NC Commerical Blackberry and Raspberry Growers Association Meeting - February 19

There's still time to register for the NC Commercial Blackberry and Raspberry Grower's Association Meeting in Shelby, NC on February 19th. I will be there to discuss what we learned about spotted wing drosophila in 2012 and where we go from here.  Gina Fernandez, NC State University, caneberry breeder, has posted meeting details on her blog.

More information
NC Commercial Blackberry and Raspberry Growers 6th Annual Meeting - Team Rubus

SWD Webinar & upcoming meetings

Thursday, I recorded an update of our spotted wing drosophila research & extension activities.  We will be closing out our 2011 SWD*VMN activities 31 December 2011.  For those of you who were not able to make it, the recording of the session is available here.  To access the session, you'll need the session password fruitfly.  


I also have several upcoming meetings where I'll be discussing SWD, among other things.  For those of you interested, these meetings are:

Southeast Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conference
January 6-7; Savannah, GA
I am presenting in the Blackberry & Raspberry (January 6, morning), Blueberry (January 6, afternoon), and Muscadine (January 7, afternoon) sessions.  A brief program for the SE Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conference is here. 


Blueberry Open House
January 10-11; Clinton, NC
My talk on SWD is at 8:50am on January 10th. A draft program for the BBOH is here.


Arkansas Commercial Fruit Growers Meeting
January 24; Conway, AR
I will be presenting at this meeting via webinar.


North Carolina Winegrowers Association Annual Meeting
February 3-5; Winston-Salem, NC
My talk is on February 5th and will cover the GRB*VMN and SWD status and biology in grapes.


North Carolina Commercial Blackberry & Raspberry Growers Association
February 7; Shelby, NC
My talk on SWD will be in the afternoon. A draft program for the NCCBRGA meeting is here.


Southeastern Branch ESA Meeting
March 3-7; Little Rock, AR
I am leading a symposium on SWD in the southeast.


7th International IPM Symposium
March 27-29; Memphis, TN
I am facilitating a mini workshop on "Improving the handoff: invasive species regulation to research" which will use SWD as a case study.

North Carolina Entomological Society banquet this Friday

The North Carolina Entomological Society is holding its annual meeting and banquet this Friday, October 28th at the NC State University Arboretum.  Poster session and social hour begin at 5pm with the banquet starting at 6:30pm.  Our keynote speaker is author of the "Bug Man" novels and Cary, NC resident, Tim Downs.  

The Bug Man novels follow the exploits of a fictional forensic entomologist based in the very real North Carolina State University Department of Entomology!  Early registration is closed, but interested attendees can still register at the door ($35 for society members and guests, and $22 for students).  Contact Hannah Burrack (hannah_burrack@ncsu.edu) for further information.

It's meeting season!

The field season is reaching its end, and meeting season is set to begin!  I will have posts for each of the meetings where I will be presenting, but there's too many additional meetings to list separately!  Here are several of upcoming meetings, workshops, and conferences:

Pollinators
Pollinator conservation planning short course. Organized by Xerces Society. November 15th. Mills River, NC.
Pollinator conservation planning short course. Organized by Xerces Society. November 17th. Pittsboro, NC.

Strawberries
Southeast Strawberry Expo. Organized by the North Carolina Strawberry Association. November 6-8. Durham, NC.

Grapes
North Carolina Winegrape Growers Annual Conference. Organized by the North Carolina Winegrowers Association. February 3-5, 2012. I will be presenting at this meeting on November 5th.

General & sustainable agriculture

Rockingham County Small Farm Day. Organized by Rockingham County Cooperative Extension. November 5. I will be presenting at this meeting.

Sustainable Agriculture Conference. Organized by Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. November 11-13. Durham, NC. Including a session on hops production by Scott King, NCSU Soil Science Department.

Crop Protection School. Organized by the North Carolina State University College of Agriculture & Life Sciences. December 6. I will be presenting on spotted wing drososphila at this meeting as part of a session on new invasive species in North Carolina.

Southeast Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conference. Organized by the Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association. January 5-8, 2012. I will be presenting at this meeting on insect monitoring & management in muscadine grapes, spotted wing drosophila in blackberries & raspberries, and spotted wing drosophila in blueberries.  Whew!

Southeast Strawberry Expo fast approaching

The 2011 Southeast Strawberry Expo is just two short weeks way.  This year's expo is in Durham, NC and immediately precedes the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association's Sustainable Agriculture Conference, also in Durham.

I will be presenting on when NOT to treat for insect and mite pests in strawberries.  This presentation will focus on identifying pest and beneficial arthropods and their damage, using treatment thresholds, and developing a monitoring program.  These are crucial skills for growers and homeowners alike, and I look forward to a lively session.  I speak on Monday, November 7th at 11am.

More information
North Carolina Strawberry Association

Southeastern strawberry preplant meetings underway

The 2011 strawberry preplant meetings are underway, and I will be attending the Sandhills meeting tonight in Carthage, NC. You can find a list of all upcoming strawberry preplant meetings here. Tonight I will be discussing spotted wing drosophila (SWD) biology and significance in strawberries and strawberry clipper considerations.

Strawberry clipper is a relatively infrequent pest in the southeast, but the North Carolina Sandhills is a clipper hot spot. I am planning an on farm trial in this region next spring to address some of the key questions about strawberry clipper management. Namely, how much does clipper damage impact strawberry yield, and how do southeastern strawberries respond to damage?

For those not able to attend preplants, the SWD slides I will be covering are embedded below. Bear in mind that the maps in this presentation are current as of July 2011 and are subject to change.



I will also be attending the South Carolina preplant on August 18, 2011 where SWD will be the main topic.

More information
Preplant meetings and fumigation resources - NC Strawberry Association
Strawberry clipper posts - NC Small Fruit & Specialty Crop IPM

Team Rubus

Those of you that pay attention to the blog roll on the right side of the website may have noticed a new addition last week. Team Rubus is the new online home of the Caneberry Breeding and Small Fruit Extension/Research Program at NCSU, led by Gina Fernandez, Department of Horticulture. Welcome to the blogosphere, Team Rubus!

Gina and I will be attending a blackberry twilight tour this Thursday, June 16th in Henderson County. I will be discussing SWD monitoring & management and other caneberry pests, and Gina will address cultural practices. You can find the details about the tour here.
More information
Team Rubus

Virginia Berry Conference - March 17

I will be presenting at the 4th Annual Virgina Berry Conference in Petersburg, VA on March 17th. I will be broadly discussing insect management in berry crops (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and grapes) with an emphasis on blueberries, caneberries, and grapes (as most of the other talks address these crops). I will also be recruiting Virginia participants for the southeastern spotted wing drosophila (SWD) monitoring network.

More information
Virginia Berry Conference - Program & Registration Form (Note that registration is due by March 9th)

Presentation from the SE Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference

I have been attending the North American Raspberry and Blackberry Association (NARBA) annual meeting at the Southeastern Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference in Savannah, GA. In addition to participating in the Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium pest identification agent training, I presented to the NARBA general session on Thursday, January 6th. I discussed SWD range, biology, monitoring, and management. Much of the information I discussed with generously shared by researchers on the west coast, where SWD has been present longer. In particular, Frank Zalom (UC Davis), Bob Van Steenwyk (UC Berkeley), Denny Bruck & Jana Lee (USDA-ARS) , and Amy Dreves (Oregon State University) provided valuable content.

You can download the slides from my NARBA presentation here. It's a large file, saved as a pdf.

More information

Invasive insect issues in caneberries - Hannah J. Burrack

Upcoming Grower Meetings

It's taken me a while to put together a list of winter meetings, and it's already meeting season! Below is a summary of the meetings I will be attending and the topics I will be covering. Hope to see you there! I've listed the number of attendees behind those meetings that have already occurred.

Tobacco meetings

January 11, 12pm. Coastal Plain tobacco production meeting. Rocky Mount Farmers Market, Rocky Mount, NC. Topic: New pesticides and their use, Late season insect management. 130 attendees.

January 13, 12pm. Lenoir County tobacco production meeting. Lenoir County Center, Kinston, NC. Topic: New pesticides and their use, Late season insect management. 90 attendees.

January 18, 5pm. Vance, Franklin, and Oxford County tobacco production meeting. Aycock Recreation Center, Henderson, NC. Topic: New pesticides and their use, Late season insect management. 125 attendees.

January 19, 11am. Alamance, Person, Caswell, and Rockingham County tobacco production meeting. Yancyville, NC. Topic: New pesticides and their use, Late season insect management. Contact Roger Cobb, Alamance County NCCE, for location information. 130 attendees.

January 24, 10am. Forsyth, Stokes, and Surry County tobacco production meeting. Forsyth County Center, Winston-Salem, NC. NC. Topic: New pesticides and their use, Late season insect management.

January 27, 6pm. Craven County Tobacco Meeting. Craven County Center, New Bern, NC. Topic: New pesticides, TSWV tools: Thrips prediction website and treatment timing, late season insect management.

January 28, 12pm. Wayne County tobacco production meeting. Wayne County Center, Goldsboro, NC. Topic: New pesticides and their use, Late season insect management.

Blueberry meetings

January 11-12. Blueberry Open House. Sampson County Agri-Exposition Center, Clinton, NC. I will be presenting on the 12th and will be discussing SWD and blueberry maggot. Shelley Rogers, a masters student in my laboratory, will be sharing results from the first year of her work on pollinator diversity and efficiency in blueberries on the 11th. 50 attendees.

January 15. SunnyRidge Growers Meeting. Orlando, FL. Topic: SWD monitoring and management. 80 attendees.

Grape meetings

February 4-6. NC Winegrowers Association Annual Meeting. I will be speaking on Sunday, February 6 at 9am and discussing grape root borer, cutworms & grape flea beetle, and two spotted spider mites. I will also touch on grape phylloxera and SWD. You can find the entire meeting program here.

Canebery Meetings
February 22. 10am-2:15pm. 4th Annual North Carolina Commercial Blackberry and Raspberry Growers Association Meeting. Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station, Mills River, NC. I will provide an insect update and discuss SWD.

General Fruit Meetings
February 22, 10am. Plants, Pests, and Pathogens, an NCSU led webinar for Master Gardeners and others. See here for details on joining the webinar. I will be speaking on SWD identification and management for home gardeners. I'll be joining remotely from Mills River, NC, where I will be attending the 4th Annual NC Commercial Blackberry and Raspberry Growers Association Meeting.

Southeast Strawberry Expo Handouts

I present at the Southeast Strawberry Expo in Virginia Beach, VA yesterday and today.  I am never sure exactly how many handouts to bring to this type of meeting, where attendees select the sessions they will attend the day of the meeting.  If you attended the Expo and did not get a handout, or if you were unable to make it this year, you can find links to two of my handouts below.  I will post the slides from my presentation later this afternoon.  I also distributed a draft of the 2011 NC Agricultural Chemicals Manual strawberry insect management guide.  The 2011 Manual will be online in mid December.  In the meantime, you can find the 2010 Manual here.

Southeast Strawberry Expo Handouts
Arthropod management in strawberries: a fall & winter update
Pesticides registered on strawberries and their possible efficacy against spotted wing drosophila (This document is adapted for NC and VA growers from a similar resource developed by Oregon State University entomologists.)

First strawberry preplant meeting - July 28th

The first strawberry preplant meeting of the season (is it that time already?!) will be next Thursday, July 28th at the Mountain Horticultural Research Station in Mills River, NC.  Area horticulture agent, Sue Colucci has organized this meeting, and interested growers can find more details here.  I will be sharing results from our 2010 twospotted spider mite trials, discussing new insecticide options and IPM strategies for sap beetles in strawberries, and sharing information on unusual caterpillar issues from this year's harvest season.
Hope to see the mountain strawberry growers there!


Update
Sue Colucci has just posted an announcement for the meeting on her blog, Western NC Vegetable and Small Fruits News.

NABREW meet in Michigan, July 25-28, 2010

The North American Blueberry Research & Extension Workers Conference will be held in Kalamazoo, Michigan July 25-28th. This meeting will highlight work in entomology, horticulture, and plant pathology, and presentation abstracts are due April 1st. Details about abstract submission and the meeting can be found at the NABREW webpage.

I will be attending and plan to present some of our preliminary pollinator findings from NC.

Wine grape PMSP meeting 3/23/2010

Members of the wine grape communities in NC and VA will be meeting on March 23, 2010 in Afton, VA to develop a Pest Management Strategic Plan for wine grapes in these 2 states. A PMSP is a one day meeting where agents, specialists and stakeholders (growers) describe the pests of a crop, the currently used management strategies, and the priority research and extension pest management needs. The documents are very useful when extension specialists (like me) are developing research proposals and are a requirement for some grants.

Cooperative extension agents and extension specialists will be attending, but we still need grower participation from NC. Grower and agent travel is covered by the Southern Region IPM Center. Grower cooperation is crucial to the success of this process. If you grow wine grapes (aka. Vinifera grapes or bunch grapes) in North Carolina and are interested in participating in this meeting, contact me, Dr. Sara Spayd (NCSU Horticulture), or Steve Toth (SRIPM) for more information.

Virginia Berry Conference - March 11

The 3rd Annual Virginia Berry Production & Marketing Conference is scheduled for March 11, 2010 in Petersburg, VA. I spoke at this meeting last year, and the audience was great! Preregistration is required, and the deadline in March 1st. This year Bill Cline (blueberries), Barclay Poling, and Jeremy Pattison (strawberries) from NCSU will be presenting as part of the conference.

Burley Tobacco Day - February 16th

The program has been finalized for Burley Tobacco Day 2010 at the Madison County Cooperative Extension Center. The meeting will begin at 9am, February 16th.
On the program:
9:00am - Registration
9:30am - Opening Remarks, Dr. Tom Melton
9:35am - Burley Tobacco Fertilizer Recommendations, Dr. Greg Hoyt
10:05am - Black Shank Management, Stanley Holloway & Dr. Mina Mila
10:30am - Burley Variety Update, Dr. Sandy Stewart

10:55am - BREAK

11:10am - Using New Insecticides in NC Tobacco - Dr. Hannah Burrack
11:35am - Curing Strategies to Improve Marketability - Danny Peek
12:00pm - Burley Stabilization Update - Charlie Finch

12:20pm - LUNCH

12:45pm - Burley Tobacco Outlook & Situation - Dr. Blake Brown
1:15pm - Accessible Markets - Randy Collins

I hope to see you there!

Third Annual NC Commercial Blackberry and Raspberry Growers Association Meeting

This is a great organization for growers interested in or starting out in caneberry production. Blackberries can be grown throughout NC, while raspberries are restricted to the mountains for the time being. Gina Fernandez, caneberry breeder, has an active program to develop raspberries which can tolerate our hot summers and erratic winters.

Cleveland County Cooperative Extension Auditorium

February 18, 2010

10:00 AM

10:00 to 10:30…...Registration

10:30 to 10:35…..Opening Remarks and Welcome

Daniel Shires, Agriculture Extension Agent, Cleveland County

10:35 to 11:00…..Understanding Soil Fertility

Steve Dillon NCDA Regional Agronomist

11:00 to 11:45…..Blackberry Disease Update

Dr. Phil Brannen, Dept. of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia

11:45 to 1:15…….Lunch, Trade Show and NCCBRGA business meeting

1:15 to 1:45………Blackberry Insect Update

Dr. Hannah Burrack, Dept. of Entomology, NC State University

1:45 to 2:00………Labor Update

Norman Sykes, Agriculture Employment Consultant, NC Employment Security Commission

2:00 to 2:15………Blackberry Promotion Opportunity

Ervin Lineberger, President of the North American Raspberry and Blackberry Association

There will be a $10.00 registration fee for the meeting. Please call one of the secretaries at the Cleveland County Cooperative Extension office at 704-482-4365 to register by February 12th. You must RSVP in order to be included in the meal. Prior to the meeting there will be a registration table set up to collect registration fees and your 2010 NCCBRGA membership dues. Membership dues for 2010 are $15.00. Those who attend will receive pesticide credits in X category.

Tobacco Growers Association meeting at the Southern Farm Show

For the past several years, Dr. Bill Collins has organized a tobacco production short course for young growers, and the 2010 session runs this week and ends as the students attend the NC Tobacco Grower's Association annual meeting Friday, at the Southern Farm Show. Talks at the Tobacco Grower's Association meeting will focus on FDA regulation and its implications for NC tobacco production. This has been the topic of interest all winter long, and will remain so for some time. Government regulation will likely move slowly. A scientific advisory panel is in the process of being formed, and no real decisions will be made until this panel is in place. Much more information from the FDA on regulatory progress can be found here. The pace of regulatory guidance leaves lots of room for industry and grower insecurity, which has been apparent this winter.

Grower concern has been obvious at the county tobacco meetings. At some, growers had yet to receive contracts and were unsure if they would even be growing tobacco this year. These groups had few questions for myself and the other specialists. As January moved on, however, and meetings took me to counties along the I-95 corridor, growers were more engaged. In Johnston, Wayne, and Wilson Counties, folks will continue to grow tobacco, although who they sell to may change.

The mood at the Tobacco Workers Conference was also more subdued than in previous years, but the consensus remains tobacco is a crop for which demand will continue. And growers will continue to need our expertise to produce their crops in an economical, environmentally sound, and safe manor.

Tobacco Workers Conference

The Tobacco Workers Conference begins today in Lexington, KY. Myself, Monique, and Richard are presenting results of projects and plans for 2010.

Blueberry Open House Update

Presentations from the 2010 Blueberry Open House will be linked from this website later this week--topics covered included pollination and insect updates and a discussion on blueberry maggot.

UPDATE

Here are the combined slides for my Blueberry Open house presentations from today. Please contact me with questions on this this or other talks.