Join Cornell CCE for a Fall Strawberry Workshop

Wagoner Bees and Produce, 11137 Wayne Rd., Fillmore, NY

October 20, 2021, 5:30–7:30 PM

Come join Cornell CCE Western NY for an on-farm discussion of winter preparation for strawberry beds, and a demonstration of a solar-powered harvester. Bring a dug-up strawberry plant with you for a hands-on diagnostic exercise. 

1.0 DEC credits are available in categories 10, 1a, 21, 22, and 23.

This workshop is FREE to attend! Pre-registration is requested; email Anya Osatuke at aco56@cornell.edu or call/text 607-752-2793 with your name, phone number (if available), and number of attendees.
 
AGENDA
 
5:30 PM | Welcome and Introductions & NYS DEC Credit sign-up –Lynn Bliven, CCE Allegany
 
5:40 PM | Planting Tour and Harvester Demonstration – Deb Wagoner, Wagoner Bees and Produce, Fillmore, NY

Grower-led discussion of weed control techniques including types of plastic mulch and how they are used to prevent weed infestation in strawberry systems. Irrigation scheduling and a labeling system used for cultivar tracking will also be covered.  Demonstration of mechanized strawberry harvester.
 
6:00 PM | Weed Control – Bryan Brown, NYS IPM
Fall weed control options for new and established strawberry plantings. Cultural weed control options for actively fruiting dayneutrals. Brief review of differences in herbicide applications when growing on plasticulture vs. open field.
 
6:30 PM | Fall Troubleshooting – Anya Osatuke, CCE Harvest NY
Review of common late-fall pests, pathogens, and abiotic disorders in June-bearing and dayneutral strawberries. Hands-on diagnosis of strawberry crowns that growers bring to the workshop.
 
7:00 PM | Fertility Management – Anya Osatuke
Comparison of best practices for fertilizing and renovating dayneutrals and June-bearing strawberries. Overview of differences in applying N, P, and K fertilizer between field culture and plasticulture.
 
7:20 PM | Winter Mulch Application – Anya Osatuke
Review of the seasonal factors determining when to apply a winter mulch to a strawberry planting. Overview of seasonal and site factors affecting the timing of winter mulch removal in the spring.
 
7:30PM | Adjourn

Berry Disease Snapshot: Mycosphaerella Leaf Spot of Strawberry

By David Strickland and Kerik Cox

Cornell AgriTech

Disease Snapshot: Mycosphaerella Leaf Spot of Strawberry (Bird’s Eye Spot, White Spot)

Causal Pathogen: Mycosphaerella fragariae

When to watch for it: Year round

First line of defense: Plant disease-free nursery stock

Summary:

Infections can occur on fruit (black seed), petioles, stolons, and leaves. Foliar lesions first appear as irregular purple spots on both the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf. Lesions develop a brown to white center as they mature, with a rusty brown border surrounding the necrotic area of the lesion. Severe infection on a susceptible cultivar will kill the leaf as lesions coalesce over the entire surface. Symptom expression varies by cultivar, temperature, and strain of M. fragariae. M. fragariae can overwinter as lesions on living leaves under snow cover, as conidia from overwintering dense masses of mycelia (sclerotia), and as sexually recombinant ascospores. Conidia from sclerotia are rain-dispersed from dead leaves in the field in the early spring, and ascospores are disseminated by wind. Virtually all parts of the plant are susceptible regardless of age, but lesions are most severe on middle-aged leaves. Severely infected plants are less likely to survive the winter, and those that do will have a reduced number of flowers in the spring.

Resistance reports have varied by state, and resistant cultivars may or may not be an effective means of disease control. Removing dead plant matter before winter will reduce inoculum carry over between seasons.  Fungicide applications are recommended for plantings with susceptible varieties in the early season to eliminate overwintering inoculum.

Have You Renovated Your Strawberries?

The early strawberry season has ended, and although we might have been a little disappointed with the size—Cornell researchers theorize that this was because of frost and a very dry spring—most of our member farms were satisfied with their crop yields, if not the profusion of SWD that came on strong after a brief delay.

If you grow June-bearing strawberries, crop renovation is an essential, yet often overlooked, task—especially with the population of SWD still. Remember to remove leftover fruit, which can be a breeding ground for the pest, cut back on mowing if the hot temperatures persist, and cover the crowns with ½ inch of soil.

For a step-by-step guide to renovating strawberries, visit the Cornell blog.

Berry Disease Snapshot: Rhizopus Rot of Strawberry (Leak)

Soft, collapsed strawberries that begin to mold can be a sign of rhizopus rot.

By David Strickland and Kerik Cox
Cornell AgriTech

Berry Disease Snapshot: Rhizopus Rot of Strawberry (Leak)

Causal pathogen: Rhizopus stolonifer, R. sexualis

When to watch for it: During the fruit-ripening period

First line of defense: At harvest, rapidly cool harvested fruit below 45°F

Summary:

Primarily a postharvest rot, Rhizopus rot may also occur in the field on ripe fruit. Modern storage and shipping have reduced this disease’s incidence worldwide, but it may readily appear if fruit are not cared for properly. Fruits infected with Rhizopus spp. appear slightly discolored, gradually turning light brown. The fruits rapidly soften and collapse, allowing their juices to leak out. Under humid conditions, white fluffy mycelium with large black sporangia appear. Rhizopus spp. can successfully overwinter on leftover plant material and in soil.

Protective broad-spectrum fungicides can be used to control Rhizopus rot in the field. Rhizopus spp. can only infect wounded fruit, so a vigilant insecticide program to manage fruit-feeding insects is encouraged. At harvest, Rhizopus rot is best controlled by rapidly cooling berries and maintaining storage temperatures below 45°F.

Cornell & NYSBGA In-Depth Strawberry Substrate Workshop Sets Growers Up for Success

By Esther Kibbe
Western New York Berry Specialist, Cornell Cooperative Extension

Thirty growers and extension professionals spent three days in February learning about growing strawberries in soil-less (substrate) production systems. The workshop was held in Ithaca and funded by the NYSBGA and organized by the association and Cornell extension and professors.

In-depth lectures in the mornings were followed by greenhouse tours and hands-on activities in the afternoons. The workshop was taught by Dennis Wilson of Delphy, a UK- and Netherlands-based agronomy and education company. His many years of experience working with strawberry substrate growers made him confident in his recommendations of types of containers, substrate mixes, irrigation rates, and fertility protocols.

Dennis noted that almost all strawberry production in the UK has moved to substrate systems, but the fruit-quality improvement means that more than 90 percent of strawberries in the stores are grown in the UK, compared to 50 percent 25 years ago. While converting to substrate production isn’t for everyone, growers in Europe find that in addition to better-quality fruit, they are able to increase yields, harvest efficiency, and attract more labor, compared to soil-bases systems.

Cornell’s horticulture professor Neil Mattson and his team put together a great practical portion for the workshop, using plants and systems set up for graduate student Jonathan Allred’s research on strawberries’ light requirements. Workshop participants practiced measuring “drip” and “drain,” electrical conductivity, pH, and moisture levels in the substrate. There were samples of different types of substrate and media to touch and compare and plants and runners for planting demonstrations—and a chance for growers to try it themselves.

About half of the workshop participants had no experience growing crops in substrate, and the rest had experience ranging from one year to thirty years. All reported that they found the content relevant, and most said they would continue or start growing berries in substrate in the future. One participant commented, “This program was excellent and answered many questions I have been asking for years. Really appreciate the handouts and the clear presentation style, and the time and patience spent on questions.” Participant feedback was extremely positive overall, and most are looking forward to future trainings and tours related to substrate production.

Managing Strawberry Fruit Rots with Biopesticides

A special thank-you to Dr. Kerik Cox for sharing this article in our May newsletter. Because we just didn’t have enough space to run all of his informative graphs, we’re including the remainder here. Refer to your print newsletter to read the text of the article in its entirety.

Figure 3. Mean percent incidence of Botrytis fruit rot at harvest in October 2018 in a day-neutral planting of ‘Albion’ strawberries with application timings using ‘NEWA’ or on a ‘Calendar’ schedule for organic (green) and conventional (orange) fungicide programs. Values represent means and standard errors of six plots. Columns denoted by the same letter for plots under “cover” (low tunnels) or “uncovered” are not significantly different (P < 0.05) according to the LSMEANS procedure in SAS 9.4 with an adjustment for Tukey’s HSD to control for family-wise error.

Figure 4. Mean percent incidence of Botrytis fruit rot at harvest in October 2018 in a day-neutral planting of ‘Albion’ strawberries planted on open plastic (cover) or under low tunnels (no cover) for calendar timings (yellow 7-10 days) and NEWA strawberry fruit rot systems (blue “High” risk). Values represent means and standard errors of six plots. Columns denoted by the same letter capital (plots under tunnels) or lowercase (uncovered plots) are not significantly different (P < 0.05) according to the LSMEANS procedure in SAS 9.4 with an adjustment for Tukey’s HSD to control for family-wise error. 

A Dozen Reasons Why the EWG “Dirty Dozen” List Is Not an Ethical Guide for Produce Selection

By Marvin Pritts, horticulture professor, Cornell University

Each year, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) puts out a list of “dirty” fruits and vegetables that consumers are supposed to avoid because they contain pesticide residues. For the third year in a row, strawberries were number one on the list. The list is misleading, having been created without consideration of several important scientific and social/cultural issues, but its popularity with the press forces growers to struggle with educating customers who have bought into the EWG’s misleading messaging.

Here are some talking points to share with customers to explain why the EWG’s “dirty dozen” list shouldn’t be used to guide their produce selection.

1. Data used by the EWG counts the presence/absence of a residue, but does not consider the total amount of residue. This is not a valid method of assessing risk, since the amount of a residue is critical for determining if that residue is toxic.
2. Pesticide residues in plants are miniscule and are not know to have any health effects in mammals, whether the mammal is a baby or a sensitive adult. Nearly all fruits and vegetables have levels far below (often a million times lower) levels known to cause physiological effects in humans. Just because a residue exists does not mean it is toxic at such low levels.
3. Growers who rotate pesticides to reduce the risk of developing pesticide resistance will score more poorly on the EWG scale than growers who use large amounts of a single pesticide to control a pest.
4. Residue data from crops vary greatly depending on where a crop is grown. For example, strawberries grown in the warm, wet climate of Florida receive far more pesticide applications than strawberries grown in the Northeast, yet strawberries are ranked number one for residues, regardless of how and where they are grown. This creates a major disadvantage for local growers.
5. Plants produce natural pesticides so they don’t get eaten by pests. The amount of naturally produced pesticides is estimated to exceed human-applied residues by ten-thousandfold. The amount of synthetic pesticide residue is dwarfed by the amount of naturally occurring pest-deterring chemicals already present in plants.
6. Plants not treated to manage pests often have higher levels of natural pesticides.
7. Human systems have developed mechanisms to detoxify naturally occurring chemicals in the food we eat. These detoxification mechanisms work on both natural and synthetic chemicals, keeping us safe as long as these detoxification mechanisms are not overwhelmed.                    
8. Organically grown food also may contain pesticide residues. Organic growers face the same insect, fungal, and weed pests as conventional growers, so they often will use chemical sprays to manage them. Neither the organic residues nor the synthetic residues have ever been shown to be harmful to humans.
9. The health benefits of eating a strawberry—ranked number one on the “dirty dozen” list—far exceed any detriment from consuming a pesticide residue. For example, strawberries have more vitamin C than oranges by weight and are high in antioxidants and nutrients.
10. The EWG list discourages consumers from eating healthy fruits and vegetables such as spinach, tomatoes, grapes, and apples, which also rank high on the list and are known to be extremely good for health.
11. Consumers already eat far fewer fruits and vegetables than are recommended for good health. This is especially true for low-income populations. The EWG list can do harm to low-income groups by discouraging good eating habits.
12. The EWG approach to ranking risk is not supported by any scientific organization, has never undergone peer-review, and has never been published in a scientific journal. Recommendations regarding a person’s ability to reduce pesticide-residue exposure by altering eating habits are not supported by the data

Doing “Nearly Everything Wrong”: A West Coast Farm with Northeastern Techniques

Doing "Nearly Everything Wrong":

A West Coast Farm with Northeastern Techniques

We’re always happy to see berries in the news, and we especially like to see stories that praise the growing and harvesting methods New York State growers have been using for decades. That’s why this April 17, 2017, story in the New York Times caught our eye.

The article, about Rick and Molly Gean, owners of the strawberry farm Harry’s Berries, near Los Angeles, touts growers who “do nearly everything wrong, at least according to the gospel of modern commercial berry farming.” The Geans started out with commercial strains of berries but now organically grow Gaviota and Seascape strawberries. They sell 500,000 pounds of berries per year, with 70 percent of their business at farmers’ markets; pints are priced at $8. The article states that Harry’s Berries are the preferred fruits of many West Coast chefs, and even a handful in the Northeast.

What’s most interesting about this article is the spotlight it shines on the Geans’ harvesting, which happens once every five days, to ensure peak ripeness. “Ripeness is all,” proclaims the piece. “When the berries run out, they run out, because the Geans would rather send a customer home empty-handed than with a berry that doesn’t meet their standards.”

While the article doesn’t acknowledge that New York’s independent berry growers have been harvesting only at peak ripeness for generations, this is a great talking point with customers. And while we may not have the advantage of year-round growing in a mild climate, our short season gives us the opportunity to highlight the berries as “limited edition,” available only for a few weeks a year. Keep a copy of the Times article in your farm store or at your market booth, and see if it sparks some important conversation.

Member Spotlight: Tomion's Farm

Member Spotlight:

Tomion's Farm market

Farming has been part of the Tomion’s Farm family for so long that co-owner Alan Tomion is stumped when asked when they first established the business. He laughs and explains, “My great-grandfather started growing strawberries, and my father added vegetables. Then I expanded it with raspberries, hay, rhubarb. So it’s definitely been over 50 years. The farm has always been in our family.”

Located in the Finger Lakes in Penn Yan, the 160-acre Tomion’s Farm and store is open year-round, and sells strawberries, red raspberries, and blackberries, as well as a variety of fruits, vegetables, and live plants. The operation is primarily retail, with wholesale strawberry sales in the summer. The store also offers fresh baked goods and a selection of gifts.

Alan’s wife and co-owner, Crystal Tomion, runs the farm market, and oversees a handful of year-round part-time employees. Two of the couple’s sons have also joined the business.

While SWD was an issue for the Tomions’ fall raspberries a few years ago, the farm’s proximity to the Geneva Experiment Station has allowed them to benefit from the expertise of Professor Greg Loeb, who has conducted research on the farm, and their strawberry crops have been unaffected. Instead, the biggest challenge has been finding summer laborers. Alan says, “There needs to be some kind of program for workers who aren’t citizens to be able to make a living and not be hassled,” and notes that tightening restrictions against noncitizen workers have reduced their seasonal prospects from 100 to about a dozen.

Another challenge originates closer to home. The local Mennonite community, with their larger families and tradition of training their children as the next generation of laborers, are able to sell produce at a much lower price than farms with higher labor costs. “They’re stiff competition,” Alan admits.

Also stiff competition: grocery stores that sell peeled and washed produce and prepackaged dinners, and that target their marketing toward busy families and career people. “Older customers know that local berries have a lot more taste and nutrition,” Alan says. “But we’re slowly losing our older customers. Eating habits among younger people have changed quite a bit. They go out to eat more and buy more premade meals. And they don’t buy extra to freeze, like our older customers do.”

Still, Tomion’s Farm, which benefits from its high-visibility location on the busiest highway in the county, has succeeded for more than half a century by sticking to its mission of providing high-quality local foods. Alan and Crystal used to do more marketing and advertising, but ultimately decided that the cost outweighed the extra revenue that was needed to cover it. They now rely on their website and Facebook page, a few ads in local newspapers and magazines, and the word of mouth of customers, to spread the berry gospel.

Although Alan loves seeing first-time customers turn into repeat customers, for him, it all comes back to getting hands-on in the earth. “Farming is in my blood,” he says. “I just enjoy watching my crops grow.”