The New Agriculture Network's on-line newsletter with seasonal advice for field crop and vegetable growers interested in organic agriculture.
Vol. 5, No. 10 September 10, 2008 |
| In this issue |
 Pseudomonos syringae suppression of Canada thistle Eight MSU professors begin new sustainable agriculture research projects Reports from organic growers |
Next issue will be posted October 15. Read previous issues through our calendar of issues.
Pseudomonos syringae suppression of Canada thistle
John Masiunas
University of Illinois
Pseudomonas syringae pv tagetis infests Canada thistle causing the shoots to turn yellowish-white and stunts the plants. New Canada thistle shoots emerge with white color, especially later in season (Figure 1). Has anything changed since Liz Maynard last reported on P. syringae pv tagetis control of Canada thistle in the New Ag Network (Vol. 1 No. 3 May 13)? Dr. Maynard reported on research by Drs. Don Wyse and John Gronwald (Minnesota) in the 1990s and Drs. Ryan Tichich and Jerry Doll (Wisconsin) in the early 2000s. Both research groups have reported their research findings in the journal Weed Science. Tichich and Doll also reported their results at http://www.soils.wisc.edu/extension/FAPM/2003proceedings/Tichich.pdf. There has not been any new research.
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Figure 1. White shoots of Canada thistle from infection with P. syringae. (Photo from Bob Hartzler Iowa State University) |
What were the findings of the Minnesota and Wisconsin research groups?
They found applications of P. syringae did not cause severe enough disease to control Canada thistle. Instead P. syringae probably weakened thistle plants by reducing root reserves and lessening competitiveness. The bacterium must be integrated with other management strategies such as mowing or cover crops to achieve acceptable levels of Canada thistle suppression.
How was P. syringae applied?
Tichich and Doll chopped naturally infected shoots, combined them with water, blended the shoot and water mixture, filtered the solution, and mixed it with a surfactant. The final mixture was sprayed on healthy thistle plants. They were able to obtain a 30 to 50 percent infection rate of healthy plants.
David Conner, Ph. D.
C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems
Michigan State University
Eight Michigan State University faculty members have begun new sustainable agriculture research projects, funded by a special research project grant from USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. This project, titled Sustainable Agriculture 2008: Developing Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, is directed by Dr. Michael Hamm and myself (David Conner) of MSU, and will provide about $250,000 in funds to conduct the research.
The overall project strategy is to develop and test effective farm management tools which will help farmers and extension educators create food and agricultural systems which are highly productive, deliver safe, healthy food products, use resources efficiently, contribute to farmer and community well-being and enhance the quality of the natural resource base. The project will do so by addressing what many consider the key factor in agricultural sustainability, soil health, as well as supporting engagement among new faculty members with key stakeholders in the state.
The following eight faculty members submitted research proposals which were selected for funding by a review panel comprised of MSU faculty, extension educators and local farmers. Below is a description of each project.
Dr. Dan Brainard of Horticulture will analyze the potential of early flowering vetch varieties in cover cropping schemes to suppress weeds and provide nitrogen, while addressing key constraints such as cover crop re-growth and nitrogen availability.
Dr. Stuart Grandy of Crop and Soil Science will investigate the interplay of soil carbon and nitrogen, in particular the effect of different nitrogen sources and application rates on soil organic matter decomposition, and the role of cover crops in mitigating carbon cycling.
Dr. Sasha Kravchenko of Crop and Soil Science will look at micro-variability of cover crop performance on farm-scale plots; these findings will guide optimal management of organic inputs with particular attention to subtle differences in topographical and soil characteristics across fields and farms.
Dr. Christy Sprague of Crop and Soil Science will address perhaps the most pressing problem facing farmers wishing to utilize sustainable methods: weed control. This project fills key knowledge gaps for three prominent weed management tactics (flaming, cover crop crimping and rotary hoe timing) in order to guide effective farmer use.
Dr. Phil Howard of Community Agriculture Recreation and Resource Studies will measure consumer preferences and interest in attributes associated with various “ecolabels”, in order to gauge which labels consumers would most likely support with their purchases.
Dr. Matthew Grieshop of Entomology will work with apple growers to measure current infestation and control practices for Dogwood borer, an important pest which is currently controlled by measures soon to be withdrawn for use. The findings will provide initial data and help build collaborative relationships for further development of novel pest management tactics.
Dr. Dawn Reinhold of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering will begin to measure the environmental impact of botanical insecticides (BIs) by assessing which BIs are most prominently used by Michigan farmers and beginning to develop methods of analysis of persistence of these substances in soil.
Dr. Rafael Auras of Packaging will work directly with a Michigan fruit grower to assess the utility of a biodegradable package and its potential contributions to fruit shelf life and quality.
While this research is just getting under way, we look forward to seeing its result in useful management tools for sustainable farmers in Michigan and elsewhere.
The funding for this research project comes from the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, Grant Number 2008-34333-18985.
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Indiana
West Central Indiana, Tippecanoe County—Kevin Cooley
We received three inches of rain September 3-5, light showers on September 7, and it is raining again today, September 8. The rains are too late for several of our plantings intended for fall market sales. Lack of rain in August prevented most plantings from germinating. The recent rains are slowing harvest of fall potatoes and causing the fall raspberries to go unpicked.
During the past two weeks, we have been busy harvesting and sorting tomatoes as the hot, dry conditions in August brought the tomato crop to a rapid peak. Biweekly harvests for the farmers’ markets have been somewhat challenging given the precipitation we’ve been getting. We are harvesting carrots, beets, cucumbers, squash, green beans, radishes, basil, arugula, chard, cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, raspberries and apples. We completed our first grape harvest including concords and five seedless table varieties. Time was spent running drip tape to newly planted crops.
During the next two weeks we hope to harvest fall potatoes, finish storage onion harvest, begin planting high tunnels, start fall tillage and cover crop planting, prep garlic beds for October plantings, continue harvesting for markets and subscription families, finish apple harvest, and begin to pull up tomato cages and posts.
IllinoisNorthern Illinois, Kane County – David Campbell of Lily Lake Organic Farm
Much rain this past week has delayed spreading of fertilizer (gypsum) and will delay plowing of clover cover crop fields and hay fields, which I intend to plant to soft red winter wheat around the last week of September. More than one-inch of rain has fallen today (September 8), preceded by three and a half inches last Thursday, September 4. Temperatures have been below normal this past week, with a cooler-than-normal pattern forecasted for the next two weeks.
Organic inspection took place last Thursday. I am presently servicing and repairing equipment that will be used this month; seems like that job is never caught up! I have also been doing repairs due to the heavy winds (micro-burst was reported) that passed through our farm on August 4. Red clover cover crop was clipped once, and is presently around 10 inches tall on the regrowth. Corn continues to look good, with girthy ears, although corn just began to enter the dent stage around a week ago. Soybeans are podded very well, given the fact they were planted in late June, although the beans are still grass-green.
During the next two weeks, I plan to moldboard plow all cover crop and hay ground going to wheat as soon as soil conditions are fit. Disking will follow the plow and gypsum will be spread right after disking.
West Suburban Chicago, Will County—Nathan Hutt-Tiwald of Green Earth InstituteLast Thursday’s two inches of rain broke a prolonged drought of less than one inch of rain in the previous six weeks. It rained again yesterday preventing substantial field work. The rain has been welcomed, but it has come with cooler temperatures that are expected to bring a low of 38 degrees this evening. The cooler temperatures are slowing the growth of fall crops, some of which are already behind because of late planting due to poor initial germination. I speculate much of the poor germination was due to an inability to keep all sections properly irrigated because of the lack of rain. The cool weather has also put a kink in our summer fruiting crops and has drastically slowed their growth and flowering.
This is Week 13 of our 20-week CSA season and so we continue to harvest. Some summer crops are still trickling in, but we are starting to pass out our winter squash (all but one variety has been completely harvested), onions, leeks, celeriac, garlic, lettuce and beets. This is occupying much of the week, but the rest of our time is focused on final weedings of the fall crops, greens and brassicas, as well as starting the field cleanup of winter squash mulch removal and drip tape pick up. The final planting of radishes was laid right before the rains yesterday.
During the next two weeks, we will continue to harvest and clean up sections as they are finished for the year. All plantings and transplantings are done and our focus will go into setting ourselves up for mid-October rye planting and manure spreading.Information about permission to reprint or post our articles. Funding to initiate this network was provided by the American Farmland Trust and EPA Region 5. Web site hosted by the MSU IPM Program. Contact webmaster. |
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