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What is up for Michigan Organic Growers

1.  EPA Announces Halt to Lindane for Ag Use

 

2. Are Pests the Problem -- or Pesticides?

 

3. Vegetable Pest Status Report July 27, 2006 (includes organic treatments for pest problems)



4.  Organic Grain Farmers More Profitable

 

5. Costs of Producing Organic Beef

 

6. New MSU Organic one-year certificate program 

 

7. 2006 Annual Detroit Agriculture Network Garden Tour 

 

8. SouthEast Area Farmers Market

 

9. MSU New Product Center is offering a Workshop for Cooperative Strategy



 






1. EPA Announces Halt to Lindane for Ag Use
Risk to Children Remains Through Pharmaceutical Products

 

By: Pesticide Action Network
Published: Aug 2, 2006 at 09:07


EPA today announced the withdrawal of all agricultural products in the U.S. containing the pesticide lindane. Environmental health groups around the country applaud the step, but are critical of EPA's claim to be the best agency in the world for pesticide regulation, and are calling for phaseout of the remaining uses of lindane.

"The phaseout of lindane's agricultural uses is a long overdue step, especially important to protecting indigenous peoples in the Arctic," says Pamela Miller, Director of the Alaska Community Action on Toxics, an organization that works closely with indigenous communities. "We're pleased the U.S. is finally moving to join the rest of the international community that has already stopped using this harmful pesticide."

All uses of lindane have already been banned in 52 countries around the world. Until today, the U.S. used up to 230,000 pounds of lindane yearly in seed treatment products, mostly on corn and wheat. The withdrawal allows continued use of existing stocks of lindane seed treatment products. Lindane use continues to be allowed for treatment of lice and scabies in pharmaceutical products regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"It's about time we stopped using this long-lasting, neurotoxic pesticide," says Kristin Schafer, Program Coordinator for Pesticide Action Network (PAN). "We're pleased EPA has finally done the right thing - but this chemical linked to brain tumors and hormone disruption is still allowed in lotions and shampoos. We're now asking for the public's help to get FDA to withdraw lindane's pharmaceutical uses."

Pharmaceutical uses of lindane for lice and scabies have been banned in California since 2002, and legislation promoting similar bans is moving forward in other states including Michigan and New York. "Lindane is no longer allowed on pets or seeds, why are we still allowing use on kids?" asks Laura McCarthy, Program Associate with Citizens' Environmental Coalition in Albany, New York.

Over the past three years, a coalition of groups in the U.S., Canada and Mexico has been pressing for a phaseout of lindane as government representatives developed a North American Regional Action Plan (NARAP) under the Commission on Environmental Cooperation. Mexico agreed to phaseout all uses of lindane in 2005, and Canada phased out all agricultural uses in 2004. Lindane was initially targeted for restriction and phaseout by EPA in 1977, and it is currently being considered for international phaseout under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs Treaty).

"All uses of this chemical are already being phased out in Mexico," says Fernando Bejarano, Director of Red de Acción en Plaguicidas y sus Alternativas en México (PAN Mexico). "We're pleased to see that the U.S. is following Mexico's lead in phasing out lindane in agriculture, and we hope the government will take the next step and ban use in shampoos and lotions as well."

Lindane is a known neurotoxin that can cause seizures, damage the nervous system, and weaken the immune system. Exposure may also cause cancer and disrupt the human and animal hormone systems. Because lindane is highly persistent and travels globally via air and water, its use poses an exposure risk to people far from the source. Lindane is one of the most abundant pesticides in Arctic air and water, and in the face of overwhelming evidence, EPA has acknowledged that indigenous people in the Arctic are faced with excessive exposure to lindane through their traditional diet.

The lindane news precedes the controversial announcement expected Thursday of EPA's reregistration of more than 20 organophosphate and carbamate pesticides, despite strenuous objections voiced by thousands of EPA staff scientists who say these chemicals pose unacceptable risk to children's health. In a news advisory released Tuesday, EPA highlighted lindane's withdrawal (a 29 year process) and Thursday's controversial reregistrations as evidence that "U.S. pesticide safety is the highest in the world." Public health and scientist advocacy groups staunchly disagree, and are calling for an end to industry pressure on EPA and FDA government scientists. 


2. Are Pests the Problem -- or Pesticides?
For years, chemical companies have had American farmers in a headlock, but new research suggests they may just be selling snake oil. 

 American farmers have a serious chemical addiction, and we're all paying the price. The overuse of fertilizers produces dead zones in bays and estuaries. Many agricultural pesticides are proven neurotoxins, as well as likely carcinogens and endocrine disruptors. The manufacture of these chemicals requires vast quantities of fossil fuels.

But what if the chemicals are not only harmful but unnecessary -- even unscientific? What if it's organic rather than industrial farming that has the hard data on its side?

Traditional farmers generally believe there's a basic trade-off: Applying synthetic fertilizers triggers rapid growth in crops but also encourages bug infestations. This perceived tradeoff has been extremely lucrative for giant chemical manufacturers like Syngenta, Bayer AG, Dow Chemical, DuPont, and Monsanto, from whom American farmers buy about $2.4 billion worth of insecticides and fungicides each year. These corporations offer farmers a kind of one-stop shopping, selling them not only fertilizers and pesticides but, better yet, seed stock that is genetically engineered to produce insecticides as well.

For almost half a century, these same companies have nurtured chemical-intensive agriculture through lavish funding of academic research, especially in the land-grant colleges, which were set up by the federal government in the late 1800s to meet the demand for practical agricultural education. Since the 1960s chemical manufacturers have spent more and more on the development and use of farm chemicals, to the point where such funding now accounts for nearly 40 percent of private industry's annual agricultural research budget of about $5 billion. This investment has encouraged the view at the land-grant colleges that organic farming is "unscientific," a boutique niche pursued by a bunch of ex-hippies. 

But agricultural researcher Larry Phelan has questioned this pervasive bias. When he arrived at Ohio State University in 1986, he tried to interest local organic corn and soybean growers in his ongoing research into natural pesticides. They told him repeatedly that while their yields were equal to those of conventional growers, their insect problems weren't serious enough to warrant spending money on pesticides, natural or otherwise. Phelan was intrigued: Was there a link between organic crops and reduced insect damage? When he found that very little peer-reviewed work had been done on the subject, he decided to take a look for himself at what the Ohio farmers were saying to see whether it had any scientific basis.

Phelan began by planting corn in two sets of pots containing soil from neighboring organic and conventional farms. As the plants matured, he released female moths of the European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis) into his greenhouse. The larvae of this insect feed on the leaves of the corn plant and tunnel into its stalk and ear shank. In fact, the corn borer is such a pest that it was the first target of corn genetically modified to produce the Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) toxin.

Phelan found that the female moths laid, on average, nearly 18 times as many eggs on the corn grown in soil from conventional farms as on corn grown in organically managed soil. This led him to wonder if the high levels of decomposing plant and animal matter in organic soil affected the interaction between plants and insects. After analyzing individual plant tissues, Phelan suggested that this organic matter reduces insect outbreaks by releasing nutrients at rates and in proportions that best meet the plants' needs; synthetic fertilizers, on the other hand, create a nutritional imbalance that leaves plants more vulnerable to bugs. For example, a large dose of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium increases a plant's production of sugars and free amino acids, but fails to provide the other nutrients needed to convert these simple compounds into more complex proteins, lignins, and starches. Insects, meanwhile, readily metabolize free amino acids and sugars and so seek them out. The female European corn borer, for instance, will drag her rear end (which is equipped with taste receptors) across the leaves of corn plants until she detects these compounds. And that's where she will lay her eggs -- where her larvae will have plenty to eat.

Phelan's research suggests that U.S. farmers' reliance on synthetic fertilizers and insecticides may be based on an outdated understanding of plant chemistry, and that organic farming methods can be validated by hard science. Charles Benbrook, a former executive director of the National Academy of Science's board on agriculture, says that Phelan was one of the first well-trained scientists to use "state-of-the-art tools to explore what it is about organic farming systems that might explain how well these systems often work."

As Benbrook says, "It's extremely risky for scientists to step out of the accepted research structure." It's hard to get funding and promotions, hard to gain access to peer-reviewed journals whose editorial boards are dominated by corporate interests. But organic research is gaining legitimacy and, with it, dollars. Armed with studies like Phelan's, organic farming lobbyists secured the first-ever direct funding of organic research in the FarmSecurity and Rural Investment Act of 2002. By 2005 federal funding had climbed to about $10 million. That's only a sliver of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's $2 billion research and extension budget, but it's enough to prime the pump. "Credible, hard science on organic systems is crucial to justifying more funding," says Mark Lipson of the Organic Farming Research Foundation, "and with more funding we'll enlarge our body of science. Growing that cycle of funding and research is essential." 
-- Deborah Richt

3. Vegetable Pest Status Report July 27, 2006
By John Mishanec, IPM Vegetable Program from Cornell University. This contains info for conventional and organic growers on treatments.

General Conditions
Fields are generally drier than they have been due to the localized nature of storms that keep coming through the area.  All the crops are later than they normally would be this time of year and it is putting stress on direct market growers to have product.  Tomatoes are just starting on some farms but on most others, the tomato crop will be later than normal.  Sweet corn, is starting to bunch up with all the hot weather.  Most of the vine crops look good but powdery mildew is beginning to get a hold on most of the early plantings. 

There are a lot of problems all around us.  Downy mildew is on Long Island and western NY.  Late blight was just found in western NY and it has been present for a couple weeks on Long Island.  This is the time to really go out and scout your fields so you will be on top of what is happening in your fields. 

Sweet Corn
Last week, it looked like we were starting to have all the corn insects at once.  Corn ear worm (CEW) and european corn borer (ECB) were starting up and fall army worm (FAW) is being found in isolated locations.  As of today 7/27, the trap numbers for CEW seem to be decreasing.  The highest we found last week was 16 in northern Columbia County.  That comes out to be a little over the 2 per night threshold.  This week in the same location, we only caught on CEW moth.  Most other locations in eastern NY from Orange county up through Washington County are catching around an average of one or less per night.  We are catching CEW everywhere but the numbers are low.  What does this mean for the corn grower?  Well, CEW comes up on storms from the south.  Checking NJ and western NY, they still have not started to see a lot of CEW.  Long Island is reporting lots of CEW and it seems we are getting those bugs.  Since the numbers dropped off this week, maybe the ones that came up are the only ones we will see for a while.  Check the weather patterns and if we seem to be getting more storms from the south east or costal storms, than we will probably get more of the Long Island CEW.  Use your judgment.  The CEW numbers are low and no one likes spraying corn in silk. 

The ECB flight has started for the second generation and there are still lots of ECB in the plants from earlier so it seems still necessary to spray corn as it comes into tassel.  Time your spray as the tassel opens up and put a second application 3-5 days after the first spray to make sure you cover the tassel emergence. 

As for FAW, if you find them, your tassel spray will probably cover the problem.  FAW are happy in the open eating the leaves and do not necessarily go after the ear like CEW or ECB.     


Scout whorl corn for european corn borer (ECB) feeding damage to get a percentage of infestation.  If you have over 15%  damage in whorl, than a spray when tassel opens is called for.  Heat is pushing the corn at this point and tassel comes along quickly.  Make sure you are on top of the corn and know when your corn is about to tassel.  If 30-40% of the field has open tassels, it's time for a spray.  Once the silk comes out, then you need to be on a 5 day schedule for that too.  Not rocket science but just corn insect management.  

Many growers report that Warrior has not been doing the job it once did.  Try different products if this has been the case on your farm.  For organic growers, Entrust will work fairly well against CEW when the numbers are low.  If insect populations skyrocket, than even hard chemicals have a hard time doing the job. 

Peppers
In some fields we have found bacterial spot on pepper.  The lower leaves have numerous quarter inch and smaller size spots.  The lower leaves Then turn yellow and begin to fall off.  Fixed copper plus maneb is the recommendation for conventional growers and copper alone for organic growers. 

The second flight of european corn borer (ECB) is just beginning.  ECB will lay their eggs on peppers and when the larvae hatch, they will make a hole just at the edge of the cap.  Water gets into the hole and then the fruit rots.  Spintor of for organic growers,  Entrust will work very well in controlling the ECB larvae on a 5-7 day schedule.  You can use Orthene only on non-bell peppers.    

Tomatoes
We are also finding lots of early blight on lower leaves.  Look for bronze colored spots with concentric rings in them.  Sometimes the spots are at the edge of the leaf and sometimes they appear as small, quarter inch size spots on the leaf.  Early blight is not an aggressive disease.  It comes on when the plant is stressed and in a weakened condition.  This can be environmental or just from a heavy fruit load.  Now with fruit sizing up, it is putting stress on the plant and along with moist conditions, we are seeing this problem in most fields.  The traditional fungicide for early blight is Bravo but Quadris also dose a great job in controlling the disease.  For organic growers, copper is the best product to use. 

Lastly, not surprisingly, we are finding spetoria blight in some fields.  This disease looks a lot like bacterial spot.  There will be a lot of small, one sixteenth sized spots on the leaves.  Check the fruit for spots.  If you see the same small spots on the fruit, than it is bacterial but if there are no spots on the fruit, than it is septoria.  This is not a serious problem and it is related to the cool, wet spring we had. 

Vine Crops
There is a lot of powdery mildew in summer squash.  This is always going to be the crop that gets powdery mildew first.  If you have it located next to cucumbers or your pumpkins, you will be spreading PM into those crops more quickly than if you had the summer squash isolated.  We have not seen PM in pumpkins yet.  Walk into your pumpkins and look for pail yellow spots on the top of the leaf.  Turn over the leaf and you will see the white powder like spores.  Do not start your fungicide schedule until you find PM in your pumpkins. 

From Long Island,  there are a number of fields with downy mildew (DM).  This is a serious disease that is carried by storms to other locations.  It used to be fairly rare but we have seen it now for the last three years.  Look for lots of small, less than a half inch, brown angular spots on your vine crop leaves.  After it lands on your field, the leaves will turn brown and die.  On pumpkins, the stems will be still upright and the leaves limp as if the field was hit by frost.  Fortunately, if spotted quickly, there are a number of fungicides that will keep the disease under control.  Forum, Tanos, Phostrol, Ranman and Gravel are all labeled for DM.  Curzate and Tanos will have some kick back activity.  You must tank mix these fungicides with protectant fungicides (Bravo, copper, Maneb, etc)

Potatoes
Late blight has been found in western NY and on Long Island. When you have 18 plus hours of over 90% RH than conditions are perfect for late blight.  Now that we have late blight close to our region, it is very important to have protective fungicide sprays already on the plants. Late blight produces large black spots on the leaves.  Sometimes, on the stems, you will see black areas at a stem where a spore germinated.  If you find something you think is late blight, call your local Cooperative Extension office and have someone come out to positively ID the disease or call me at 518-434-0016.


Leaf hopper is being found in very high numbers in most fields.  Go out and flop a plant into the row and shake it, than flop the plant to the other side of the row. Inspect the ground for leaf hoppers that have fallen off the plant onto the ground.  This is an easy way to see what is happening in the field.  We've already started to see some burning on susceptible varieties.  The edges of the leaves will turn dark brown.  Eventually the whole plant will turn brown and die.  It's important to pay attention to leaf hopper because they can seriously decrease yield without being very evident. For conventional growers, Phaser and Thionex are the insecticides least toxic to ladybird beetles  This is important for aphid suppression.  For organic growers, the options are limited.  Pyganic is the only product that is organic certified that will do the job. 

The only other thing being found in potato fields is bacterial black leg.  This is when water gets into a damaged stem and causes the stem to turn black and rot usually producing a strong smell.  You often see this problem worst in spray rows where the plants are damaged by tractor wheels.  Later in the season, if the heavy rains continue, you will see black leg as a result of european corn borer damage.  

Useful resources:
The online version of the 2006 Integrated Crop and Pest Management Guidelines for Vegetables is now available at http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/recommends/  to see their book with recommendations that is updated throughout the year.

http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/biocontrol/  offers sources and how-to's for encouraging and introducing biological control mechanisms.

 

4.  Organic Grain Farmers More Profitable
Michigan Farmers

Issue Date: July 2006, Posted On: 7/31/2006 by staff 

Grain farmers could make more money be switching to organic grain crops according to a new study released at last week's American Agricultural Economics Association's annual meeting. 

Records showed that organic crops fetched much more than conventional crops: soybeans, up to $14 more per bushel; corn, up to $3 more; and wheat, up to $5 more. Organic alfalfa hay is too new to have a track record, so researchers recorded it as selling for the same price as conventionally grown hay. 

Over four years the study analyzed both economic risks and transition effects of switching to organic farming of the Agricultural Research Service's Swan Lake Research Farm near Morris, Minn. The 130-acre Swan Lake farm is representative of typical corn-soybean farms in Minnesota. 

ARS economist David Archer and soil scientist Hillarius Kludze compared an organic corn-soybean rotation and an organic corn-soybean-spring wheat/alfalfa rotation - half grown with conventional tillage and half with strip tillage - with a corn-soybean rotation using conventional tillage. Strip tillage involves tilling only the middle of the seedbed. The scientists found that when strip tillage is used with organic farming, one of the transition risks is an increase in weeds until farmers learn to manage the system. 

Computer simulations projected costs, yields and risks over a 20-year period, using yield and economic data from the four-year study, as well as crop price records of recent years. 

Another computer model projected that farmers would net an average $50 to $60 more per acre a year by going organic, even with the highest transition costs. The premium price advantage would outweigh the initial higher costs and possibly lower yields, even if organic prices were to drop by half.  

 

 

Vicki Morrone

Organic Vegetable and Crop Outreach Specialist

Michigan State University

C.S. Mott Sustainable Food Systems

303 Natural Resources Bldg.

East Lansing, MI 48824

517-353-3542

517-282-3557 (cell)

517-353-3834 (fax)

 

 


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