Elongate Hemlock Scale

The Elongate Hemlock Scale is showing up again in many fields. Well, it really hasn't gone anywhere but growers do not normally notice it until the white wool masses start forming. Now is an easy time to be out scouting to see if you have EHS or to check and see how well your control measures have worked. Give me a call if you need help scouting for this insect.

Transitioning the Farm to the Next Generation

This workshops will be offered at annual Winter Meeting & Trade Show
sponsored by the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association (NCCTA)
held in Boone NC on March 4, 2011.

This seminar will assist Christmas tree producers with their estate planning and transfer needs. It is sponsored by the USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) and will be delivered by Brett Crosby of Custom Ag Solutions on Friday, March 4, 2011.

Christmas Tree Promotion Order Comment Period Extended

USDA is reopening the comment period an additional 15 days to allow interested persons more time to review the proposed rule, perform a complete analysis, and submit written content. Instructions for filing comments to the proposal are in the proposed rule. They may be filed by email or sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Comments must be received by March 9, 2011. Interested persons may submit written comments on the internet at http://www.regulations.gov or to the Research and Promotion Branch, Fruit and Vegetable Programs, AMS, USDA, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW., Stop 0244, Room 0632–S, Washington, DC 20250–0244; fax: (202) 205–2800.

Christmas Tree Marketing Conference

This conference is designed to help the small and medium Christmas tree grower to develop or expand wholesale and retail marketing plans. Participants will learn ways to reach more customers as well as strategies to improve customer retention. Topics will address collaborative marketing successes, using trade shows effectively, international marketing, using social media, value-added products, building customer relationships, and using pre-sale programs to beat the competition. Several of these topics provide alternative marketing strategies that provide “more bang for your buck” as you involve the media or other stakeholders. Participants will go home with current information and a packet of tools to further plan their 2011 marketing strategies.

The conference is set for February 18, at the Watauga County Extension Center in Boone.
The cost is $15.00 which includes handouts and lunch. To register contact your local county extension center.

WNC Ag Options

The WNC Agricultural Options program recently awarded six community groups and 47 farmers grants totaling $326,000 to assist them in farm diversification and joint marketing and distribution efforts.

This year's community grant recipients are creating cohesion, infrastructure and marketing for local products. Individual recipients are improving such diverse operations as a 75-acre kale, turnips and collards farm in Cherokee County, a new dairy in Madison County, a micro-greens venture in Watauga County, and a canned bamboo shoots business in McDowell County.

For a full list of recipients, see http://www.wncagoptions.org/home/424-2011-program-background

Since 2003, N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission has supported WNC AgOptions, a N.C. Cooperative Extension program that provides resources directly to farmers diversifying or expanding their operations. "We have been a strong supporter of the WNC AgOptions program because we know western farmers appreciate the funding and know how to put it into action," said Bill Teague, NC Tobacco Trust Fund Commission Acting Chairman. "These farmers have a wide variety of innovative ideas and we expect successful outcomes from which other farmers can learn."

The program has worked in partnership with RAFI-USA's Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund since 2008. RAFI-USA was also included in the $18.4 million Family Farm Innovation Fund last summer, which provided an additional $100,000 for WNC farmers this year.

While WNC AgOptions has given 300 individual grants to farm businesses since 2004, the community grant program is still in its infancy. The WNC AgOptions steering committee established the program last summer to encourage groups of farmers to solve logistical challenges in the local agricultural system, which the committee identified as the main barrier in boosting farm income.

Community groups received varying amounts totaling $92,000. Grantees are: Avery County Farmers Tailgate Marketing Association, Jackson County Christmas Tree Association, Mountain Cattle Alliance, Mill Spring Agricultural Development Center, Watauga County Farmers Market and Southern Appalachian Family Farms.

The community group grantees, which collectively impact at least 3,500 farmers, will:

· Build a distribution center and retail center to serve farmers in at least six counties and consumers in four major metropolitan areas;

· Create energy, unity and awareness of local foods shopping, Christmas tree sales and cooperative farm marketing;

· Establish a system for small and medium-sized cattle farmers to use a portable corral unit, which will facilitate meeting Beef Quality Assurance program standards to increase profits;

· Secure a permanent site for the mountain region's oldest and largest tailgate market, opening up additional space for vendors and creative marketing and educational opportunities.

Three individual farm businesses received $9,000 grants, 25 received $6,000 and 19 received $3,000. Projects increase the economic sustainability of farm businesses as well as provide demonstration to other transitioning farmers. This year's recipients will:

· Continue their family's multiple-generation tradition of farming with such ventures as wine-grape vineyards and wineries;

· Transition a 75-acre greens operation from wholesale markets to direct sales to individuals and grocery stores with the purchase of a translicer;

· Diversify a meat and vegetable operation with the addition of a dairy for 50 head of Holstein and Jersey cattle;

· Sell goat milk under North Carolina Milk for Pet Food Use Guidelines with the addition of certified milking facilities/parlors;

· Expand or add unique poultry selections such as duck, turkey and quail to their farm operations with the purchase of processing equipment;

· Build a farm store to sell several farmers' products on a well-travelled highway in Weaverville where no stand currently exists;

· Revive foods traditional to the Cherokee Indian Reservation, including crawfish and canned wild greens;

· Improve a hydroponic farm's greenhouse heating and irrigation system, increasing the business' bottom line;

· Establish a Black Perigord and Burgundy truffle operation in inoculated Filbert and Oak trees, which are expected to eventually gross between $17,500 to $35,000 annually;

· Demonstrate a unique terraced growing system for raspberries.

The ultimate goal of WNC AgOptions is to protect mountain farmland by assisting the longevity of farm enterprises.

"The sustainability of the agricultural industry in Western North Carolina is dependent upon the innovation of farmers and their willingness to try new things," said Ross Young, Madison County Extension Director and WNC AgOptions steering committee leader. "This region is a leader in agriculture innovation, and I believe that the WNC AgOptions program has played a very important role in providing farmers with educational tools and financial resources they have needed to take their wonderful ideas and turn them into reality."

For more information, see the following websites: N.C. Cooperative Extension Centers: www.ces.ncsu.edu; Family Farm Innovation Fund: www.ncruralcenter.org; Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund, RAFI-USA: www.ncfarmgrants.org; N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission: www.tobaccotrustfund.org.

Avery/Mitchell Winter Christmas Tree and Ornamental Update

Annual production meeting for Avery and Mitchell County Christmas tree and ornamental producers. Program includes information on Emerald Ash Borer, New Scale Problems in Christmas Trees, Estate Tax Update, New Plants for Mountain Nurseries and Results From 09-10 Algae Study. The meeting will be held at Mayland Community Colleges, Sam's Center Auditorium on Friday January 28, beginning at 11:00 a.m. Lunch will be served and two hours of pesticide recertification credit will be available. To register for the event call the Mitchell County Center at 688-4811.

Di-Syston Use

The following is a final statement from Bayer on Di-syston use in Christmas trees.

Di-Syston 15G:
 Christmas Trees: Distributors, retailers and growers can sell and use Di-Syston 15G on Christmas Trees until stocks are exhausted.

Pesticide Licensing & Certification

The following is a link to a fact sheet with information about the new requirements for pesticide licensing and certification. http://ipm.ncsu.edu/pesticidesafety/AG714W.pdf

Thousand Cankers Disease

Another new pest could be coming our way. Thousand Cankers Disease has be identified in Tennessee. Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD)is a disease of Black Walnut. TCD poses a serious problem to the health of the black walnut tree. Walnut trees are important because of their nut crop and the desired wood for various products. TCD is a progressive disease that kills a tree within two to three years after initial infection. The disease-causing fungus, Geosmithia, is transmitted by the walnut twig beetle. Branches and trunk tissue are killed by repeated infections by the fungus, as the beetles carry the fungus into new bark cambium tissue.

The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has issued a quarantine of all plants or plant part of the genus Juglans coming into the state from Tennessee and many other western states that already have Thousand Cankers Disease established.

Spruce Spider Mite

Growers should be keeping a watch for spruce spider mite with the hot, dry weather we have been having recently. Growers should be scouting to determine the presence of mites and they should review the economic thresholds to determine if or when they would need to treat.

The economic thresholds used by most growers are listed below. However, each grower has different needs for tree quality. These numbers should be adjusted up or down by each grower based on his or her own experience and needs.

Size of Tree
Less than waist high 40%
Waist high to year before sale 20%
Year of sale 10%

*Percentage of infested shoots to sampled shoots

Elongate Hemlock Scale

Elongate Hemlock Scale seems to be exploding this year over most Christmas tree farms in Mitchell County. The treatment window for this summer is getting close to closing so now if the time to be out scouting and evaluating the amount of infestation you have from Elongate Hemlock Scale.

The elongate hemlock scale, sometimes known as the fiorinia scale, is a serious armored scale insect pest of hemlock and Fraser fir. It is believed that this armored scale insect was unintentionally introduced into the United States from Japan.

The EHS is found almost exclusively on the underside of needles and will be found on multiple years of growth. On infested branches, scale numbers average 10 per needle and there can be as many as 30 on a single needle with scales sometimes found on top of each other.

When infestations are heavy, trees may have yellow blotches or patches on the needles and growth will be stunted. However, such symptoms are not commonly seen on Fraser fir in western North Carolina. More commonly what is seen are the white, waxy excretions of the male scales found on the upper surface of needles especially during summer months when males are maturing. Infestations that do not reduce tree growth can still make trees un-saleable because of this white covering to the needles.

The EHS has two, overlapping generations in the southern Appalachians. Because of this overlap, all life stages can be found almost any time of year, though proportions of one stage to another will vary. Crawlers emerge throughout the growing season and even in winter months, but peak crawler emergence is in May into June and again in late October into November.

The crawlers must find an appropriate feeding site. Crawlers may move somewhere else on the same needle, crawl onto the new growth, or move passively through wind or bird movement onto other trees or fields. Once a feeding site is found they molt, never moving again.

Immature scales appear to burrow under the waxy layer produced by the needle, making them even more protected against pesticide applications and predators. As the scale matures, it forms behind the original yellow immature, making it look as if a smaller scale is attached to a larger. The feeding tube of the immatures is as long as it is, appearing as a tiny coppery wire. The scales feed in epidermal cells.

Immature female scales go through three stages of development while males have additional prepupal and pupal stages. Males emerge as a tiny winged insect with large black eyes and long antennas. Before they emerge, they can sometimes be found under the white cotton of the pupal stage. They have no mouth-parts and live only a few days, mating with females. Eggs are produced six to eight weeks after mating. Each female produces 12 to 16 eggs at a time, which hatch within a month. Mature females may live for more than one year.

Emerald Ash Borer

This week the Tennessee Department of Agriculture announced that emerald ash borer has been found in Knox and Loudon counties. This places it very close to Swain and Graham counties in North Carolina. The Tennessee Department of Agriculture and USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service are expected to issue quarantine measures on the movement of firewood, ash nursery stock and ash timber.

Emerald ash borer beetles can kill an ash tree within three years of the initial infestation. Adults are dark green, one-half inch in length and one-eighth inch wide, and fly from April until September, depending on the climate of the area (probably more like May to August in North Carolina). Larvae spend the rest of the year beneath the bark of ash trees. When they emerge as adults, they leave D-shaped holes in the bark about one-eighth inch wide.

For more information, see the USDA Forest Service’s Pest Alert on the emerald ash borer at http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/pest_al/eab/eab.pdf. If you want help identifying an ash tree, go to http://www.anr.msu.edu/robertsd/ash/ashtree_id.html.

From: Steve Bambara and Steve Frank, Extension Entomologists

2010 Marketing Season

The 2010 marketing season is fast approaching. Below are three tips to get you thinking about the upcoming season.

1.Begin making contact with the customers that you had last year. Make phone calls or personnel visits to discuss this years plans.

2.Look for ways to get your business name out to more potential customers. Design a website if you don't have one, join a growers association that can help market for you, buy adds in papers, magazines or journals that may target the area you want to market in.

3.Deliver great customer service. I read an article recently that discussed the importance of customer service. It stated that customer service was more important than quality when it came down to a determining factor of whether a customer was going to purchase from you or someone else.

Chemical Mowing Rates

I have had a few calls about rates for chemical mowing applications. Even though the new growth of Fraser fir is out and seems to be hardening up, I would caution going back up to a full 8 oz. per acre rate of RoundUp at this time. You may want to stick to the 4 oz. per acre rate for another couple of weeks if you have fields that need spraying right now.

Summer Pest

Now is a good time to be scouting for a couple of pest. We are seeing some spruce spider mite activity with this hot, dry weather. Be on the lookout for spruce spider mites, especially in fields with little groundcover or along dusty roadways. Also, last week I looked at some trees with Elongated Hemlock Scale and they are producing the white covering right now and are easy to spot. Look on the underside of branches and make plans to treat in late July or early August if you find them.

Rust Mites

Hemlock Rust Mites are continuing to cause problems, especially in fields that were treated last fall and have not had a treatment for mites this spring. The weather conditions have been good for rust mite development, so you will want to get out and do some scouting even in fields you have treated for twig aphids this spring.

RoundUp Timing

Christmas tree and ornamental conifer growers that are using the chemical mowing practice with RoundUp should begin wrapping up their applications. When the new growth gets out to around 2" then you should stop applying the RoundUp directly to the foliage or cut your rate to the 4 oz. per acre rate instead of the 8 oz. per acre rate. For help with calibrating spray equipment, please contact your local Extension Agent.

Balsam Twig Aphid

Balsam Twig Aphid are very active and pesticide applications should begin on trees that will be going to market this year and next year. Remember to be out scouting for the hemlock rust mites and be ready to make a pesticide application if the economic threshold is reached.

Hemlock Rust Mites

Winters cold weather did not kill out the Hemlock Rust Mite. Rust mites are active and it would be good to be out scouting for rust mites during this beautiful weather. Even with temperatures supposed to cool down, the rust mites will remain active and possibly worsen. Go to the following website for more information on Hemlock Rust Mite and the thresholds to use in determining if you need to treat.

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/fletcher/programs/xmas/ctnotes/ctn034.html

Christmas Tree and Ornamental Marketing Workshop

Marketing of Christmas trees
and ornamentals has always been
an important tool that many
growers do not use appropriately.
With the slowing economy,
and in response to a slower
Christmas tree and ornamental
market, many growers are now
faced with having to learn to market
their products to effectively
sustain their businesses. The
Mitchell County Extension Center
will be offering two marketing
workshops to help give growers
tips on improving their marketing
skills. Some of the topics to be
addressed include:
▪ Core Components of a
Marketing Plan
▪ How to Target a New Market
▪ Evaluating a Wholesale
Marketing Plan
▪ Getting to Know Your
Customers
Reminder, the workshops will be
held on March 30 & April 6, beginning
at 6:30 p.m. Please make
plans to participate in these beneficial
workshops.