can stay latent until fruit ripening while some may show up earlier at green berry stage under wet and cool conditions. The disease is relatively easy to manage with fungicides, but resistance has been a concern for most single-site fungicides labelled for gray mold control. During the 2021-2022 season, we obtained and processed a total of 75 Botrytis isolates originated from flowers from 8 commercial farms in the region (most of them are in Maryland). We tested for resistance to thiophanate-methyl (Topsin M), pyraclostrobin (one of two components of Pristine or Merivon), cyprodinil (one of two components of Switch), fenhexamid (Elevate), iprodione (Rovral), boscalid (major botryticide component of Pristine), fludioxonil (major botryticide component of Switch), penthiopyrad (Fontelis), benzovindiflupyr (Aprovia), isofetamid (Kenja), and pydiflumetophen (one of two components of Miravis Prime). Except for Aprovia, all products (in parenthesis) are labelled for strawberry production.

Gray mold on strawberry. Photo: Kathy Demchak, Penn State Extension

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Bacterial Canker of Tomato

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Bacterial Canker of Tomato

Jerry Brust, UME

A disease of tomato that we usually only see occasionally has been observed more frequently this year in several fields in Maryland. The disease is bacterial canker caused by the bacteria Clavibacter michiganensis. A common symptom of the disease is leaf tips and margins that are yellow surrounded by dark brown tissue (fig. 1), although at times there can no yellow border, which is typically due to the cultivar or the environmental conditions. Veins on the leaves can become dark and sunken. Leaves can wilt starting at their tips to their branches after which they die and fall from the plant. Systemic infections of bacterial canker usually occur on more mature plants that are growing poorly with the oldest leaves curling, turning yellow and wilting. Fruit symptoms usually manifest themselves as small, round, raised white lesions with yellow margins especially near the calyx.

Bacterial canker on tomato leaves
Fig. 1 Bacterial canker typical secondary symptoms on leaves. Photo G. Brust.

Bacterial canker of tomatoes is often introduced into a field via infected seed or transplants and can be spread by splashing water or plant contact (pruning and trellising). The disease can survive in soil debris for up to three years and can also survive on stakes (especially if wooden) or tools. Several nightshade species act as hosts for the disease. There are no spray treatments that are effective for its control.

Stinkbug Damage Found in Maryland Tomato Fields

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Stinkbug Damage Found in Maryland Tomato Fields

Jerry Brust, UME

There have been reports of stinkbug damage in tomatoes in Maryland for the last couple of weeks. Stinkbug feeding damage is called cloudy spot in tomato fruit (fig. 1). It occurs when the adult or immature stinkbug puts its needle-like mouth part into the fruit and removes material from a large number of cells. On green fruit the damage appears as whitish areas with a black dot in the center and indistinct borders (fig. 2) on ripe fruit the spots are golden yellow (fig. 1). Individual spots may be 1/16 -1/2 inch in diameter; or the spots may merge and encompass a large area of the fruit surface (fig. 2). Peeling back the skin shows these areas as white shiny, spongy masses of tissue (fig. 3). This damage is usually most common from mid-July until the end of the season.

Stinkbug feeding injury to tomato fruit.
Fig.1) Stinkbug injury to tomato fruit. Photo by G. Brust UMD.

The Green and Brown as well as the Brown Marmorated stinkbugs are often difficult to see and usually go unnoticed as they spend much of the day deep inside tomato plants, any disturbance and the stinkbugs will drop to the ground and move under the plastic, which results in monitoring difficulties. Only a few are necessary to cause the appearance of cloudy spot on many tomato fruit. Although stinkbug damage has been observed in slightly greater than usual amounts in tomato fields this year, observations of stinkbugs have been much less numerous.

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Precautions Fruit and Vegetable Growers Should Take During a Boil Water Advisory

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Precautions Fruit and Vegetable Growers Should Take During a Boil Water Advisory

Neith Little, Carol Allen, Shauna Henley, UMD Extension

Current situation: The Baltimore City Department of Public Works has issued a Required Boil Water Advisory (solid line in the map below) for parts of Baltimore City, and a Precautionary Boil Water Advisory (dashed line in the map below) for a larger portion of the city  and part of Baltimore County. E. coli has been identified in municipal water in the neighborhoods of Sandtown-Winchester and Harlem Park (solid line in the map below). For updates, check the Baltimore City DPW website: https://publicworks.baltimorecity.gov/node/22547

Map of boil water advisory areas as of 9/6
Map of boil water advisory areas as of 9/6/2022. Source: Baltimore City Department of Public Works.

What steps should farms in the affected area take to protect worker and customer health?

Farms in the affected region are encouraged to take precautions to protect farmer and customer health when using municipal water for worker hygiene, crop irrigation, and post-harvest washing.

In most cases, it is probably impractical to boil all the water needed for farm operations. Instead, growers can either eliminate water contact with fruit and vegetables (and other food contact surfaces), or can treat the water with a food-safe sanitizer.

A factsheet on choosing a sanitizer is available from the Produce Safety Alliance, and a spreadsheet of sanitizer products is available for download from the UMD Produce Safety Team’s website (scroll down to week #32). If you use chlorine as a sanitizer, it is important to test the chlorine levels in the water to verify that you have achieved the correct concentration. An interactive online lab from New Mexico State University teaches growers how to do this correctly.

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Late Summer Insect Tips 

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Late Summer Insect Tips
Emily Zobel, AgFS Agent, UME 

Remember to rotate modes of action from one spray to another and to rotate modes of action out every 30 days. Be sure to read the label. Not all materials are labeled for all crops, insects, or application methods. See the Mid-Atlantic Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations Guide for more information (https://go.umd.edu/MidVegGuide).

Cole Crops/ Brassicas:  Check seedlings and new transplants of fall brassicas for caterpillar, and harlequin bugs feeding damage. For fresh-market cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower, treat when 20% or more of the plants are infested with any species of caterpillar (imported cabbage worm, cross striped worms, cabbage looper, diamondback moth or armyworms) during seedling stage, then 30% infestation from early vegetative to cupping stage. From early head to harvest in cabbage and Brussels sprouts use a 5% threshold. For broccoli and cauliflower, use 15% at curd initiation/cupping, then 5% from curd development to harvest. If treatment is needed make sure to adjust your spray pattern such that spray is getting sideways to the undersides of leaves, particularly when using Bacillus thuringiensis and contact materials. Due to resistance development, pyrethroid insecticides (Group 3A) are not recommended for control of diamondback moths (Fig 1.). Remember to rotate between two modes of action within a 1 month period and among two different modes of action during the next month.

Melons: Continue to scout melons for aphids, cucumber beetles, spider mites and rind-feeding lepidopteran worms (yellow striped armyworm, corn earworm, beet armyworm). Beet armyworm and corn earworm are completely or partially resistant to pyrethroids. Any fields that were treated with broad-spectrum insecticides, such as pyrethroids, should be checked since they can severely reduce these natural enemies causing spider mite outbreaks.  If you see large aphid populations, look for beneficial insect activity.  If numerous lady beetle, syprhid maggot and lacewing larvae are present, wait and check a few days later as these natural enemies can greatly reduce aphid population. The cool night will also slow them down aphid population growth.  These infestations can be spotty/localized so treatment might not be across the whole field.

 

Corn Earworm numbers on the rise..

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Corn earworm moths counts in pheromone traps have been increasing over the past few days in some areas in Maryland and Delaware.  Sweet corn growers should keep an eye out and consider shortening spray intervals to a 2 to 3-day spray schedule while others could still be around a 3 to 4-day spray schedule.

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2022 Strawberry Twilight Meeting

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2022 Strawberry Twilight Meeting
Wednesday May 25, 20222. 6:00PM – 8:00PM
University of Maryland Wye Research and Education Center
211 Farm Lane, Queenstown, MD 21658

Come and listen to University and USDA Specialists discuss current conditions and issues with Maryland strawberry production, including fungicide resistance and scheduling fungicide sprays. Also, come meet the new farm manager, Chris Cochran and check out other information on other berry crops at WREC.

Photo by E. Rembery

See and taste some of the varieties in the 2021/22 annual plasticulture variety trial, which includes a few standard varieties, as well as a few newer available selections.

As always, a sweet treat will be served at the conclusion of the program.

To register, please fill out the registration form.
This program is free, but we ask that you please RSVP for planning purposes.

Grower suggestions welcome!
For more program information, contact Chris Cochran at 410-827-7388, ccochra3@umd.edu