Quincy, Marianna,
Monticello, Live Oak
Research and Extension Updates
Vol. 3 No.
24 November 19, 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:
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
NEED MORE DATES!!
There are a lot of events
going on. Let me know where and when!!
NFREC
HISTORY
The cost
of the first building to house NFREC-Quincy (then known as the Tobacco
Experiment Station) was $6661.18.
(1922
Annual Report)
PERSONNEL
Congratulations to Suzanne Wilson,
Holmes County 4-H agent and new bride.
Wedding bells were ringing in Barbados November 15. The groom’s name is Joe
Arnold. We wish you all the best, Suzanne and Joe!!
Congratulations
to Jo Shuford- Law, FCS and EFNEP agent of Leon County
Cooperative Extension. Jo was recently
honored
with the Leon County Administrative Manager of the Year Award of
Excellence. Jo
works with Expanded Food
and Nutrition Education Program as
well the Family and Nutrition Program.
Good-bye and good luck to Xiuping Sun, chemist for Dr.
Pete Andersen, NFREC-Quincy.
Xiuping recently accepted a job with the USDA.
Applause to employees working hard
to get things together for NFREC Display Booth
at the North Florida Fair: Jackie Snell, Rick
Beasley, Don Berger, Tom Bolton, and Mel Thorpe, all of NFREC-Quincy and Jeff Jones
of NFREC-Marianna.
Faculty members Ann Blount, Richard Sprenkel and Steve Olson provided leadership and assistance to
the project.
Working on Demonstration
plots: Tom
Bolton is chairman of the committee and is doing a good job in planning
and planting. Anthony
Hobbs has done a fine job of welding for the demonstration plot
signs. Both are from NFREC-Quincy.
Seen working on the landscaping and keeping it looking nice: Mike Bundy, NFREC-Quincy.
NAME THE MURAL CONTEST
A very nice mural depicting agricultural content has been placed in our
new May Laboratory and Office building. It can be seen upon entry through the
main door of the building. The mural
needs a name, thus we are asking for suggestions. The contest is open to anyone
that will participate. A prize, to be announced, will be awarded to the person
submitting the winning name. Please contact Jim Rich (875-7130) with your ideas
for a name.
TRIVIA
Dr. Bob Myer, NFREC-Marianna, shares this: Cows, like people, have a “personal space” around them called their flight zone. If you go inside a cow’s flight zone, she will back away. (Pork, Summer 2001)
ANNUAL TOMATO
DISEASE WORKSHOP
The 17th Annual Tomato Disease Workshop took place November 8-9, 2001
in West Palm Beach, Florida. The 95
participants, representing 15 states and 5 countries, shared information about
current research results on tomato diseases and visited 2 local tomato
fields. Ken Shuler from Palm Beach
County Extension led the field tour.
This meeting was organized by Tim Momol (NFREC)
and Ken Pernezny (EREC). Proceedings of
the workshop will be published in 2002.
The next workshop will take place in Davis, California in Fall 2002.
MARINE
CONFERENCE
http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~conferweb/MO/
We trust you are planning to attend the Second International Conference on Marine Ornamentals: Collection, Culture and Conservation, to be held November 26-December 1, 2001 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA. On this website you will find a number of items to assist you with making arrangements.
We ask everyone with Internet access to use the conference web page whenever possible. You can submit your abstract online, register for the conference online and even find out about airline, hotel and other travel arrangements. So take a moment to add this site to your bookmark list.
The conference will focus on the direction of the marine ornamentals industry in the next century and will feature keynote speakers from organizations around the world. So make plans now to join us for the conference and help shape the future of marine ornamentals!
DDIS, DIAGNOSTIC RATE SCHEDULE AND NEW MAILING ADRESS
FOR PLANT DIAGNOSTIC CLINIC AT NFREC-QUINCY
Tim Momol and Hank Dankers
The DDIS validation project will be
completed by December 31, 2001. We would like to thank all collaborators of the
DDIS project for their participation. Preliminary results from the year 2000
could be viewed at this web page:
http://plantdoctor.ifas.ufl.edu/PDS1_Oct_4_2001.htm
We currently hope that all counties that received DDIS equipment
and educational materials since 1999 will use DDIS intensively for
extension diagnostics. Starting January 2, 2002, Florida Extension Plant
Diagnostic Clinic (FEPDC) at NFREC-Quincy will charge a fee for all live
(biological) samples. The diagnosis made by digital images using DDIS will be
free. If the diagnosis could not be made through DDIS, a fee will be charged
for accompanying live sample. Please send your DDIS (digital images) samples to
Tim Momol at tmomol@ufl.edu
The following is a detailed rate schedule of the diagnostic
services for FEPDC-Quincy. Please note the new mailing address.
New Address after January 1, 2002.
Plant Diagnostic Clinic
University of Florida, NFREC
155 Research Road
Quincy, Florida 32351
Standard Diagnostic Rate (SDR) : $20.00
PCR based diagnostic services: SDR plus $20.00 (at client request,
available for some bacterial pathogens). MIDI based diagnostic services: SDR
plus $10.00 (at client request)
If the specific pathogen can not be identified with “in-house” diagnostic
tools, at the client’s request, it will be sent to a private or state lab for
further testing. The cost to the client will be SDR plus fees charged by the
private or state lab.
Practical Information before Sending Sample:
Samples should include obvious signs of the problem (leafspots, stem
cankers, etc.) and roots (if possible). If practical, the whole plant should be
sent to FEDPC-Quincy. The sample material should be sent in a plastic bag (dry
off material, do not send wet) if sent from a location with 2 days or
less mailing time to Quincy. Avoid the weekend layover in the post office.
The Current “Sample Submission Form” can be printed from the Plant
DoctorNET web site http://plantdoctor.ifas.ufl.edu/ or contact Hank Dankers at
wadan@mail.ifas.ufl.edu Phone: (850)
875-7140 (SUN 294-7140).
Our preferred method of communication is through E-mail. We will appreciate
it if you include your E-mail address in the Sample Submission Form.
(Momol, NFREC News, 3-24)
CONDITIONAL REGISTRATION OF BT COTTON REAFFIRMED
EPA has extended the
conditional registration of cotton containing the gene from Bacillus
thuringiensis (Bt) for 5 years with some limitations. As part of the
continued conditional registration of Bt cotton, EPA is requiring additional
measures to ensure that use of the product does not pose any unreasonable risks
to human health or to the environment.
EPA determined that there
is reasonable certainty that Bt cotton will not pose unreasonable risks to
human health or to the environment. In order to reduce the possibility of
insects developing resistance to Bt, the amended registration requires that
some acres be set aside where non-Bt cotton will be grown to serve as a
"refuge." Highlights of the conditional registration include:
*The 5% unsprayed refuge option will remain in
place until the end of 2004 and then be reviewed again by EPA to determine if
it can be continued. The distance
requirement remains one-half mile (preferably one-quarter mile) as it was in
2001. The only change to this 5%
unsprayed option is that EPA is now allowing the use of acephate and methyl
parathion at one-half pound ai per acre for non-Lepidoptera control.
*The 20%
sprayed and 5% embedded options are unchanged and will be in place for five
years (thru the full re-registration period until the end of 2006). The distance requirement remains as one mile
for the 20% sprayed option. The
"field unit = one mile squared" designation remains for the 5%
embedded option. The embedded option for
pink bollworm areas is stated as "plant the refuge cotton as at least one
single non-Bt cotton row for every six to ten rows of Bt cotton."
*EPA
requested stronger language regarding the choice and management of refuge cotton
regardless of refuge type chosen including the following language: "The
variety of cotton planted in the refuge must be comparable to Bt cotton,
especially in the maturity date, and the refuge must be managed (e.g., planting
time, use of fertilizer, weed control, irrigation, termination, and management
of other pests) similarly to Bt cotton."
*The
community refuge option will be available for the 2002 season as second year
"pilot program". After two
years of the community program (2001 and 2002) EPA will evaluate the program to
determine if it should be continued. For
2002 the program will be available to all growers and conducted in the same way
as it was in 2001 with the following two exceptions. First, growers or community coordinators will
NOT be required to send maps to Monsanto, but as was the case last year, they
must have them if visited by Monsanto.
Second, the deadline for sending the community forms to Monsanto will be
May 31, 2002 rather than May 15 as it was in 2001.
*Monsanto will
be required to conduct a third party phone survey in each of the five years to
determine compliance to the Bollgard refuge requirements.
*EPA has
written a "remedial action plan" for bollworms and budworms that will
be the "official plan" until Monsanto and the states can offer an
agreed upon, alternative plan.
(Sprenkel,
NFREC News 3-24)
"Leon Extension Agents
Teach Loggers How to Conserve and Enhance Wildlife Habitat"
by
Will Sheftall, Leon County Extension
On
October 24 at the UF/IFAS Leon County Extension office, forty-six loggers,
foresters and timber buyers and operators certified through the Florida
Forestry Association as "Master Loggers" received 6 Master Logger
Continuing Education Credits toward their annual continuing education
requirements. They learned about results
desired by landowners who are managing for wildlife, what they want from
loggers, and how logging plans and operations can be tailored to conserve and
enhance wildlife habitat.
According
to Leon County Forestry Extension Agent Stan Rosenthal, "Every year more
and more small non-industrial forest landowners are listing hunting and viewing
wildlife as principal reasons for owning land.
Since their satisfaction is dependant on informed and successful
management, we strongly encourage them to develop a management plan. Technical assistance is available through the
Florida Forest Stewardship Program. I
spend some of my time providing this assistance in cooperation with state
foresters and wildlife biologists employed by our agency partners. But all of this planning is for naught if the
landowner can't get his timber harvested in a way that respects and compliments
his wildlife goals."
Leon
County Natural Resource Management Extension Agent Will Sheftall continues,
"Along with prescribed burning, thinning and harvesting timber are among
the most important tools available to the landowner who wants to manage for
wildlife. But the best-laid thinning or
harvesting plan can't survive a logging crew that doesn't know about,
understand or value the landowner's objectives.
This Master Logger continuing educational program was designed to help
bridge that gap. Many loggers know a lot
about the woods and wildlife, and many hunt, so they have experience-based
knowledge we can build on in teaching them things like wildlife management
concepts and practices, and identification of important mast trees and
shrubs."
Twenty-four
of the 46 workshop participants completed an evaluation form. 79% cited
increased confidence in understanding the basic requirements of wildlife and
what landowners want in a logging job that conserves and enhances wildlife
habitat. 92% said they felt more confident
or a lot more confident about their understanding of logging considerations for
wildlife. 88% said they felt more confident or a lot more confident about their
understanding of how to get it done on the ground.
Extension
Agents Rosenthal and Sheftall planned and delivered the training in cooperation
with Chuck McKelvy, Wayne Harris and Leslie Hawkins of the Florida Fish &
Wildlife Conservation Commission's Forest Stewardship Program, and with Mike
Renwick of the Florida Division of Forestry/Gadsden County. Registration, field trip transportation and
lunch were coordinated by Debbie Sapp of the Florida Forestry Association.
Bob
Moore, Past President of the Florida Forestry Association, was enthusiastic
about the quality and importance of the training to the logging industry, and
has initiated planning with NFREC
Forestry Extension Specialist Dr. Jarek Nowak about replicating the
training in North-Central and Panhandle Florida locations during 2002. Extension Agents Mike Goodchild (Okaloosa-Walton)
and Clay Olsen (Taylor) who provide local Extension programming in forestry
look forward to assisting Dr. Nowak in planning and delivering these future
iterations of "Logging for Wildlife."
(Sheftall,
NFREC News, 3-24)
INDOOR
MOLD WEB SITE
An
information source on toxic indoor mold Stachybotrys chartarum.
If you would like to learn more about indoor mold please visit this web
site:
http://www.apsnet.org/online/feature/stachybotrys/
( Momol, NFREC News, 3-24)
Thought for the Day: Brilliance is
like four-wheel drive: it enables a
person to get
stuck in even more remote places.
(Garrison Keillor)
Cheryl
Vergot,
Public Relations NFREC - Quincy, U/F IFAS
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