Thank heavens for rain Thursday.  Not nearly enough but anything is better than nothing.

Want to see what the drought conditions look like from June 30-July 21 for the country (is that misery loving company?)?

http://blogs.cornell.edu/yourenewa/2020/07/24/newa-drought-summary-for-week-ending-21-july-2020/

So what did I find out from my expert panel on drought and shearing? (16 responses – thank you very much!)

Most people don’t stop shearing because of drought conditions. For many time and opportunity are the most important determinants of shearing schedule in order to get it finished in time.  Also most growers have not seen any adverse reactions to shearing during a drought and think that skipping a year is not a good idea (specifically ‘that would be crazy!).  Although people that have skipped a year didn’t have trouble catching up the next year. But as in all things biological, it depends. White pine doesn’t adapt well to a skipped year. Doug fir might produce a second growth spurt requiring additional pruning.

A few other notes:

Drought effects are worse on the small trees, which usually aren’t sheared much anyway.

People might wait to shear if the leaders or laterals are droopy or delay/shear less if growth is delayed or less due to the drought.

Some things you might consider in a drought – shearing in the morning when the trees are most ‘full’ of water, shearing your wetter fields first, shearing north slopes first.

Thanks for the question and all the answers! I always learn something.

GDD                       July 24                                  July 29

Champlain           1359                                      1478

Geneva                 1498                                      1618

Riverhead            1793                                      1941

Nothing much new – lots of reports (not all Christmas tree) on gypsy moth and Japanese beetle.

Cooley spruce gall adelgid on spruce – prune out and destroy galls before 1850-1950 GDD. Monitor on Doug fir (control comes later)

Two spotted spider mite control GDD 1300-2000 – remember to tap test for the insects, not just look for the damage.

Japanese beetle adults 1029-2154 GDD

Did you go out and look for comet Neowise?  I finally found it with binoculars – very clear and LONG tail.

I still have that reaction to August that I have to go back to school so the summer must be ending and I haven’t done all the fun stuff yet!  This fall there is no going back to school for me – but I still feel like I need to fit all the fun stuff in?

Have a great week!  And I’ll try to get back on schedule.

The list of specialty crops that are eligible for payments keeps growing. Lots of information on the CFAP specialty crops page – https://www.farmers.gov/cfap/specialty  Deadline for applications is August 28, 2020.

A few notes:

USDA will begin accepting applications for additional commodities on July 13, 2020. If a producer submitted a CFAP application for a previously ineligible commodity, and the application was disapproved, the producer must submit a new CFAP application. If the producer submitted an application and was paid for CFAP but also has crops that are now considered eligible or are now eligible for CARES Act funding for sales losses, the producer should NOT submit a new application, but rather, contact the local FSA office to amend the application.

For producers who have already applied for CFAP and whose commodities have experienced payment rate increases, FSA will automatically calculate the increase and issue a payment. For potato payments, producers will need to contact FSA to amend the application to identify the specific type of potatoes. Producers who have already applied will not be impacted by a payment rate decrease.

Need to know if your USDA Service Center is open? https://www.farmers.gov/coronavirus/service-center-status

Have a great day!