Station News

Title: “Fruits and vegetables for your health and safety: an overview of research at the University of Maine”

Abstract: Dr. Al Bushway, Professor and Dr. Beth Calder, Assistant Professor & Extension Food Science Specialist (Dept. of Food Science & Human Nutrition) will be introducing their resources and research at the University of Maine.  Al and Beth both assist the Maine food industry by conducting research, outreach and educational workshops.  Al and Beth will first introduce Maine agriculture, the current trends of Maine Ag., and discuss current fruit and vegetable research being conducted at the Dept.
of Food Science and Human Nutrition.  Both Beth and Al have conducted potato and blueberry research with an emphasis on how processing or certain treatments can extend the shelf-life or microbial safety of fruit and vegetable products.

Date:  November 18           Time:  11 AM to Noon

Location:  Food Research Lab, Conf. Room 251

Speaker:  Ryan J. Elias
Assistant Professor
Department of Food Science
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802 (USA)
Title:  Key factors affecting radical formation in wine studied by spin trapping and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy

Abstract:  Oxidation reactions in wine lead to a host of chemical changes, of which many affect perceived quality.  Recent studies in our laboratory and elsewhere have demonstrated that free radicals are important intermediates in nonenzymatic wine oxidation, yet the identity and fate of these radicals have not been established.  To that end, we have used electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy to detect and identify several free radical species in a wine system under oxidative conditions with the aid of spin traps.  The 1-hydroxyethyl radical dominated, but the hydroxyl radical was also observed, while the hydroperoxyl radical was elusive.  Also, the addition of iron and/or copper to a red wine resulted in a marked increase in observed spin adducts, demonstrating that trace levels of metals are essential catalysts in the oxidation of wine. The addition of catechin to a white wine containing excess SO2 had no effect on the initial rate of radical formation, but was prooxidative in the later stages of the experiment.

The fate of hydrogen peroxide in a model wine system was also studied under a competitive scenario in the presence of ferrous ions and SO2. The metal-catalyzed reduction of H2O2, referred to as the Fenton reaction, yields hydroxyl radicals capable of oxidizing ethanol to acetaldehyde, and is now thought to be a key step in nonenzymatic wine oxidation. It appears SO2 exerts its protective function in wine by scavenging hydrogen peroxide in oxidizing wine, thereby diverting peroxide from the Fenton route. We have examined some factors affecting the rate and outcome of hydroxyl radical-mediated ethanol oxidation under wine conditions. The exclusion of oxygen in the model wine led to conditions wherein ferric ions were rapidly reduced, presumably by 1-hydroxyethyl radicals.  This resulted in the complete stoichiometric conversion of H2O2 to hydroxyl radicals, giving an equimolar concentration of acetaldehyde. Surprisingly, the yield of acetaldehyde was markedly depressed in the presence of oxygen. The addition of a model phenol, 4-methylcatechol , did not protect the ethanol from hydroxyl radical mediated oxidation under the conditions tested but rather appeared to slightly increase the rate of the Fenton reaction, perhaps by forming a complex with the added iron. The competition for H2O2 in the presence of Fe(II) ions and SO2 was also examined, and the effect of added 4-methylcatechol, as well as dissolved oxygen, was investigated. Higher concentrations of 1-hydroxyethyl radicals, which were trapped and detected by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, were observed when oxygen was excluded and when 4-methylcatechol was included.

We are planning to replace the water main to Hedrick Hall on Saturday November 14th. It is expected that the water will be shut off from 7:00am until 5:00pm.

In preparation for this work we will have a contractor on site tomorrow (Friday) to begin excavating.  The excavation will take place on the east side of Hedrick Hall.  We will have the northern section of the north/south road that runs between Hedrick and Sturtevant Halls closed all day Friday and Saturday, the parking lots on the south side of both buildings will remain accessible.

We plan to close the east entrance to Hedrick Hall to all but emergency traffic because of its proximity to the excavation area.  We will place yellow caution tape and a warning sign across the east doorway and the sidewalk, in the event of an emergency the tape can be easily broken or removed to allow egress from the building.

Please contact B&P – Joe Freeland (x2428) with any questions or concerns.

We apologize in advance for any inconvenience and will make every effort to minimize the disruption to daily activities.

Due to road maintenance:

Castle Creek Rd (south drive) will be closed at County Rd 6 / Pre Emption to the Campus Warehouse 11/5 – 11/9.

Also Surge Lab’s front (west) parking lot will be closed during this time also.  Feel free to park behind the Fleet garage or in the old Pot Lot.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Buildings & Properties

Fifty-five fruit researchers, extension educators, and private crop consultants gathered at the Hotel Sierra in Fishkill, NY, October 25-28 for the 2009 meeting of the Great Lakes Fruit Workers (GLFW). The meeting was organized by scientists at the Hudson Valley Lab and attracted participants from seven states (from Maine to Wisconsin) and two Canadian provinces. Attendees included specialists in tree fruit, grapes, and berry crops from a cross-section of disciplines: economics, entomology, plant pathology, plant breeding, production horticulture, and postharvest physiology. Participants shared research results, extension observations, and new technologies applicable to extension and applied research on fruit crops.

Apple selections on display at the GLFW meeting. The apple variety display was organized with the assistance of Mario Miranda Sazo, Steve Hoying, Susan Brown, and Ian Merwin. (Photo by M. Miranda Sazo)

The events started at the Hudson Valley Lab on Sunday afternoon where Steve Hoying, Peter Jentsch, and Dave Rosenberger led a tour through their labs and research plots for those who opted to arrive early. Over the next two and a half days, the schedule included 36 formal presentations, an apple/pear tasting, and a bus tour to visit six agricultural enterprises in the lower Hudson Valley. The apple tasting included advanced selections from Susan Brown’s apple breeding program and heirloom varieties from Ian Merwin’s collection as well pears and scab-resistant apples provided by other participants. The meeting format facilitated discussion and informal networking on issues and projects that involve multiple states.

Steve Osborn of Stoutridge Vineyards explains the operation of his distillery to participants on the GLFW farm tour. (Photo by Alison DeMarree)

The bus tour organized by Steve Hoying and Mike Fargione included stops at Stoutridge Winery (solar energy, gravity-flow wine handling, distillery), Porpiglia Farms (high density apple and stone fruit plantings; storage and packing facilities), Weed Orchards Farm Stand (agro-tourism and direct sales), Crist Bros. Orchard (apple rootstock and variety research; commercial tall spindle apple planting), and Dressel Farms (apple planting systems trial). At the last two of these stops, the group viewed long-term research plots established by Terence Robinson, Susan Brown, Steve Hoying, and Mike Fargione. The tour ended with dinner at Magnanini Winery.

GLFW, organized in 1996, meets annually in venues that rotate from New York to Ontario to Michigan. For the past few years, the meeting has been subsidized by the North-Central IPM Center via a grant that includes PI’s from MI, NY, and Ontario. The GLFW meeting provides a unique opportunity for private crop consultants, university scientists, and extension educators to learn about the latest advances in fruit production in northeastern North America from top experts in the region. The 2010 meeting is scheduled for early November in southwestern Ontario near Leamington.

Dr. George Abawi received the 2009 Northeast Division APS Award of Merit at the American Phytopathological Society’s Northeast Division Meeting, held in Quebec City, Canada on October 29th. This award was presented based on Dr. Abawi’s 37 years of service as a faculty member in the Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, his active role in the Cornell Soil Health Team, as well as his service to the Northeast Division, American Phytopathological Society, International Society for Plant Pathology and Society for Nematologists. Dr. Abawi has had a significant impact on the vegetable crop industry and has contributed in many ways to science, scientific societies and to agriculture in New York State, the United States, and around the world. We extend our sincerest congratulations to Dr. Abawi on receiving this prestigious award.

Lee Library will be hosting a hands-on class on RefWorks, a software program freely available to the Cornell community. A web-based, EndNote-like product, RefWorks allows users to easily import and organize references from online database searches and format their papers and bibliographies.  The instructor will be able to answer some EndNote questions, but the class will focus on RefWorks.

When:               October 30, 2009
Time:                10:00am-11:30am
Where:             Jordan Hall Staff Room
Instructor:      Jim Morris-Knower

Sign-up:           http://host.evanced.info/cornell/evanced/eventsignup.asp?ID=1416

or:                      http://host.evanced.info/cornell/evanced/eventsignup.asp?ID=1416&ret=eventcalendar.asp

This workshop will take place in a distance learning format.  The instructor will be in Mann Library and we will have audio and video communication set up.  Marty Schlabach will be in Geneva assisting in the classroom.  A limited number of laptops will be available, but feel free to bring you own laptop.  Please register.

Contact Marty Schlabach (607-255-6919 or mls5@cornell.edu) or Mike Fordon (2214 or mpf8@cornell.edu) if you have questions.

1 bedroom upstairs apartment, off-street parking/garage , quiet location on Elmwood Ave. 1.5 miles/4 minutes from the station. $360 per month electric, heat & trash removal included. Available Nov 1st.  Contact: heidi.schwaninger@ars.usda.gov.

Fire drills will be conducted during the week of October 12th – October 16th

Steve Isaacs, the director of the Technology Farm, announced in September that he had accepted a new position at Coach and Equipment and would be leaving the Technology Farm on Sept 18th.  At their Board Meeting, Susan Noble was appointed to fill this position.  Susan has been with the Park since 2006 as Executive Assistant/ Office Manager and has filled the role of Assistant Director.    This changes the Park Management from a two-person organization to a one person organization bringing with it a new set of challenges

Roberta Wiernik had her eyes open when she walked into the job–chairing Westchester County’s Pest Management Committee. She had years of environmental and community activism and education under her belt. She had helped draft the pesticide reduction legislation the county adopted in 1995.

Still, in all her years of volunteer work, chairing Westchester’s Pest Management Committee was probably the biggest project she’d ever tackled.

Phasing out pesticides means having a plan to cope with potential outbreaks of harmful pests. In a county with a population verging on a million, it’s not if pests get out of hand, but when, where, and how much. What you need: a way to prevent or mitigate damage from pests and pesticides both.

Now for her exceptional work in crafting a flexible, practical, carefully thought-out strategy for a wide range of pest problems under widely ranging conditions, Wiernik has received an Excellence in IPM award from the New York State Integrated Pest Management (NYS IPM) Program at Cornell University. IPM seeks preventive, cultural, mechanical and least-toxic ways to deal with pests.

“The workload was tremendous,” Wiernik says. “We’ve had to get our arms around a huge amount of data. It’s a big county and we’re all volunteers.”

Westchester County has seven sewage treatment plants, 50 parks comprising 18,000 acres, six golf courses, an airport, community college, transit hub, amusement park, and scores of office and maintenance buildings that are home to 40 departments and 6,000 employees. The committee assessed each agency’s pest issues and what chemicals they routinely used, then grappled with creating sensible, scientifically sound solutions that worked across widely varying circumstances in largely public settings.

The key to success? “A lot of relationship building,” says Wiernik. “And having a great committee. We’ve got experts in medicine, public health, horticulture, and pest control, all knowledgeable, hard-working people.” The county recently hired a part-time IPM specialist, Wiernik notes, making site visits, managing the new database and developing working relationships with county personnel more possible.

“Roberta is a real people person,” says Curtis Wegener, a PMC member and maintenance supervisor for the Yonkers Municipal Housing Authority. “She never drops the ball. Without her, this pesticide phase-out wouldn’t have succeeded.”

Wiernik has poured a huge amount of time, knowledge, and people skills into making Westchester County’s phase-out work smoothly, notes Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, an educator with NYS IPM. “Not only that, but the PMC provides a model of sound IPM that other cities and counties could follow. It’s a tremendous accomplishment.”

How would Wiernik explain the committee’s importance to golfers, picnickers in the park, or new staff at, say, the transit hub? Simple, says Wiernik. “It’s about your health. If there’s a safer way, why not?”

Wiernik receives her award on October 5, 2009, at a meeting of the Westchester County Board of Legislators. To learn more about IPM, go to www.nysipm.cornell.edu.

The 2010 Empire State Fruit and Vegetable Expo & Farmers’ Direct Marketing Conference and Becker Forum will be held at the Holiday Inn Liverpool and the Oncenter Convention Center in Syracuse, New York on January 25, 26 and 27, 2010. Heading into its fifth year, the Expo continues to expand to meet the needs of growers in New York State, the Northeast, and beyond. This central New York location provides a venue for attendees to learn the latest information, research and new ideas relating to fruit and vegetable production agriculture and direct marketing. The new dates in January give growers more opportunity to plan for their upcoming seasons, learn about the latest techniques for success in their operations, and gain insight from the variety of businesses at the trade show connected to the Expo.

“With the Direct Marketers joining us for the 2010 Expo, our sessions will be excellent.”  says Stephen Reiners, Cornell University, who serves as the Expo Session Chairman. “Everything from field to fork, planting to marketing, along with an even larger Trade Show, will be at the Expo.  It will be the best one we have ever had.” Commodity and marketing sessions will feature specialists from all over the country who will speak and teach about the latest research and innovations regarding growing and production techniques, harvesting and storage options, marketing and more! All of the information presented at the Expo is specifically designed to assist growers meet the challenges involved in agriculture as they continue to grow and improve their farm and direct marketing businesses.  The large trade show will feature many businesses specifically devoted to the fruit and vegetable grower and farm direct marketer. Special trade show DVD presentations will run the two day trade show and will focus on emerging topics in agriculture.

The Expo starts off with the Becker Forum on Monday, January 25, 2010 at the Holiday Inn Liverpool. For three years, this forum has offered anyone involved in agricultural labor the opportunity to gather in one place, for one full day of vital information, on this important topic. Experts in the field of agricultural labor speak at this session, providing concrete, realistic and up to the minute information on this constantly changing and evolving topic. Agricultural labor is the hot topic in agriculture, and with sold-out crowds attending the Becker Forum in the past, it continues to be of great importance to the agricultural community. This all-day workshop will focus on the challenges facing growers with regards to agricultural labor and will present the information needed to stay current with new regulations, will provide opportunities to dialogue with others involved in this issue and will supplement the knowledge already in place so that agricultural employers can be better informed and more knowledgeable on this critical issue to the industry. This session is a premier event focusing on the challenges of agricultural labor and is a great start to the Expo. Detailed information and pre-registration form (required for the Becker Forum) for this workshop will be available this November in the Expo program.

Two full days of educational commodity and marketing sessions take place on January 26 and 27, 2010 at the Oncenter Convention Center. Session topics include the latest in research and grower experiences regarding the production and marketing of a variety of fruit and vegetable crops, including potatoes, tree fruit, onions, tomatoes and peppers, cabbage, berries, cut flowers, sweet corn, beets and carrots, leafy greens and herbs, vine crops, and beans and peas. In addition to the commodity specific sessions, the upcoming Expo will have special sessions focusing on direct marketing, winter storage, cover crops, and reduced tillage, to highlight a few of the sessions where attendees of the Expo can gain knowledge and practical information to implement on their farms. The largest commercial fruit and vegetable growing operations all the way to the smallest operations are represented at the Expo-and everyone gains valuable insight for their farms. The Expo provides an excellent learning opportunity for growers who rely on the information gleaned at the Expo to adapt to the challenges of production agriculture and direct marketing!

The Empire State Fruit and Vegetable Expo & Farmers’ Direct Marketing Conference is sponsored by the New York State Vegetable Growers Association, Empire State Potato Growers, New York State Berry Growers Association, New York State Horticultural Society, New York State Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association, Cornell University and Cornell Cooperative Extension. Trade show and exhibitor information is currently available and the Expo program, which includes detailed educational session information and a pre-registration form, will be available in November of 2009. Free shuttle bus service is available from the Holiday Inn Liverpool, right off exit 37 of the New York State thruway. See you at the Expo in January!

For more information, visit http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/hort/expo/ or contact Jeff and Lindy Kubecka, New York State Vegetable Growers Association, PO Box 70, Kirkville, NY 13082 or email nysvga@twcny.rr.com. For trade show information and exhibiting, please contact Dan Wren, Lee Trade Shows, PO Box 121, Palatine Bridge, NY 13428 or email dwren@leepub.com.

Recently, Governor Paterson was hosted by Cornell President Skorton to participate in an invitation-only briefing on Cornell’s participation in what the State can do to accelerate economic growth. Five persons in the Cornell community were invited to make short presentations on aspects of Cornell efforts. One of the five was Gary Harman, who discussed his entrepreneurial/company activities based on Cornell-developed technology. Others were Jennifer Teague of the Cayuga Ventures, an Ithaca-based venture capital company, Paul Matulo, the Director of Industrial Partnerships of Energy Frontiers Research Center, Stephen Golding, Senior Consultant to President Skorton, and a high school physics teacher that emphasized the critical need for excellence in teaching of the sciences at the high school level. This was followed by a press conference dealing with the Governor’s support of energy-related initiatives at Cornell, including announcement of a large grant to the Energy Frontiers Research Center. The Governor’s administration is engaged in the an effort called “The New Innovation Economy,”

The Ontario County Fun on the Farm is this Saturday, September 19 from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.  at Hemdale Farms in Seneca Castle.  It is a great community event in which the agricultural community invites the non-farming community to a local dairy farm, where the goal is to build a relationship of understanding and respect between these neighbors. The event is held every other year and features displays and games that communicate how food is produced on today’s typical farm.

The Station will have a presence again this year, bring your family and friends and stop by our tent. <http://www.ontariocountyfunonthefarm.com/>

Hope you see you there,
Gemma

Message from Tom Burr:
This is an excellent event and I encourage students, staff and faculty to attend if possible.  US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is planning to be there as will state Senator Nozzolio.  More importantly a large group of persons interested in agriculture attend providing an opportunity to talk about what we do at the Experiment Station.

Hope some of you will attend.

Tom

by Marty Schlabach

Library users will be seeing a lot of activity in Lee Library over the next several months.

The Google Books Project

Approximately 8,700 volumes from the Lee Library’s book and journal collection are being included in the massive Google books scanning project.  These materials will be lent to Google for about a month while they are digitized and should show up in the Google Books website (http://books.google.com) early in 2010.  Other participating Cornell libraries include Mann, Entomology, Bailey Hort and Ornithology.

The reorganization of Lee Library has progressed greatly this summer.  The 4 separate locations that the library currently occupies need to be consolidated to accommodate the reduction in staff.  Also, fire code requirements are reducing the total shelving available, which adds to our need to down size.

To accomplish these goals, the entomology collection will be moved from Barton Lab and integrated into the Jordan Hall collection.  We will be withdrawing bound volumes of those journals which we now have available online.  Station researchers will have continued access to the electronic equivalents from their computers, both on campus and at home.  We will also be withdrawing several low-use serials.

bound volumes shipping out

Approximately 18,000 volumes will be removed from the Lee Library.  Most of the journals being withdrawn from Geneva are also held at an Ithaca campus library.  Some of our journal issues will be used to fill gaps in Ithaca campus libraries.  If Geneva’s print copy is the only one in the CU library system, it will be transferred to the Library Annex on the Ithaca campus.  Material unique to Cornell will not be removed from the collection.

Some of the journal duplicates have been sold to dealers.  You may have noticed boxes of books being loaded on trucks.  The remaining journals targeted for withdrawal will be sent to recycling.  If anyone is interested in acquiring material destined for recycling, check the alphabetical list or the list in call number order and contact the Lee Library.

This consolidation will result in a more manageable collection and will make books and journals easier to find.  Lee Library’s print and electronic collections will continue to grow in our core subject areas.