Quincy, Marianna,
Monticello, Live Oak
Research and Extension Updates
Vol. 3 No.
22 October 22, 2001
From the Director: As we begin our third year of publishing the newsletter, we would like to extend a thank you to our readership. Our goal is and has been to provide the faculty in the county extension offices with the latest news, dates, and other information from the various disciplines of research and extension programs which take place at NFREC-Marianna, Quincy, Monticello and Live Oak. We hope you are able to use information from ongoing research in your county newsletters and education activities. If you would like additional information, contact the faculty member author
or our editor,
Regards, Dr.
Dates of
Interest:
October 30-November 1: Green Industry
Updates
November 1-11: North Florida Fair, Tallahassee
November 5: Sugar Cane Giveaway, NFREC-Quincy
November 8-9: Annual Tomato Disease Workshop,
November 13: Cow-calf Seminar Tuesday, Agriculture Center,
Marianna 6:00 PM
November 13: Florida Drip Irrigation School, NFREC-Suwannee Valley
November 28-December
2:
Farm Bureau Beef Cattle Marketing Tour of Oklahoma
More on
Dates:
Florida Cow/Calf Seminar
comes to Jackson
Dr. John Arthington of the Ona Range Cattle Research and Education
Center has organized the first Annual Florida Cow/calf Seminar. The seminar will be presented in four
locations across the state including a stop in Marianna. The Seminar will be presented on Tuesday,
November 13 at the Agriculture Center, located 2 miles west of Marianna on
highway 90.
The program will begin with a meal at 6:00 PM followed by
four brief presentations to conclude around 9:00 PM. Richard Randle, from the University of
Missouri, will present Heifer Development Programs for Small Producers.
Registration for this event will be $9 per person for those who
RSVP no later than November 9 and $10 at the door with no guarantee of
food availability. Registration will include the meal, the program and a copy
of the proceedings from the Seminar. To RSVP
call the Extension Office at 482-9620.
This promises to be a very useful program. Mark your calendar and call in to reserve
your place. Registration fees will be
collected at the door.
Doug Mayo
Livestock Agent
Jackson County Extension
850-482-9620 or Sun 789-9620
email:
demayo@mail.ifas.ufl.edu
Web Page: http://jackson.ifas.ufl.edu
NFREC-QUINCY SUGARCANE
DAY
On
Monday, November 5th, at 8:00 a.m., the University of Florida North
Florida Research and Education Center will be giving away free sugarcane
cuttings to the public with a limit of no more than 25 stalks of each variety (chewing and
syrup). This event will take place at NFREC-Quincy, 30 Research Road in Quincy,
Florida. If traveling on I-10, take Exit
#26 and look for the signs on the west side of Pat Thomas Parkway (SR 267).
REQUIREMENTS
FOR RECEIVING THE SUGAR CANE:
You
must register at the rear entrance of the main office with Sue
Anne Poppell, before entering the premises to receive the free sugarcane. A name tag containing a personal registration
number will be issued upon completion of the required forms.
NOTE: You must complete this process before
being allowed to enter the premises to receive the free sugarcane.
In
the event that your return trip from the facility involves stopping at
agriculture stops along the highways or interstate, a notice will be taped into
the bundles, stating that the sugarcane was grown at our facility in the State
of Florida.
If
you have any questions regarding the free sugarcane give-away, please contact
Sue Anne Poppell at 850-875-7100.
LIVE
OAK
Get the latest news by reading the October issue of the North Florida
Research and Education Center - Suwannee Valley Newsletter by
clicking http://nfrec-sv.ifas.ufl.edu/vegetable_news.htm
NFREC History: A tobacco shade was constructed on the south side of the
station grounds. Material for the
shade cost $1012.08 and labor for
construction was $160.73, making a total cost of $1172.81. A tobacco barn of adequate size to house the
maximum crop from the above shade was built.
It is a wood structure 40 feet wide by 76 feet long and 18 feet high at
the eaves. The material cost $1191.69
and labor for construction cost $325. It
was furnished with 15,000 tobacco sticks at a cost of $97.50, making its total
cost $1614.19. (1923 Annual Report)
Personnel: Sheila Moody, daughter-in-law of Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Bass, was in her second day on the job at
the Pentagon when it was hit by a plane that had been overtaken by terrorists on September 11. Although she suffered burns to face, arms, and hands, she came home from the hospital after about a week. Sheila was pictured in People magazine with her husband, Vincent. The Gadsden County Times published a story about Sheila. Raymond Bass is a long-time NFREC-Quincy employee.
Congratulations and our best wishes to Paula Bernsen, now Mrs. Paula King! Paula and Matt King recently tied the
knot in Tallahassee, with friends
and family attending the wedding and celebrating their big day. Mr. & Mrs.
King then enjoyed a honeymoon in the Keys.
Paula is a Biological Scientist for Dr.
Welcome to some new faces at NFREC-Quincy!
Bhuwan Pradhanang has been
working with Dr. Joe Funderburk in Entomology. Bhuwan is married to Prakash (post
doc associate working with Dr.
Matt Vargas is
working as Biological Scientist for Dr.
Sue Anne Poppell has been a great help in the front office lately. Sue Anne has two grown daughters and lives in
Gadsden County with her husband, Ed.
Farewell and Good Luck
Jim Fletcher!
Jim Fletcher will be leaving his position as Madison County Extension Director in October and moving to Brevard County as the County Extension Director on November 1. Jim will be missed, not only in Madison County, but also throughout this region. He has been a leader in many vegetable programs over the past 17 years as his career began in 1984. His expertise and major contributions in the area included: community resource development, computer applications in agriculture, plastic mulch and drip irrigation, plant sap testing, specialty crops, digital diagnostics, and GIS/GPS, to mention a few. Jim, we wish you well in your career endeavors.
TRIVIA
Dr. Bob Myer, NFREC-Marianna, shares this: Ham sandwiches beat out peanut butter and jelly and hamburgers as America’s favorite! According to NPD National Eating Trends 2000, Americans eat 21.3 ham sandwiches annually
per capita compared with 16 PBJ and 12.9 hamburgers.
ENTOMOLOGY
Time for multicolored Asian ladybeetle
overwintering:
It is nearing the period of the year (usually late November and December in
North Florida, but earlier if the weather gets cold) when Harmonia axyridis
begins to seek overwintering quarters and enters dwellings and other buildings.
The ladybeetle appears to be very abundant this year and is currently found in
high numbers on pecan and crape myrtle where aphids are present. Once
they are inside a building, a blacklight trap will capture and remove them at
night. The only thing a homeowner can do is to seal up cracks and
crevasses as much as possible to decrease the probability of entry. The
ladybeetles are very important predators of many insect pests which reduces the
need for pesticide use. County faculty should convey this positive benefit to
clientele when queried for help. I am continuing efforts to prefect a
trap to help capture the ladybeetles before they enter buildings and hope
to have a patentable product at year's end.
Nursery
pest management:
I have noticed what appears to me as an increase in the abundance of
Florida wax scale populations around the area this fall, particularly on
hollies. Indian hawthorne is also a favorite host. Florida wax scale
is a soft scale and produces copius amounts of honeydew which serves as a
substrate for sooty mold. Most observers will see the black sooty mold on the
plant before they see the scales. The scales are white star-shaped masses
that resemble a small wad of chewing gum with similar consistency. As with all
scales, Florida wax scale is best controlled by targeting the egg and crawler
stages. However, a dormant oil will also suppress their populations. Remember
that the adult females (there are no males of this species) only reproduce one
time and then die. However, they may adhere to the plant long after they
are dead from natural causes or from chemicals. They can be removed by hand
from saleable plants, but it is best to prevent infestations. Both
nursery and landscape plants are susceptible.
Homeowners
and fruit growers should
also be aware of scale damage. White peach scale and San Jose
scale can be very damaging to fruit trees, especially peaches and
nectarines. White peach scale males are easily seen due to their fuzzy
white appearance. San Jose scale often goes undetected until the damage is
extensive. San Jose scale are quite small and silvery in color. Again, target
the egg and crawlers stages or use a dormant oil.
Pecan
harvest:
Pecans are beginning shuck split and harvest time is here. Now is the time to
determine the extent of damage by the direct nut pests stink bugs, pecan weevil
and hickory shuckworm. Shuckworm larvae mine the shucks and interfere with the
dehiscing of the shuck from the nut. Pecan weevil larvae are inside the
nut and evidence of weevil presence will be the small hole in the nut and
destruction of the nut kernel. Remember that pecan weevil has a two and
partial three year life cycle so the populations you see this year will return
as adults in 2003 or 2004. Growers should map there orchards as to what
trees have weevils and use the Tedders or Circle traps to monitor for adult
emergence. Be on the lookout for stink bugs. Their damage will
be black spots on the kernel that impart a bitter taste. Stink
bugs may damage the nuts even in the wagon as they go to the barn.
(Mizell, NFREC News, 3-22)
LIVESTOCK
Wild
Pigs – Hidden Danger for Farmers and Hunters
In Florida, it has been estimated that there are 500,000
free-ranging wild pigs (also called feral pigs or feral swine). This wild pig population is about ten times
that of domestic swine in Florida.
Nationwide, wild or feral swine are present in at least 18 states,
primarily southeast and south central states, and coastal California, with a
total population estimated at two million.
Texas has the largest population, estimated at one million.
Pigs are not native to North America. Domestic pigs were introduced in 1539 when
Hernando de Sota brought them to Florida.
Early on it was common practice for settlers to allow domestic swine to
roam freely. Years later, sport hunters
introduced the true European wild boar into parts of the USA, and their
bloodlines have become mixed with those of feral swine. Today, some of the feral or wild pigs have
the classic “wild boar” appearance while others resemble domestic swine in
color and body shape.
Wild or feral pigs are popular for sport hunting,
but unfortunately wild pigs can cause a great deal of damage. Hunters, farmers, and landowners should be
aware that wild pigs can harbor infectious diseases and can damage crops,
pastures, native plants, and wildlife habitat.
Allowing wild pigs onto farms that have domestic pigs can have
disastrous consequences. Many wild pigs
in Florida are known to be carriers of two serious swine diseases: swine brucellosis and pseudorabies. Thus, care must be taken in not allowing wild
pigs to come in contact with domestic swine.
In addition, hunters can contract brucellosis if they are not careful
when they dress wild pigs. Further
information is available in USDA’s Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 620,
available from: Publications
Distribution, USDA APHIS, MSD, PDMB, Room 6-110, Federal Building, 6505
Belcrest Rd. Hyattsviille, MD 20782 (www.aphis.usda.gov). (Myer, NFREC News, 3-22)
Security Considerations Relating to Pesticides
Considering the September 11th,
2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, and the subsequent focus by the
federal government and national news media on aerial pesticide applicators, the
National Agricultural Aviation Association has initiated a campaign to improve
aircraft and operations security. The NAAA
recommends that, where possible, aircraft and crop protection products are
stored in locked hangars with electronic security systems when not in use. Loader trucks, forklifts, or other equipment
may also be parked and temporarily disabled in such a manner as to block
movement of the aircraft. In cases where
hangar space in not available and aircraft must be left outdoors, propeller
chains, locking high strength tie down chains, or blocking equipment are
practical alternatives. Outdoor security
lighting is also recommended.
NAAA
also encourages operators to explore the possibility of installing hidden
security switches in compliance with FAA regulations to ensure unauthorized
aircraft starting. In the case of
operators who live on the premises, or have employees living on airport
grounds, enhanced security lighting, alarms, and dogs are effective deterrents
against criminal activity.
NAAA recommends that
operators establish contact with federal and local law enforcement agencies to
coordinate responses to security breaches at agricultural aviation
facilities. Appropriate law enforcement
agency telephone numbers should be posted in a prominent place and employees
should be instructed to maintain enhanced security awareness. These telephone numbers should be registered
with any private security company that monitors the electronic security system
of an agricultural aviation operation.
On a broader scale, the
Environmental Protection Agency has issued an alert to all pesticide industry
organizations, facilities, and handlers as a precaution during this heightened
state of security awareness. Guidelines include the following
1.
Securing Buildings, Manufacturing Facilities, Storage Areas, and Surrounding
Property: One of the most fundamental security needs is the prevention of
intrusion to areas used to manufacture or store pesticides and other toxic
chemicals. Elements of an effective security plan can range from basic fencing,
lighting, and locks, to intrusion detection systems, cameras, and trained
guards.
2.
Securing Pesticide Application Equipment and Vehicles: Facilities and pesticide
businesses should ensure that they have appropriate security protections to
prevent intruder access to equipment used in mixing, loading, and applying
pesticides. Before operating pesticide application tools and vehicles, handlers
must have proper authorization and identification.
3.
Aerial Application Equipment: Security awareness is particularly important for
large-scale pesticide application equipment like aircraft and large trucks. The
FBI has requested that aerial applicators be vigilant to any suspicious
activity relative to the use, training in, or acquisition of dangerous
chemicals or airborne application of same, including threats, unusual
purchases, suspicious behavior by employees or customers, and unusual contacts
with the public. Any suspicious circumstances or information should be reported
to the FBI.
4.
Protecting Confidential Information: As business, safety, and security systems become
more reliant on computer and communications technology, the need to secure
these systems has grown. Such efforts include contingency planning for power
losses, effective monitoring of access ports, adherence to password and backup
procedures, and other mechanisms to maintain access for authorized personnel
only.
5.
Designing Facilities and Equipment to Minimize Risk of Damage: Whether an
intrusion to a computer by a hacker or a physical intrusion of your facility by
a vandal or saboteur, it is important to take steps to minimize the extent of
damage. For example, in order to prevent damage, the use of sturdy, reliable,
and potentially blast-proof materials is essential in the construction of
equipment used to transport and apply pesticides.
6.
Developing Procedures and Policies that Support Security Needs: Even the best
hardware and staffing budgets are only as effective as the procedures and
policies that control their use. Effective hiring and labor relations policies
are important to obtain and retain good employees who will support and follow
safety precautions. For example, the hiring process should ensure that
pesticide handlers have all requisite training necessary to handle pesticides
safely. Background checks of staff who have access to secure areas,
particularly those areas where pesticides may be stored, are also necessary.
Inventory
management policies can help limit the amount of potentially hazardous
pesticides stored on site, reducing the risks of accidental or intentional
release or theft. Effective advance emergency response procedures can be
critical, helping ensure that business officials and employees understand how
to respond and whom to contact in the case of an emergency. Aside from
accidents, such plans must also consider vandalism, bomb threats, and potential
terrorist activity.
7.
Timely Coordination With Authorities: If a breach of security or suspicious
activity does occur, timely cooperation with authorities is crucial. In
addition to cooperation with your local police department, the FBI requests
that you expeditiously report any threats or suspicious behavior to your local
FBI field office. Information on the location of the appropriate FBI office is
available at www.fbi.gov.
(Sprenkel,
NFREC News, 3-22)
North Florida Oat Grain Variety Trial Results For 2001
And Four
Year Averages With Recommendations For The 2002 Season
(NFREC-QUINCY
RESEARCH REPORT 2001-8)
R. D. Barnett, P. L Pfahler, A. R. Blount, D. L. Wright and L. G. Schell
Oats are the most versatile of the small
grains. Oats are an excellent winter
grazing crop and livestock grazing oats perform very well because of the high
quality and palatability of the forage.
Oats can also be used to produce excellent quality stored forage - hay,
haylage, or silage. The grain can be
used by a broad range of livestock and is a very good feed grain, on which
animals perform well. Oats are the best
suited small grain for dual purpose (grazing then grain) use. Oats also are very popular and work well in
wildlife food plots.
Oats are an excellent crop to grow in rotation with
wheat because they do not harbor diseases that attack wheat, rye, and
triticale. Oats are also resistant to
the Hessian Fly which poses a serious problem on early planted susceptible
wheat varieties. Oats can be planted one
month (Sept. 15) earlier than rye or wheat (Oct. 15) when used for
grazing. The fact that oats are more
tolerant to high temperatures and more resistant to seedling diseases allows
for the earlier planting date. However,
oats are not as cold tolerant as wheat or rye and will suffer some cold damage
during cold spells (below 20oF).
Oats should not be grown for grain on land planned for certified seed of
wheat or rye the following year because of a tendency to produce volunteer
plants.
Horse feeding trials with Florida grown oats have
shown them to be very acceptable and performance data indicate that the feeding
value was comparable to northern grown oats.
Most horse owners want bright, heavy oats to utilize in horse rations,
which are difficult to produce in Florida.
If you want to try to produce “race horse” oats we would recommend the
following:
1. Select
fertile, well drained soils and use a generous fertility program.
2. Plant
during the second half of November and utilize a relatively low seeding rate (75 lbs/A).
3. Choose a
variety that produces grain with a heavy test weight.
4. Topdress with
50-60 lbs N/acre the last week in January or the first week in February. You might want to consider split nitrogen
applications (35 lbs the last
week of January followed by 25 lbs 3-4 weeks later).
5. Harvest
promptly before rain or dew has an opportunity to discolor the grain. It may be necessary to combine at
high moisture and artificially dry the grain.
6. It may
take some cleaning or processing to get the test weight up to the 38-40 lbs/bu required for high quality
horse oats.
Data collected from recent grain performance trials
in Florida is presented in Tables 1-8.
Recommended
oat varieties and their characteristics are provided in Table 9.
(Barnett-Blount-Wright-Schell,
NFREC News, 3-22)
Validation of
Plant Disease and Insect Identification and Diagnostics
Using Distance Diagnostic and Identification
System (DDIS)
Florida FIRST Initiative Project (1999-2000)
Participating Faculty & Affiliation:
Co-Investigators:
Collaborators: (22 Counties) John Alleyne (Pinellas), Andy
Andreasen (Washington), Dale Bennett (Wakulla), Stephen Brown (Lee and
Charlotte), Anthony Drew (Levy), Shep Eubanks (Holmes), Al Ferrer (Seminole),
Jim Fletcher (Madison), Larry Halsey (Jefferson), Bob Hochmuth (Multi-County,
NFREC-SV), (St. Johns), Ed Jowers (Jackson), Pam Mattis (Duval), Gene McAvoy
(Hendry), Dan Mullins (Santa Rosa), David Marshall (Leon), Ken Rudisill (Bay),
Bill Schall (Palm Beach), (Suwannee), (Hillsborough), Bruce Ward (Walton) and
Larry Williams (Okaloosa).
Relationship to Florida FIRST:
Related Cornerstone
Scientific Capabilities: Information technologies
Related Program Imperatives – Plant protection from
various pathogens and pests
Organizational Commitments – Improve efficiency in the
use of resources, develop extension methodologies that address user needs
effectively, develop program outcome indicators and accountability measures.
Extension Design Team Affiliation: SMP131 – Quality and Management of Florida
State Diagnostic Services. This is a new POW team that has been appointed to
provide direction and insure quality of services provided by UF/IFAS. DDIS is a major component falling directly
under this SMP.
Introduction
Digital identification and
diagnosis of plant diseases and insects have received considerable attention
and funding by UF/IFAS recently. A
system that allows effective communications and archiving of images and data,
has been developed in collaboration of county faculty, specialists and faculty
in IT. The viability of the system has
been demonstrated by the initiation of a pilot project involving ten county
extension offices and nine extension faculties and specialists.
There was a need to validate
the methodology, obtain benchmarks of accuracy and identify points in the
process at which errors might be introduced. This is needed to streamline the
operation as well as to insure the correctness of the identification and
diagnostics.
This study proposed a comparison of diagnostics and identifications (D&I) made by conventional means and using DDIS. The objectives were: Measure the frequency of success, identify reasons for failed D&I, make specific recommendations to improve DDIS, and evaluate the use of DDIS as a resource for education programs for IST of county faculty.
Materials and Methods:
Cooperators sent both live
samples (as done conventionally) and digital samples. Specialists conducted
diagnosis using DDIS and used live samples to validate the diagnosis. Several educational meetings, including in-service trainings were conducted in 2000. Educational materials including 3 APS Disease Compendia per cooperators were purchased and distributed to 22 counties. Tools were purchased for counties to use for the preparation of microscopic slides under compound microscopes. One set of DDIS microscopes were purchased for road show and trainings.
Results and Discussion
This project created several educational opportunities for participating extension faculty to gain more knowledge on plant pathology, entomology, plant disease and insect diagnosis, digital imaging of biological materials and web-based technologies. DDIS provided a tool and resource for educational instruction and practical exercises in IST of county faculty. The validity of DDIS for some groups of diseases and insects was evaluated (Tables 1 and 2). This type of data is not present in the literature. A refereed journal article and four EDIS publications were developed concerning the diagnosis of plant disease and insects through DDIS in Florida.
Table 1. Summary of DDIS validation data and correct diagnosis (ID) rate for plant diseases
using DDIS in 2000 in Florida (validated by live samples). Out of 140 digital DDIS samples
received, 98 of them had only both digital and live samples.
|
Total
of 98 DDIS disease samples (98 digital, 98 live) were evaluated (100 %) Overall
correct ID using DDIS (24%) |
|
|
Eighty-three (83) DDIS samples had only field-view
and close up images (85%) |
Fifteen (15) DDIS
samples had compound
microscope, field-view and close up
images (15%) |
|
Correct ID
under this category (17%) Reasons for
undiagnosed samples: Soilborne,
bacterial or viral dis. (37%) No pathogen
detected (22%) Poor image
quality (17%) Inadequate
live sample (7%) |
Correct ID
under this category (60%) Reasons for
undiagnosed samples: Poor image
quality (33%) Inadequate
live sample (6%) |
Table 2. Summary of DDIS validation data and correct diagnosis (ID) rate for insects
using DDIS in 2000 in Florida (validated by live samples).
|
Total
of 31 DDIS insect samples were evaluated
(100 %) Overall
correct ID using DDIS (45%) |
|
|
Twenty-seven
(27) DDIS samples had only field view
and close up images (87%) |
Four (4) DDIS
samples had compound microscope, field view
and close up images (13%) |
|
Correct ID
under this category (40%) |
Correct ID
under this category (75%) |
To enhance and strengthen the accuracy and validity of DDIS, specific recommendations will be made based on the results of this project. DDIS will be modified in accordance with the feedback received from end users. Digital capabilities and the World Wide Web minimized physical transport and changed the way we communicate for diagnosing and preventing plant diseases and pests. This is a first-year progress report of the project. A refereed journal article will be prepared at the end of the second
year. (Momol,
NFREC News 3-22)
Thought for the Day:
If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there’d
be a shortage of fishing poles. (Doug Larson)
E-Mail: cvergot@ifas.ufl.edu
Phone:
(850) 875-7112
The
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an Equal Employment Opportunity
Affirmative Action Employer authorized to provide research, educational
information and other services only to individuals and institutions that
function without regard to race, color, sex, age handicap or national origin.
COOPERATIVE
EXTENSION WORK IN AGRICULTURE, FAMILY & CONSUMER SERVICES, STATE OF FLORIDA,
IFAS, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, AND BOARDS OF
COUNTY COMMISSIONER COOPERATING
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action
Institution