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Published on Leave a comment on Are you monitoring for SWD on your farm?

Please complete this brief survey to help us understand industry needs and guide future SWD monitoring.

Are you monitoring for SWD (Spotted Wing Drosophila) on your farm? We'd like to know! Please complete this brief survey about your SWD monitoring. https://cornell.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2iBzQU9NpKO1WKO

Traps in the SWD monitoring network are located on commercial farms, and typically serviced by Cornell Extension Personnel or grower collaborators. In addition, some growers have begun servicing their own traps, with our guidance or from reading the online resources. This survey will help us understand berry industry needs and plan monitoring for future seasons. We appreciate you taking the time to help!

2023 Monitoring Results. In 2023, the SWD monitoring network included 118 monitoring locations in 24 counties, maintained by 18 individuals. First trap captures were reported from June 13-July 20, and sustained captures a week later (sustained capture = SWD detected at least two weeks in a row). This is considerably later than average; in many years, first capture occurs in mid-May, almost a month earlier! 2023 was a brilliant example of how monitoring can be used to delay pesticide applications until insects are present, saving time, labor, and materials.

Acknowledgements. I’d like to extend a huge thanks to Dr. Juliet Carroll and the many collaborators around NY state who have provided support for SWD in this trap comparison project for the past three years, as well as the monitoring network and blog since 2013!

2023 Collaborators:

Amy Edwards, Burdick Blueberries
Anya Osatuke, Harvest New York, CCE
Dan Gilrein, Suffolk County CCE
Don Gasiewicz, Wyoming County CCE
Elisabeth Hodgdon, ENYCHP, CCE
Elizabeth Tee, Lake Ontario Fruit Program (LOF), CCE
Gary Phelps, Gary’s Berries
James O'Connell, Ulster County CCE
Janet van Zoeren, Lake Ontario Fruit Program (LOF), CCE
Jared Dyer, Suffolk County CCE
Jennifer Staton, ENYCHP, CCE
Jonny Williams, Northstar Blueberry Farm
Laura McDermott, ENYCHP, CCE
Natasha Field, ENYCHP, CCE
Nick Hamilton-Honey, CCE

Support for this work was provided by the NYS Berry Growers Association, the NYS IPM Program, and the USDA NIFA CPPM EIP Award 2017-70006-27142.

Sustainable SWD Management swdmanagement.org/

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Published on 3 Comments on Webinar on Organic Approaches for Management of Spotted-wing Drosophila, Feb. 7th

A team of researchers across the United States is studying approaches to management of spotted-wing drosophila in organic fruit crops, with funding from the USDA-Organic Research and Extension Initiative. Their annual project webinar will be held on Wednesday February 7, 2024 at 2-3:30 pm Eastern Time. Please join the team members for this event that will update attendees on recent research and the emerging results from studies underway in various berry crops. Presenters will focus on recent efforts to release the classical biological control agent Ganaspis brasiliensis at organic sites nationwide, and will include Dr. Jana Lee (USDA ARS), Dr. Kent Daane (UC Berkeley), and Dr. Philip Fanning (University of Maine).

The webinar is free, but you must register in advance to get the link for this presentation.

The recording of this webinar is now available on the eOrganic YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIa4nTBvAxg&t=607s

Published on Leave a comment on SWD SCRI Project – Webinar for Stakeholders February 12-13

The Sustainable SWD Management SCRI Project Team will be holding a virtual meeting on February 12-13, 2023 (Online via zoom). All stakeholders are invited to attend to hear research updates and provide feedback. This team has been collaborating on sustainable SWD management research and outreach for three years. The project is in its fourth and final year in 2024. Below is a detailed agenda and information to register. We hope you can join us!

FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING of the SWD SCRI PROJECT TEAM with the ADVISORY BOARD & STAKEHOLDERS
February 12-13, 2023 (Online via zoom)

Moving from crisis response to long-term integrated management of SWD: A keystone pest of fruit crops in the United States

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Specialty Crop Research Initiative

Day 1: The SWD SCRI project team will provide updates on the research objectives for year three to the advisory board members and stakeholders. We will also hear from stakeholders and advisory board members on their experiences this year.

Day 2: The SWD SCRI project team will discuss projects and protocols for year 3. There will be an opportunity for stakeholders to provide feedback/input on previous protocols as well as upcoming planned protocols.

Registration link:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YwWk-iBvRsWFw6Y--ROVhA

Registration is unique to each participant and helps us capture valuable participation data. Each participant should register individually.  

For any new participants, the previous meeting can be viewed on the project website: Sustainable Spotted Wing Drosophila Management (swdmanagement.org)

This national team of scientists, with support from the USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative, seeks to advance the development of sustainable, integrated management strategies for spotted wing drosophila, SWD, based on biology.

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Published on 3 Comments on SWD Management Team webinar on biological control

We are excited to announce the availability of the 2023 SCRI NIFA Spotted-Wing Drosophila Management Team Webinar presented and recorded on Monday, December 4th, 2023 at 12:00pm EST. This one hour webinar, titled “Advances in Biological Control for Management of Spotted-Wing Drosophila” provides updates on biological control efforts. Researchers shared their findings as well as highlighted advancements in biological control strategies to manage spotted-wing drosophila.

The recording of this webinar is now available to view on the SWD Management Team website: Sustainable Spotted Wing Drosophila Management (swdmanagement.org)  All their webinars are on this page, swdmanagement.org/webinars/.

Please share these webinars with any other interested party and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to Cera Jones cera@uga.edu.

We hope you gain some good information by listening to our webinar!

SWD parasitoid Ganapis brasiliensis laying an egg into an SWD larva inside a blueberry.
The SWD parasitoid Ganapsis brasiliensis laying an egg into an SWD larva inside a blueberry.  Photo: K. Daane

Sponsored by: Specialty Crop Research Initiative - SCRI (Award No. 2020-51181-32140)

Sustainable SWD Management swdmanagement.org/

Published on Leave a comment on SWD Management Webinar- Attend and Learn

“Advances in Behavior-Based Tactics for Management of Spotted-Wing Drosophila” — watch this one-hour 2022 SCRI NIFA Spotted-Wing Drosophila Management Team Webinar which aired on Thursday, December 8th, 2022 at 12:00pm EST and learn. Watch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPkQhWafZbk

What are behavior-based tactics, you ask? Well this is when entomologists figure out what control tactics can be used against an insect pest, based on how it lives. Think about mating disruption, used against oriental fruit moth, to prevent the male moths from mating with the female moths by flooding the orchard with volatile sex pheromones. With SWD, there may be ways to use feeding attractants, called kairomones, to attract the insects away from the fruit and then kill them. This is an attract-and-kill tactic.

SWD males on red sticky card trap
Male SWD, circled in yellow, can be readily detected on red sticky card traps. Photo: J. Carroll

Other insect behaviors being investigated include visual cues the insects use — thus we now have red traps for monitoring when SWD arrives. Attend and learn about the promising and affordable behavioral control tactics this team of talented entomologists is developing against SWD.

SWD parasitoid Ganapis brasiliensis laying an egg into an SWD larva inside a blueberry.
The SWD parasitoid Ganapsis brasiliensis laying an egg into an SWD larva inside a blueberry. This parasitoid was collected in Asia. Photo: K. Daane

There is be a brief update on biological control. There are many tiny wasps that like to lay eggs in SWD, some native and some, which are more selective towards SWD, from Asia. Members of this team now have over ten years of work on these foreign natural enemies and they are on the cusp of being able to release these against SWD.

To watch this webinar on behavior-based SWD management, please follow this link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPkQhWafZbk

From the Sustainable Spotted Wing Drosophila Management team, swdmanagement.org/

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Published on 3 Comments on SWD blog survey – tell us what you think

We’d love to hear from you to learn what you think about the SWD blog and its value to your operation and work. The Cornell SWD blog delivers trap catch information generated by the monitoring network. Several counties are now at sustained trap catch. We need your input on the usefulness of the SWD blog posts.

Please take a few minutes to complete our Value of the SWD blog Qualtrics survey about the SWD blog. This will help us improve our information delivery! Here is the direct url to the survey.

https://cornell.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3IOcXAL2ysRBSBM

Thank you for providing your perspectives on the usefulness of the SWD blog posts. Wishing you a successful growing season!

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Published on 2 Comments on Do you value the SWD blog?

The Cornell SWD blog and monitoring network are into their tenth year! We’d love to hear from you to learn what you think about the SWD blog and its value to your operation and work.

Please take 10 tiny minutes to complete our Value of the SWD blog Qualtrics survey about the Spotted Wing Drosophila blog. This will help us improve our information delivery in the years to come!

https://cornell.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3IOcXAL2ysRBSBM

Juliet Carroll, NYS IPM, checking a SWD trap
Juliet Carroll checks a SWD trap in a tart cherry orchard to help determine the need to spray, as fruit ripen.

After 20 years with the Cornell Cooperative Extension NYS IPM Program, Juliet Carroll, Fruit IPM Coordinator and yours truly, will be retiring next month. But have no fear, a new Fruit IPM Coordinator will be hired — the search is underway!

AND Laura McDermott, Natasha Field, Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program, Janet van Zoeren, Lake Ontario Fruit Program, and Anya Osatuke, Harvest NY Program, will be coordinating the SWD monitoring network, which will get underway in May.

Thank you all for the opportunity to provide you with important IPM information. Tell us what you think of the SWD blog!

Value of the SWD blog — click and complete this survey, the web address is: 

https://cornell.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3IOcXAL2ysRBSBM

Together we can develop and adopt sustainable ways to manage pests and use methods that minimize environmental, health, and economic risks — it is the IPM way! 

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Published on 2 Comments on Hummingbird predation as an IPM tactic against SWD in raspberry

On Thursday, March 10, 2022, from 11:30 to 12:30, I will present our work on using hummingbird feeders to attract Ruby-throated Hummingbirds into raspberry plantings as an aid in managing SWD. This seminar will be part of the NYS IPM Program's Seminar Series. To learn more about the NYS IPM Seminar series and upcoming talks, visit nysipm.cornell.edu/resources/nysipm-seminars/.

My seminar will be presented via zoom, so you can join and watch from the comfort of your home office or wherever you are using this zoom link:

cornell.zoom.us/j/97142846187?pwd=c0hNbldOR3ZXbFF0eVgzc2YybUMzUT09 https://cornell.zoom.us/j/97142846187?pwd=c0hNbldOR3ZXbFF0eVgzc2YybUMzUT09

Here is a summary of our work on hummingbirds, which I will present on March 10, 2022 at 11:30 to 12:30.

Hummingbirds require arthropods in their diet and may consume 2000 small insects, including Drosophilids, per day when fledging young. In New York State, we investigated the use of feeders to attract Ruby-throated Hummingbirds into raspberry fields to encourage predation of spotted-wing Drosophila (SWD) with the goal of reducing fly populations and fruit infestation. Baited traps were used to assess fly populations and salt flotation was used to assess fruit infestation. Over four years (2015-2018), 81% of 266 hourly observations of hummingbird behavior found the birds were occupying the raspberry planting when utilizing the feeders, supporting opportunities for predation on SWD flies. In 16 out of 18 weeks in 2017 and 2018, the number of SWD found in fruit were reduced in the half of the field with 62 feeders/hectare (25/A), compared to the half without feeders. We found a significant season-long reduction of 27% in average fruit infestation in 2017, a year with high populations of SWD. Trap catch was lower in the feeder half of the field in 15 of 25 weeks in 2016-2018. In two 0.035 ha (0.09 A) commercial raspberry fields (2020), in the one with 151 feeders/hectare (54/A) significant reductions in trap catch were found in most weeks during the fruiting season compared to the field without feeders. No Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were observed in the commercial field without feeders. Hummingbirds may protect fruit against SWD when encouraged with feeders to visit and occupy raspberry plantings.  Encouraging hummingbirds in raspberry fields with feeders has the potential for contributing to an SWD IPM program and reducing the reliance on chemical management.

A Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
Hummingbirds eat lots of small insects, including aphids and fruit flies to supplement their nectar-rich diet, up to 2000 per day!

Want to learn more about how to use hummingbird feeders in your raspberry plantings? Contact Juliet Carroll, jec3@cornell.edu, Fruit IPM Coordinator, NYS IPM Program, Cornell University. Collaborators on this project included: Percival M. Marshall, NYS IPM Program, Nicole E. Mattoon, NYS IPM Program, Courtney A. Weber, Horticulture, and Greg M. Loeb, Entomology.

Published on Leave a comment on Empire Expo Berry Sessions now virtual

The full day of 2022 Berry Sessions, detailed below, are now available ...virtually... on YouTube. All 4 of the 2022 Empire Producers EXPO Berry Sessions are now available to watch. Click here to see the playlist.

Due to the surge in Covid-19 cases, the Empire EXPO  moved to a virtual format. Now you can enjoy these great talks on berries from the comfort of your home! 

EMPIRE EXPO— Berry Sessions —January 12, 2022

Session I – 9:00 AM – 10:15 AM

Berry Production in Containers – 1.0 NYS DEC credit

  • 8:45 AM            Attendees log in early for DEC credits. We must have your DEC number at time of registration and please have your card with you.
  • 9:00 AM            Welcome and Sponsor Information
  • 9:05 AM            Trends in North American greenhouse strawberry production and possible applications for northeastern farms – Neil Mattson, Cornell, will discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages of protected and containerized production.
  • 9:30 AM            Ongoing work in container production of strawberry and caneberries – Kathy Demchak, Pennsylvania State University, will discuss in more specifics what growers will need to consider when starting to grow in containers.
  • 10:00 AM         Our experience growing berries in containers – Mark MacDonald, Bee Tree Berry Farm, Bellafonte, PA. Mark is a grower with 7 years of containerized and protected culture experience. His perspective on managing pests and marketing a crop will be helpful to new growers.
  • 10:15 AM          Adjourn

Session II – 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM

Focus on Blueberries – 0.5 NYS DEC credit

  • 10:45 AM          Attendees log in early for DEC credits. We must have your DEC number at time of registration and please have your card with you.
  • 11:00 AM          Welcome and Sponsor Information
  • 11:05 AM          Blueberry breeding efforts at USDA – Mark Ehlenfeldt, USDA-ARS, Chatsworth, NJ, will outline what the focus for breeders is and how growers can take advantage of new varieties attributes.
  • 11:25 AM          Best approaches to weed management in blueberries – Thierry Bescanon, Rutgers. Dr. Bescanon will discuss weed management strategies that will include herbicides and cultural approaches.
  • 11:55 PM          Managing pH in blueberry irrigation water pH - Elizabeth Machoff, Empire Drip Supply, Williamson, NY and Laura McDermott, CCE ENYCHP. Proper pH in soil AND in irrigation water is key to excellent growth – it will also impact how well plants respond to attacks from pests. Learn how to make sure irrigation water is perfectly matched to your plants needs.
  • 12:15 PM         New York State Berry Growers Association Annual Meeting – Liz Machoff, President
  • 12:30 PM          Adjourn

Session III - 2:15 PM – 2:20 PM

Berry Crop Sustainability – 0.5 NYS DEC credits

  • 2:00 PM            Attendees log in early for DEC credits. We must have your DEC number at time of registration and please have your card with you.
  • 2:15 PM            Welcome and Sponsor Information
  • 2:20 PM            From berries to wine: value-added products for berry growers – Dave Duda, Duda’s Blues, Machias, NY. Learn how Duda’s Blues has turned a perishable product into a delicious and profitable fruit wine.
  • 2:40 PM            Berry pricing survey - Kris Park, Cornell. Results of 2021 Berry Pricing Survey reveal lots of room for improved profitability.
  • 3:00 PM            Managing flowering plants, weeds, and pollinators for strawberry production - Heather Grab, Cornell. Manage pests and weeds while preserving pollinator health and numbers. This important topic will help growers preserve their natural pollinators.
  • 3:20 PM            Adjourn

Session IV - 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM 

Unusual Fruits and Nuts – No DEC credits for this session

  • 3:45 PM            Welcome and Sponsor Information
  • 3:50 PM            Nuts for the Northeast – Samantha Bosco, Cornell. Nut crops may offer berry growers another valuable cash crop while using land that is less than perfect for berry crops.
  • 4:10 PM            Commercial production of Kiwifruit – Iago Hale, University of New Hampshire. Hardy kiwifruit offers growers a late season, long storing delicious fruit crop.
  • 4:30 PM            Introduction to juneberry production - Mike Davis, Cornell. Juneberries are earlier than many other fruit and have delicious flavor.
  • 4:45 PM            Growing honeyberries in northern NY – Duane Smith, Seaway Cold Hardy Grapes, Evans Mills, NY. Hascap or honeyberry are very hardy and could offer an early cash crop.
  • 5:00 PM            Adjourn

Published on Leave a comment on Monitoring tools can improve SWD management

Learn how to apply monitoring and sampling to protect your crops from SWD infestations. Watch this webinar! Monitoring and sampling tools to improve spotted-wing drosophila management. Presented on Wednesday, November 10th, 2022 this webinar is now available on YouTube.

Scentry trap for monitoring SWD that is set in a raspberry planting.
Scentry trap for SWD set in a raspberry patch.

In the Annual Sustainable SWD Management Webinar the project scientists cover trapping technologies, lures and baits, potential trap thresholds, best techniques to gauge fruit infestation, all investigated by the Sustainable SWD Management Project team.

This hour-long Monitoring and sampling tools to improve spotted-wing drosophila management, webinar can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWA57m9sCdY

Learn about the current guidelines for SWD adult and larval sampling methods and practical applications of these tools for fruit growers. Presenters include:

  • Rufus Isaacs & Steve Van Timmeren (Michigan State University)
  • Hannah Burrack (NC State University)
  • Cesar Rodriguez-Saona (Rutgers University)
  • Phil Fanning (University of Maine)
  • Vaughn Walton (Oregon State University)
Pherocon red sticky card and lure for monitoring SWD shown hanging n a cherry tree.
A Trece red sticky card trap and lure set in a tart cherry tree to monitor for SWD.

These SWD experts work on the SWD-susceptible crops you love to grow and sell: raspberry, highbush blueberry, lowbush blueberry, blackberry, and cherry.

Read and learn more about the Sustainable SWD Management Project here: https://swdmanagement.org/

The project team wants to share their work with you! Watch the webinar now.

 

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