Root architecture, formation play key roles in modifying soil
Plant roots modify soil in different ways – depending on the root’s architecture. This Soil Science Society of America’s (SSSA) February 1st Soils Matter Blog explores plant roots and how plants modify soil in substantive ways.
Blogger Jake Mowrer explains, “Plants modify soil. That is a fact. They spend a lot of energy doing it, and they do it to their own advantage. Organisms (which, of course, include plants) are even one of the five soil formation factors, along with climate, relief/topography, parent material, and time.”
The term “root architecture” can include physical arrangement of roots, number, thickness, length, depth, angles of branching, and distribution of root orders. The primary root is called the seminal root, and roots that branch off the seminal root are called the first order laterals. Roots that branch off from first order laterals are called second order laterals.
A representative of Hidden Harvest hands out bunches of carrots at a drive-thru food distribution event in Coachella, Calif. Cal-Organic Farms supported Hidden Harvest with 3,800 pounds of organic produce to give away.
From drive-thru giveaways in the Midwest to hand-delivered donations in Kern County, California, Grimmway Farms has committed to showing support for people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic by giving away fresh carrots and Cal-Organic Farms vegetables. Since mid-March, the company has donated more than 1 million pounds of fresh produce to food banks, hospitals and non-profit charities across the country. In partnership with Kern County hospitals and California food banks, the company has engaged in relief efforts that have provided fresh produce to families in California, as well as Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah. After recognizing a need to increase public food assistance, Grimmway team members worked with local and state organizations, industry partners and customers to find creative ways to use existing distribution channels to deliver produce to communities in need. This strategy reduced the logistical footprint of each produce donation, minimizing both costs and contact along the supply chain. This spring, Grimmway supplied more than 80,000 pounds of carrots to charity efforts in partnership with Midwest supermarket chain Hy-Vee. They focused public donation efforts around packaged whole carrots as they offer a long shelf life while maintaining their quality. The company also worked with charity networks to distribute over 70,000 pounds of whole carrots to urban communities. In addition, Grimmway worked with longtime partner Hidden Harvest, a produce rescue program that employs farmworkers to harvest surplus crops in the field and transport the produce from packing houses throughout Coachella Valley, California. “Our goal is to deliver fresh food to those who need it the most,” said Jeff Huckaby, president of Grimmway Farms. “We connected with organizations that share that responsibility. We’re all working toward a common goal to keep our communities safe, and we’re committed to seeing this through together.” As the largest of Grimmway’s donation efforts during COVID-19, the company has provided over half a million pounds of carrots to the California Association of Food Banks (CAFB) since the start of the pandemic. CAFB is a network representing 42 food banks reaching 47 counties in California. Grimmway plans to continue supporting communities locally and throughout the country as they face the continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our founders promised to provide good value and service every day of the year,” Huckaby added. “This year looks different than most, but through strong partnerships and a shared mission to feed the hungry, we’re still able to deliver on that promise and ensure fresh food is available to those in need.”
Amid the many event cancelations in 2020, organizers have announced plans for the third International Symposium on Carrot and other Apiaceae, set for Oct. 4-7, 2021, in the UK. The symposium will include sessions and seminars held at the York Racecourse and a gala dinner at the historic York Railway Museum.
On the final day of the event, attendees will visit a carrot field near York to view carrot varieties, machinery demonstrations, agronomy plots and a trade exhibition. The organizing committee is inviting seed producers to enter their varieties in the field trial.For more information, visit www.carrotsymposium.com.
The Cost of Beet Leafhoppers in Columbia Basin Carrot Crops
By Gina Greenway, Greenway Research
The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted America’s eating habits. It’s hard to predict if any of the changes in consumption patterns will be sustained long term, but for now a lot of folks are cooking more, spending more time at home and shopping less frequently. With fewer trips to the grocery store, frozen and canned vegetables may be substituted for fresh more often than in the past. I don’t know if consumers will eat more frozen and canned carrots in 2020 and 2021, but it’s interesting to think about.
According to the USDA, frozen carrot consumption has ranged from a low of 1.19 pounds per capita to a high of 2.83 pounds per capita in the last 49 years. Canned carrot consumption peaked back in 1972 at 2.42 pounds per capita, but looks to be trending upward since reaching a low of 0.68 pounds per capita in 2015.
Maybe 2020 and 2021 will look like 1996 when consumption of both frozen and canned carrots was high. But even if consumption hovers around the average, the job of providing the processed market with a stable supply of high quality raw product remains an important one met with a variety of challenges.
One of the most unpredictable and costly challenges impacting carrot and other vegetable and vegetable seed crops is pest pressure. I am always trying to learn more about the economic impacts of sucking insects, their interactions in vegetable crops and how the research community can provide tools to help make managing these pests less costly. One of the first steps has been to establish economic benchmarks for key pests in different crops.
These purple leaves are a sign of a phytoplasma disease vectored by beet leafhopper. Photo courtesy Silvia Rondon, Oregon State University
Surveying the Field
To gain insight into the impacts of beet leafhoppers in carrot crops grown for processing in the Columbia Basin, I conducted an expert opinion survey of growers and consultants in the region. I hoped to better pinpoint the number of beet leafhopper targeted applications typically made per season and to identify which products are used most often to manage the pest. I also wanted to gain a better understanding of the impact of beet leafhopper transmitted diseases on yield.
Results of the survey highlighted esfenvalerate, cyfluthrin, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and methomyl as key active ingredients used for beet leafhopper management.
After determining which active ingredients to focus on, the next step was to get a better idea of the frequency of use. To do this, I asked participants to estimate the number of beet leafhopper targeted spray applications typically made per season. About 20 percent of folks who responded reported making one beet leafhopper targeted spray application per season. Another 20 percent of respondents reported typically making two beet leafhopper targeted spray applications per season. An estimated 60 percent of survey participants reported making three beet leafhopper targeted spray applications in a typical growing season.
The frustrating thing about pests like leafhoppers is their ability to raise the cost of production and damage revenue at the same time. To better quantify the impact of leafhoppers on revenue, I asked survey participants to estimate how much yield would increase if beet leafhoppers did not exist. Responses ranged from 1 percent to 15 percent.
I also wanted to try to gain insight into perceptions of leafhopper mitigation strategies. I asked participants to estimate the percentage increase in yield that could be achieved if they were able to improve the execution and timing of beet leafhopper targeted insecticide applications. Results ranged from 0 percent to 10 percent.
Leafhoppers are found throughout the western U.S. and are known to vector phytoplasma diseases in vegetable crops. An immature leafhopper, as seen here, is a better vector than an adult. Photo courtesy Silvia Rondon, Oregon State University
Estimating the Expense
To arrive at dollar value estimates of the cost of beet leafhoppers in carrots grown for processing, results of the survey were combined with pesticide label information, pesticide pricing information, and planted acreage, price and yield estimates reported by the USDA. Application costs were omitted based on the assumption that the majority of beet leafhopper targeted applications would be tank mixed.
The overall costs of insecticides were estimated to range from about $3.50 per acre to $32 per acre but will depend on application rate, product choice, environmental factors, individual preference and pressure from other pests. Yield was assumed to be 38 tons per acre, planted acreage was estimated to be 6,100 and price was estimated to be $84 per ton.
Expenditures on beet leafhopper targeted insecticide applications were estimated to range from about $154,000 to $220,000, depending on product choice and pressure. Estimates of the value of lost yield attributed to beet leafhopper transmitted diseases will likely be a little bit different for everyone, as was indicated by the variation in survey estimates. It would be difficult to quantify how much yield is lost with a high level of precision, but considering how much different scenarios of yield loss could cost the industry is worth thinking about. If 20 percent of acres planted are impacted by a 15 percent reduction in yield because of beet leafhopper transmitted disease, the foregone value rings in at $584,000. If 60 percent of planted acres experience a 7 percent yield loss, the forgone value would be about $817,000.
The next logical step is to consider what can be done to reduce yield losses. One key tool is better information for improved decision making. Many survey participants believed proper timing and execution of insecticide applications could improve yield. If half of all growers in the region were able to increase yield by 5 percent as a result of the ability to make better decisions regarding timing and execution of insecticide applications, the benefit to the industry would be just under half a million dollars. Coordinating and expanding pest monitoring efforts in multiple vegetable and vegetable seed crops can help growers make proactive and effective management decisions, helping to reduce the costs of pests in the Columbia Basin.
A phytoplasma disease transmitted by leafhoppers can cause purpling of the leaves and malformation of taproots, as seen here. Photo courtesy Silvia Rondon, Oregon State University
BRANDT Specialty Formulations has added two new territory sales managers, Cody Massey and Nate Britt, to its North American Ag sales team, covering the US Pacific Northwest and Canada.
They will focus on selling the company’s proprietary foliar nutrient technology, BRANDT Manni-Plex and BRANDT Smart System, as well as a wide range of sustainable crop inputs.
Massey holds an M.S. degree in weed science from Mississippi State University and a B.S. from Oklahoma State University. He has five years of agriculture and crop protection experience, including vertebrate eradication and crop protection. Massey will cover Oregon, western Washington, and western Canada.
Britt has 10 years of agriculture and crop production experience. He has a B.A. degree in Communications from the University of Hawaii. Britt will focus on eastern Washington and central Canada.
“We are thrilled to welcome Cody and Nate to the BRANDT family,” said John Guglielmi, BRANDT National Sales Director. “They have extensive hands-on experience in crop production and will bring a tremendous amount of value to our customers.”
Massey and Britt will work alongside BRANDT’s current Pacific Northwest territory sales manager, Rich Soweiralski.
For more information, visit BRANDT on the web at: www.brandt.co.
The Pacific Northwest Vegetable Association (PNVA) is joining the long list of organizations to move their conferences online due to COVID-19. The annual PNVA conference will be held virtually Nov. 18-19.
The group’s board of directors is working on plans to provide attendees with educational sessions covering pest management, organic production, onions and general vegetable topics. Organizers are also working to put together a program that will allow attendees to obtain recertification credits through their state. They plan to make additional details available in September.
For more information, visit www.pnva.org or contact Sheri Nolan at snolan@agmgt.com.
Zak Stephenson stands in a field of carrot seed near White Swan, Wash., in late July.
Story and photos by Denise Keller, Editor
Zak Stephenson farms 1,800 acres spread across the White Swan area of the Yakama Indian Reservation in Central Washington. But it’s a 40-acre field of carrot seed that demands as much time as he spends on the bulk of his farm. In his third year growing carrot seed, Stephenson is finding it to be highly labor intensive but is embracing the challenges that come with learning a new crop.
In addition to carrot seed, Stephenson grows 1,000 acres of alfalfa and 160 acres of alfalfa seed, as well as wheat as a rotation crop. In the past, he has farmed up to 800 acres of alfalfa seed, but that number has been decreasing due to changes in market demand.
While looking for an opportunity to fill some of the void left by the dwindling alfalfa seed acreage, Stephenson was approached by Central Oregon Seeds, Inc. The company produces seed for major seed companies and was looking for growers in the area to expand its carrot seed production. Stephenson planted his first crop of carrot seed in 2017 and is growing a Bejo Seeds variety this year.
Zak Stephenson checks seed development mid-season.
Pollinating the Crop
Stephenson grows carrot seed on a five-year rotation, planting the crop after wheat. It’s a 13-month crop, planted in mid- to late-August and harvested mid-September the following year. During a six-week period mid-summer, bees do much of the heavy lifting in developing the seed crop.
“It’s all about pollen transfer. You want the bees actively foraging and collecting pollen and nectar from the carrots. The male plants are producing a lot of pollen. The bees are moving from that and jumping to the female plants, and they’re covered in pollen,” Stephenson describes.
He stocks the field with 3.5 hives per acre, almost overloading the field with pollinators.
“Carrots aren’t their favorite food in the world, so you want as many as you can. A certain percentage will go into something a little sweeter with higher sugar content,” he explains.
He also uses leafcutter bees in the carrot seed because he has more leafcutters than needed for the current alfalfa seed acreage. His experience growing alfalfa seed, a crop that has been part of the family’s farming operation since the 1950s, has been beneficial as he gets into carrots. It’s helped him come into the crop knowing how to deal with pollinators, understanding how seed develops and owning the right harvest equipment. However, alfalfa seed requires less labor, allows for more mechanical cultivation and offers more chemical options for weed control compared to the hybrid carrot seed crop.
“It’s been more hands on. You have to look at it every day,” the grower says of carrot seed. “It’s a complex crop.”
A field of carrot seed blooms in July.
Managing the Challenges
The crop requires the most babysitting in the spring, Stephenson says. A crew of 15 typically hoes the fields and thins the rows of female plants to create 8 to 10 inches between plants, which allows each plant more space to grow flowers. Herbicides are also applied.
This year, Stephenson opted to forgo the extra help due to concerns about COVID-19. This made for an especially busy spring for his seven full-time employees and meant he had to live with some weeds in the field.
When June rolls around, Stephenson applies insecticides, miticides and fungicides to keep problems at bay before introducing the bees a week later. Once the bees are out of the field, another cocktail of chemicals is sprayed to eliminate pests. The male plants are mowed, and female rows are weeded. As a relatively new carrot seed grower, Stephenson is still fine tuning his management of the crop. The first two years’ crops had low germination rates, requiring more cleaning of the seed, which ultimately reduced yield. The grower attributes the lower germination rates to lygus bugs. The insects often migrate from hay fields when hay is cut, and then sting the seed and make it no longer viable.
“If we can’t control that, we can’t make seed,” Stephenson says.
Lygus bugs are difficult to control and may be building up resistance to some chemicals, according to Stephenson. The grower scouts fields weekly and monitors the buildup of lygus populations. However, once bees are in the field, he can no longer spray insecticides.
“Whatever kills the lygus is going to kill the bees,” he says.
Unlike the cool, wet springs the area has had the last couple years, this year has been drier and lygus pressure has been lighter. Stephenson is curious to see how this affects the germination rate, hoping that less insect pressure results in better germination. In late July, the crop was setting well.
“It’s all going to be in the next couple weeks. This is where the crop is made. Once the bees come out, those four to five weeks are really critical,” the grower explains.
Zak Stephenson holds carrot seed in his hand mid-season.
Enjoying the Experience
Stephenson is a fourth-generation farmer. His great-grandfather moved to an 80-acre farm in the area when the irrigation project opened around 1930. His grandfather expanded the farm to what it is now. His dad, Vern, is mostly retired but helps during harvest. Stephenson graduated from Washington State University with a general ag degree in 1997 and has been managing the farm since 2000. His brother, Alex, is a partner and manages the farm’s chemical program and hay trucking.
After farming hay and other row crops all his life, Stephenson is enjoying growing a hybrid crop.
“Seed in general is interesting to me. I like working with the pollinators and watching them work. I’ll come out to the field and watch the bees move back and forth. I find that interesting and enjoy that,” he shares.
He also has liked learning about drip irrigation, which is used in carrot seed production because it delivers water deeper to the roots and because bees won’t work under sprinklers.
“It’s been fun having a new crop. I like the challenges. It’s something different. You get stagnant if you don’t change things up a little every once in a while. Doing the same thing almost becomes boring after a while. You have to change,” Stephenson says.
The grower is not planting carrot seed this fall in order to reassess things and get the rotation on track to plant into a desirable field next year. Going forward, he plans to keep production between 40 and 80 acres in order to minimize risk. So far, the crop has been more profitable than hay and wheat, and if he can increase the germination rate, there’s potential for real profit, he says.
“It should pay for itself at the end. That’s the thought,” he smiles.
Ladybugs will eat lygus bugs, a major insect pest in carrot seed production.
Greentronics has added several new features to its RiteWeight in-line conveyor scale product. The new features are designed to automate harvest and storage data recording. Data are uploaded via Android phone or tablet to the Greentronics cloud server for processing and reporting in near real-time. Maps and reports can be viewed, downloaded, shared or printed from anywhere via secure log-in.
A range of reports detail how much crop is stored and where it was grown. 2D maps show where crop is stored by date, field and variety. By including a crop temperature sensor with the scale, maps will provide a temperature profile for each cellar. Maps allow growers to easily complete traceability reports, and harvest and storage progress can be monitored from anywhere. Reports show inventory levels, and other scales and yield monitors may be added to provide additional details about performance in the field and trash percentage.
By Lindsey du Toit, Tim Waters, Carrie Wohleb and Sheri Nolan, 40th International Carrot Conference Organizing Committee
It is very disappointing to have to announce the decision to postpone the 40th International Carrot Conference (ICC) that was scheduled to take place Oct. 5-6 in Mount Vernon, Washington (www.internationalcarrots.org). Based on significant international attendance at past ICCs and significant uncertainties around travel capabilities and approvals for a meeting of more than 100 attendees under the current COVID-19 restrictions in Washington state, the organizing committee of the 40th ICC has decided to postpone this event.
The International Apiaceae Conference is scheduled for Oct. 4-7, 2021 in England. Since there is significant overlap in those interested in attending that event as well as the 40th ICC, the 40th ICC will be held in Washington state in late summer/early fall 2022. The dates will be finalized in 2021. We welcome your recommendations for potential dates of the conference between late August and late September 2022.
We thank you for your gracious understanding during this very difficult time of a global pandemic that has affected all of us in so many ways. We hope you and your families and colleagues stay healthy. We hope to see you in 2022, if not sooner.
Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc., an international leader in sustainable bioprotection and plant health solutions, and Vive Crop Protection, a leader in Precision Chemistry solutions and owner of the patented Allosperse technology, announced an agreement that will provide a suite of ground-breaking products for U.S. growers that combine a leading biological with proven conventional chemistry utilizing the unique Allosperse Delivery System.
The first product to come from this joint effort will be AZterknot FC, a fungicide for broad crop use marketed by Vive Crop Protection. It fuses the plant health benefits of two actives: Reynoutria extract, the active ingredient in biological market-leader Regalia, and the disease-fighting power of azoxystrobin, the active ingredient in AZteroid FC 3.3.
AZterknot FC will also contain Vive’s Allosperse Delivery System technology, which provides superior handling characteristics including compatibility with in-furrow, pop-up and foliar liquid fertilizers. Pending EPA registration approval, the product will be approved for foliar and in-furrow application on all major crops in the U.S. (excluding California).
Dan Bihlmeyer, vice president of sales and marketing with Vive Crop Protection says, “The collaboration with MBI allows us to bring growers the best of three approaches to crop protection: chemistry, biologicals and nanotechnology. With AZterknot FC, growers will have access to the combined power of a leading biological and of a proven fungicide chemistry. Research has shown that the two actives, in combination with the Allosperse Delivery System, work together to control disease, improve plant health, and increase yield.”
MBI will also market a version of the product to specialty crop growers when regulatory approval is granted. Regalia is one of the most used biologicals in the specialty crop market and the combination with azoxystrobin and the Allosperse technology will provide specialty crop growers with the convenience of a single product that delivers enhanced performance and improved yield in a highly compatible formulation.
“Our partnership with Vive is an example of how MBI has focused on growth by creating innovative and integrated crop management solutions for growers of a wide range of crops,” said Kevin Hammill, chief commercial officer for Marrone Bio Innovations. “These next-generation BioUnite™ products will not only give U.S. growers access to effective crop protection technology, but it will allow them to better manage their crops by harnessing the power of biologicals with the performance of chemistry.”
Regulatory approval for AZterknot FC is expected in mid-2021 and will be available through distributor and retail commercial channels in the U.S.
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