"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." --Aristotle

Address any questions or comments regarding this newsletter to the individual authors listed after each article or to its editor, Rick Weinzierl, 217-333-6651, weinzier@illinois.edu. To receive e-mail notification of new postings of this newsletter, call or write the same number or address.

In This Issue:

Chris Doll Scholarship Fund

Upcoming Programs (listings for beginning and established growers)

Regional Reports (from southern and western Illinois, and from the Illinois office of USDA NASS)

Fruit Production and Pest Management (periodical cicada, AppleTalk conference calls)

Vegetable Production and Pest Management (temps for germination and transplants, specialty potato varieties, cover crops survey, endosulfan phase-out)

University of Illinois Extension educators and specialists in fruit and vegetable production and pest management

Chris Doll Scholarship Fund

The membership of the Illinois Specialty Growers Association has established a scholarship fund to honor the outstanding accomplishments of former University of Illinois Extension Educator Chris Doll. These scholarships will provide $1,000 annually to each of two to three undergraduate students at University of Illinois who are pursuing careers in horticulture with an emphasis on fruits and vegetables. As all of you know, Chris is very passionate about helping bright students develop careers in agriculture, and his love of helping growers in Illinois and the Midwest is not matched by anyone. What is a better investment than to establish these scholarships in honor of Chris' accomplishments to help support students that someday will follow in his footsteps. Chris has promised to meet with the recipient students to share his secrets for success. We hope that many of you will contribute to these scholarships not only to honor Chris, but to train the next generation of great extension specialists to be as passionate as Chris.

To make a contribution to this scholarship fund, please send a check (in any amount you choose) payable to the Illinois Specialty Growers Association, c/o Diane Handley, ISGA Manager, with a note on the check that it is for the Chris Doll Scholarship Fund. Your donation will be tax deductible. Mail checks to. Illinois Specialty Growers Association, 1701 Towanda Avenue, Bloomington, I. 61701.  Questions? Contact Diane at 309-557-2107 or dhandley@ilfb.org.

Diane Handley (309-557-2107; dhandley@ilfb.org)

Upcoming Programs

Check the Illinois SARE calendar for a full list of programs and links for registration.
http://illinoissare.org/ and http://illinoissare.org/calendar.php
Also see the University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Team's web site at:
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/smallfarm/ and their calendar of events at http://web.extension.illinois.edu/units/calendar.cfm?UnitID=629.

University of Illinois Small Farm Webinar Series. A weekly educational series for the small farm community on important topics to advance local food production in Illinois. This series is aimed at providing small farm producers with a look at how leading practices in production, management, and marketing enable operations to improve profitability and sustainability. Webinars air live each Thursday at 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. and include a question and answer session. If you cannot attend, a link to the recorded webinars will be available to view at your convenience for all those who register. To register, see http://go.illinois.edu/2015winterwebinars or contact. Miki White, University of Illinois Extension, Small Farms/Local Foods Program Coordinator, Knox County; 309-342-5108 or miki7047@illinois.edu. Remaining webinars include ...

Mar. 12, 2015   Effective Farmers Market Displays
Mar. 19, 2015   Veggie Compass Record-Keeping Software.
Mar. 26, 2015   Variety Selection & Rootstocks for Establishing Apple Orchards

Kyle Cecil (309-342-5108; cecil@illinois.edu)

High Tunnel Webinar Series from University of Kentucky. Covers season extension in high tunnel production systems; 6 webinars, each 75 minutes long, in February and March of 2015.  For more information and to register, contact Miranda at 859-218-4384 or miranda.hileman@uky.edu.  All webinars will be broadcast from 5:30 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. CDT. Remaining topics ...

March 10   Crop, Irrigation & Equipment Options
March 17   Insect, Weed & Disease Control
March 24   Producer Views & Series Wrap-up

Regional Reports

From southern Illinois ...  Our winter seems to be coming a little later than we expected, with multiple shots of snow across southern Illinois in the last few weeks.  Snow totals have varied, but almost everyone has seen significant snowfall at least once lately.  Fortunately some warmer weather is forecasted, and by early next week we might be close to 60°.

In mid-February the temperature was down to -5° here in Murphysboro and down to 0° inside the high tunnel.  Throughout all of those low temperatures, all of our crops (lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, and carrots) survived with very little injury under a row cover in the tunnel.  We did have a few leaves on the lettuce show injury, but the plants quickly grew out of it.  The many sunny days we have had between the snow events has been helpful to keep plants going in the tunnels.  Don’t forget to remove the snow off of high tunnels, as many structurally cannot handle the load, and on a sunny day if the tunnel is covered with snow you aren’t gaining that much needed solar radiation to heat the tunnel.

Nathan Johanning (618-939-3434; njohann@illinois.edu)

From western Illinois ... I think we'll all be glad when spring finally gets here. Nothing like cloudy and cold weather to really make for some dreary times. It seems as though the sun just couldn't shine much during the month of February, so I don't think I'm alone when I'm more than looking forward to sunshine and 60 degrees.

We're on the second harvest of high tunnel winter spinach. We've had some aphid issues, which we've had every year during winter production (summer too) but those are under control.  The longer day lengths are helping with growth. The taste is superb, as the plants have higher sugar levels to help reduce cold injury.

Voles are a continual problem on our farm, and the high tunnel environment is ideal for them to overwinter (we were working in a tunnel on a 30 degree day the last week in February, and the temps inside were in the 70's).  We had to trap them out several times over the winter to prevent loss of crop.  It's amazing how much they can eat in just a week's time!

I'm sure most of you have heard of Drift Watch, a web site where you can list the locations that you're growing specialty crops.  The idea is that pesticide applicators will reference that site prior to making application and thus avoid any potential drift issues.  We know that nothing is fool proof, but making the attempt to provide geo-references can only help.  In addition to listing on this web site, make every attempt to contact every grower who surrounds your operation and personally inform them of your concern – how valuable the crop is, your commitment to provide fresh, local product, and that any unwanted drift will cause economic hardship, etc.   You'll probably find that many corn and soybean farmers don't apply their own pesticides but hire custom applicators to do that task.  So your next step should be to personally visit each of those facilities, taking a plat book with you so you can show where your fields are located. Again share with them the importance of preventing pesticide trespass.  Yes, I realize that we're placing the responsibility on you, but understand that it's in your best interest to provide them the details that might help avoid problems during the coming growing season.  Nothing is certain, but I'd rather err on the side of caution.. See www.driftwatch.org.

Mike Roegge (217-223-8380; roeggem@illinois.edu)

From the Springfield office of USDA NASS ... In February, the USDA released its Specialty Crops summary from the 2012 Census of Agriculture. If you're interested in statistics on acreage, production, and sales, you can check it out at http://agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Resources/Specialty_Crops/SCROPS.pdf.

Mark Schleusener, Illinois State Statistician, USDA-NASS (217-524-9606; mark.schleusener@nass.usda.gov)

Fruit Production and Pest Management

Lower Mississippi Valley Brood (Marlatt's XXIII) of 13-Year Periodical Cicadas in 2015

Marlatt's Brood XXIII 13-year periodical cicada will emerge in the lower Mississippi River Valley this spring. This brood contains all four described species of periodical cicadas – Magicicada neotredecim, Magicicada tredecim, M. tredecassini, and M. tredecula. Here's some text adapted from the 2015 Midwest Tree Fruit Spray Guide ...

Periodical cicadas are orange and black, about 11⁄2 inches long, with mostly transparent wings; they appear mainly in late May and June. Annual or dog-day cicadas are larger, mostly green and black, and appear each year from July to September.


Magicicada neotredecim (from http://www.magicicada.org/about/species_pages/m_ndecim.php)

Older maps of Marlatt’s Brood XXIII indicate its distribution as shown to the left. For a more recent map of its distribution and some comments, see http://www.magicicada.org/about/brood_pages/broodXXIII.php.

Ordinarily, annual cicadas do not cause much damage. Cicada males announce their presence to the voiceless females by making a continuous, high-pitched shrill sound. The adult females lay eggs in rows in pockets that they cut in small branches and twigs of trees with their long, knife-like egg-laying organ. The eggs hatch in 6-7 weeks, and the newly hatched nymphs fall to the ground and burrow until they find suitable roots, usually 1 1⁄2 to 2 feet beneath the soil surface.  With their sucking mouthparts, they immediately begin to suck juices from the roots.

Females prefer oak, hickory, apple, peach, and pear trees and grape vines for laying eggs. Because the numbers of periodical cicadas are so great during emergence years, egg-laying by females can severely damage twigs and small branches of fruit trees (and other trees), brambles, blueberries, and grapes. Damage occurs when the females make slits in branches and twigs in which to deposit the eggs. These small twigs and branches turn brown and die, sometimes breaking off.  The damage may be severe in newly planted orchards.  Egg-laying damage can be prevented on small trees by covering the tree with protective netting, such as cheesecloth. Cover the tree and tie the netting to the trunk below the lower branches, then remove the covering when egg-laying is over. If netting is not a practical option, you may apply insecticides when egg-laying begins and repeat as necessary when reinfestations occur. Pyrethroids are generally the most effective insecticides against periodical cicada, but they may also trigger mite outbreaks because they kill the predators that help to keep European red mite in check. Pyrethroids registered on one or more perennial fruit crops include Asana, Baythroid, Brigade, Danitol, Mustang Max, Pounce, and Warrior. All of these insecticides are classified for restricted-use, so only licensed pesticide applicators are allowed to purchase them. Check the 2015 Midwest Tree Fruit Spray Guide to see which insecticides are labeled for use on which crops.

Rick Weinzierl (217-244-2126; weinzier@illinois.edu)

AppleTalk Weekly IPM Conference Calls

For apple growers in northern Illinois ...

Starting in late April, the UW-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems Eco-Fruit Project, in collaboration with the Wisconsin Apple Growers Association and the IPM Institute of North America will offer another season of weekly conference calls with IPM consultant John Aue and other IPM specialists. This series of 16 weekly calls requires a subscription of $125 and allows you to stay informed on pest conditions, answer pressing questions, and learn about other growers' approaches to IPM. The call moderator is John Aue, an IPM consultant for the tree fruit industry in the upper Midwest for over 25 years. Specialists from universities around the region participate as guests and discuss a wide range of IPM and fruit production issues, including insect, weed, and disease management, thinning, and tree nutrition.

To see the AppleTalk blog and read transcripts from previous conference calls, see www.ecofruit.wisc.edu/appletalk. Calls are scheduled for 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. Central Time every Tuesday from late April 29 through early August. The AppleTalk blog is a website that includes weekly call recordings and transcripts and other timely information. Your password will be required to access new blog posts. No password is required to access information from prior seasons.  If you cannot participate during the live calls, call recordings may be accessed via download from the AppleTalk blog or with a call-in number to listen over the phone. Instructions will be provided upon your registration.

To register, contact Peter Werts at pwerts@ipminstitute.org or 608-265-3704 or download the registration form from Apple Talk Registration Form PDF, fill it in, and mail it to:

The IPM Institute of North America, Inc.
ATTN: Apple Talk Conference Call
1020 Regent St.
Madison WI 53715

Vegetable Production and Pest Management

Optimum Temperatures for Seed Germination and Transplant Production

Favorable temperature is an important requirement for seed germination.  Some seeds will germinate over a wide range of temperatures, whereas others require a narrow range.  Generally, 65 to 75°F is best for germination in most plants. This often means that germination flats may have to be placed on heating mats to maintain optimum temperature. The importance of maintaining proper soil and air temperature to achieve maximum germination percentages cannot be over-emphasized. The following table, taken from http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/mg/vegetable/temperature.html,  lists seed germination ranges for several common crops.

Soil temperature for vegetable seed germination.1

Vegetable

Min.
(°F)

Range
(°F)

Optimum
(°F)

Max
(°F)

Days to
Germination

Asparagusa

50°

60° - 85°

75°

95°

21 - 30

Beand

60°

60° - 85°

80°

95°

7 - 14

Bean, Limae

60°

65° - 85°

85°

85°

10 - 14

Beetb

40°

50° - 85°

85°

95°

7 - 14

Cabbagea,b

40°

45° - 95°

85°

100°

7 - 10

Carrotb

40°

45° - 85°

80°

95°

10 - 21

Cauliflowera,b

40°

45° - 85°

80°

100°

3 - 10

Celerya

40°

60° - 70°

70°

85°

14 - 21

Chard, Swissb

50°

50° - 85°

85°

95°

7 - 14

Cornd

50°

60° - 95°

95°

105°

7 - 10

Cucumberc,d

60°

75° - 95°

95°

105°

7 - 10

Eggplantc

60°

40° - 80°

85°

95°

7 - 12

Lettucea

35°

40° - 80°

75°

85°

7 - 14

Muskmelone

60°

75° - 95°

90°

100°

7 - 10

Okrae

60°

70° - 95°

95°

105°

8 - 12

Oniona

35°

50° - 95°

75°

95°

10 - 14

Parsleyb

40°

50° - 85°

75°

90°

10 - 21

Parsnipb

35°

50° - 70°

65°

85°

14 - 21

Peab

40°

40° - 75°

75°

85°

8 - 10

Pepperc

60°

65° - 95°

85°

95°

14 - 21

Pumpkind

60°

70° - 90°

95°

100°

7 - 10

Radishb

40°

45° - 90°

95°

95°

3 - 7

Spinachb

35°

45° - 75°

70°

85°

7 - 10

Squashd

60°

70° - 95°

95°

100°

9 - 12

Tomatoc

59°

60° - 85°

85°

95°

5 - 14

Turnipb

40°

60° - 105°

85°

105°

6 - 7

Watermelone

60°

70° - 95°

95°

105°

7 – 10

1Compiled by J.F. Harrington, Dept. of Vegetable Crops, University of California, Davis.
aHardy vegetables to grow as transplants.
bHardy vegetables for direct seeding.
cTender vegetables to grow as transplants.
dTender vegetables for direct seeding.
eTender vegetables for direct seeding, 2 weeks after last frost.

Similarly, to have hardy transplants in the optimum amount of time and to produce transplants that will establish well, yield early, and yield well for longest time, grow-out temperatures should be managed as much as possible as well. The following table (from the same source as above) provides an overview for most common crops.

Temperatures and times required for growing plants for field transplanting.

Vegetable

Day
(°F)

Night
(°F)

Time2
(weeks)

Asparagus

70° - 80°

65° - 70°

8 - 10

Broccoli

60° - 70°

50° - 60°

5 - 7

Brussels Sprouts

60° - 70°

50° - 60°

5 - 7

Cabbage

60° - 70°

50° - 60°

5 - 7

Cauliflower

60° - 70°

50° - 60°

5 - 7

Celery

65° - 75°

60° - 65°

10 - 12

Sweet Corn

70° - 75°

60° - 65°

3 - 4

Cucumber

70° - 75°

60° - 65°

3 - 4

Eggplant

70° - 80°

65° - 70°

6 - 8

Lettuce

70° - 80°

50° - 55°

5 - 7

Muskmelon

70° - 75°

60° - 65°

3 - 4

Onion

60° - 65°

55° - 60°

10 - 12

Pepper

65° - 75°

60° - 65°

6 - 8

Summer Squash

70° - 75°

60° - 65°

3 - 4

Tomato

70° - 75°

65° - 75°

5 - 7

Watermelon

70° - 80°

65° - 70°

3 - 4

2Time required grow out transplants will differ significantly depending on daily duration and intensity of lighting.

Kyle Cecil (309-342-5108; cecil@illinois.edu)

Specialty Potato Varieties

Many local growers have potatoes as a part of their market offering, and potato planting time (late March to Mid-April) will be here before you know it.  There are all kinds of shapes, sizes, and colors of potatoes available that might appeal to your specific consumer base.

Dr. Alan Walter of SIU and I collaborated on a specialty potato variety trial a few years ago.  It included different shapes, sizes, and colors of potatoes, including some fingerling varieties.  The data below and pictures represent 10 varieties; however, there are many more – over 70 different varieties from a range of suppliers.  The table provides you with yield, tuber size, and overall rating for the quality and consistency of tubers

Overall Kennebec is still one of the highest yielding and largest varieties.  However, some of the other varieties produced good yields and offer unique colors and sizes that your customers, including some local chefs, might want.  The largest tuber is not what every consumer wants to buy.   Many like smaller potatoes that can be cooked whole without peeling.  Overall, as with any crop, you have to know your market. 

If you are new to potato production and would like to learn more, you can view this webinar on potato production from the Small Farms Webinar Series (https://uofi.app.box.com/s/u1pp0cc05zoyy899hi1ygki9qtj46x2i).

Yield data, Specialty Potato Variety Trial, SIU Horticulture Research Center, Carbondale, IL (2006-2008).

Cultivar

Marketable Yield
lbs/100 ft row

Total Yield
lbs/100 ft row

Ave. Marketable Tuber Size
oz./tuber

Overall Quality
10=Excellent
0=Poor

Russian Banana*

85.0

200.0

1.38

3.8

Desiree

293.1

379.1

3.49

7.1

Austrian Crescent*

142.8

229.7

1.81

4.9

Yukon Gold

183.8

213.8

5.35

7.9

Red Pontiac

100.6

150.0

3.28

5.8

Kennebec

230.0

279.7

4.71

8.6

Carola

199.7

293.9

2.99

6.7

German Butterball

218.6

352.1

2.53

6.0

All Blue

183.1

333.1

2.64

6.6

Durango

193.3

276.4

3.18

7.0

Seed Source: Milk Ranch Specialty Potatoes, LLC now Potato Garden
*Fingerling Potato Variety


Specialty Potatoes

Nathan Johanning (618-939-3434; njohann@illinois.edu)

National Survey on Cover Crops

Farmers are invited to share their thoughts on cover crops - whether or not they use cover crops themselves - in a national survey, now in its third year of collecting data. The results, which will be released this summer, will help growers, researchers, agricultural advisors, ag retailers and policy makers more effectively address questions about cover crops and learn about best practices. To take the survey, use

http://2014-2015covercropsurvey.questionpro.com/

Farmers who complete the questionnaire are eligible for a drawing for one of two $100 Visa gift cards.  All answers are anonymous; respondents will be directed to another website at the end of the survey to enter the $100 Visa gift card drawing.

The survey is being conducted by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) and is sponsored by USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA), and Corn+Soybean Digest.

Reminder on the Phase-Out of Endosulfan

For the last few years, the US EPA's phase-out of registrations of endosulfan due to worker safety concerns has been underway. The "end use" dates for several crops are listed below, including those that have passed in recent years. Note that these phase-out dates take precedence over the label on products purchased in the past. Even if the product you possess has a label that allows use on these crops, you may NOT legally apply endosulfan to a crop after the end date listed below.

Group A. Use ended July 31, 2012
Almond, apricot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, celery (non-AZ), citrus (non-bearing), collard , greens, dry beans, dry peas, eggplant, filbert, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, nectarine (CA only), macadamia, plum and prune, poplars grown for pulp and timber, strawberry (annual), sweet potato, tart cherry, turnip, walnut, ornamental trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. Other uses on product labels not listed above or in group B, C, D, E, or F. .

Group B. Use also ended July 31, 2012
Cabbage, celery (AZ only), cotton, cucumbers, lettuce, stone fruits not listed in group A, including nectarine (non-CA), peaches, and sweet cherry, summer melons (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon), summer squash, tobacco.

Group C. Use ended July 31, 2013
Pear

Group D. Florida – Use ended December 31, 2014
All Florida uses on: apple, blueberry, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, sweet corn, tomato, winter squash..

Group E. Use ends July 31, 2015
Apple, blueberry, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, sweet corn, tomato, winter squash.

Group F. Use ends July 31, 2016
Livestock ear tags, pineapple, strawberry (perennial/biennial), vegetable crops for seed (alfalfa, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, collard greens, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, radish, rutabaga, turnip).

Rick Weinzierl (217-244-2126; weinzier@illinois.edu)

Less Seriously ...

(with many of these taken from a posting on the applecrop list-serve by Evan Milburn) ...



University of Illinois Extension Specialists in Fruit and Vegetable Production & Pest Management

Extension Educators – Local Food Systems and Small Farms

Bronwyn Aly, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Pope, Saline, and White counties

618-382-2662

baly@illinois.edu

Katie Bell, Franklin, Jackson, Perry, Randolph, & Williamson counties

618-687-1727

klbell@illinois.edu

Sarah Farley, Lake & McHenry counties

847-223-8627

sfarley@illinois.edu

Nick Frillman, Woodford, Livingston, & McLean counties

309-663-8306

frillma2@illinois.edu

Laurie George, Bond, Clinton, Jefferson, Marion, & Washington counties

618-548-1446

ljgeorge@illinois.edu

Zachary Grant, Cook County

708-679-6889

zgrant2@illinois.edu

Doug Gucker, DeWitt, Macon, and Piatt counties

217-877-6042

dgucker@illinois.edu

Erin Harper, Champaign, Ford, Iroquois, and Vermillion counties

217-333-7672

harper7@illinois.edu

Grace Margherio, Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center, St. Clair County

217-244-3547

gracem@illinois.edu

Grant McCarty, Jo Daviess, Stephenson, and Winnebago counties

815-235-4125

gmccarty@illinois.edu

Katie Parker, Adams, Brown, Hancock, Pike and Schuyler counties

217-223-8380

keparkr2@illinois.edu

Kathryn Pereira, Cook County

773-233-2900

kpereira@illinois.edu

James Theuri, Grundy, Kankakee, and Will counties

815-933-8337

jtheu50@illinois.edu

Extension Educators – Horticulture

Chris Enroth, Henderson, Knox, McDonough, and Warren counties

309-837-3939

cenroth@illinois.edu

Richard Hentschel, DuPage, Kane, and Kendall counties

630-584-6166

hentschel@illinois.edu

Andrew Holsinger, Christian, Jersey, Macoupin, & Montgomery counties

217-532-3941

aholsing@illinois.edu

Extension Educators - Commercial Agriculture

Elizabeth Wahle, Fruit & Vegetable Production

618-344-4230

wahle@illinois.edu

Nathan Johanning, Madison, Monroe & St. Clair counties

618-939-3434

njohann@illinois.edu

Campus-based  Extension Specialists

Kacie Athey, Entomology

217-244-9916

kathey@illinois.edu

Mohammad Babadoost, Plant Pathology

217-333-1523

babadoos@illinois.edu