10 CapitalPress.com
August 5, 2016
Psyllid quarantine plans advance, research intensiies Idaho
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
SACRAMENTO — As
industry-funded
research
into combating the Asian cit-
rus psyllid intensifies, Cali-
fornia officials are entering
the final stretch in consid-
ering whether to modify the
quarantine against the pest.
The state Department of
Food and Agriculture has
been reviewing comments
received by a June 30 dead-
line and will likely hold
more discussions with citrus
industry leaders about its
plan to take a more regional
approach with the quaran-
tine, said Victoria Hornbak-
er, the CDFA’s citrus pro-
gram manager.
Proposed changes, which
could include stricter con-
trols on moving fruit be-
tween designated regions
within the state, could be
in place within six to nine
months, Hornbaker said.
“It’s a regular rulemak-
ing process, and technically
it hasn’t started the process
yet,” she said. “We’ve been
seeing some expansion of
the Asian citrus psyllid into
new areas and we’ve had in-
creased finds in the Central
Valley. That’s why we’re
dedicated to trying to find
something that will work
better for the industry to help
Courtesy Calif. Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Program
Grace Radabaugh, a researcher from the California Department of Food and Agriculture, points out
an Asian citrus psyllid in a California Polytechnic University-Pomona greenhouse. The university is
opening a new greenhouse to expand research into the psyllid and how to prevent it from spreading a
disease that is decimating the citrus industry.
them protect themselves.”
The idea of setting quar-
antines by region — the San
Joaquin Valley, the Central
Coast, the greater San Fran-
cisco Bay area and Southern
California — was prompted
by the ever expanding quar-
antine zone for the psyllid,
which can carry the deadly
tree disease huanglongbing.
California’s
existing
quarantine now covers near-
ly one-third of the state’s
total land mass. Portions of
Merced and Monterey coun-
ties were the latest to be add-
ed to the zone in mid-July
after psyllid discoveries in
those areas.
Under the existing rules,
fruit moved from the zone
has to be free of leaves and
debris and nurseries must be
USDA-certified. With the
changes, those moving fruit
between regions would have
to take added precautions,
including wet-washing the
fruit.
The proposed changes
come as the College of Ag-
riculture at California Poly-
technic University-Pomona
has opened a 5,040-square-
foot research and insect pro-
duction greenhouse that will
rear a predator wasp that
feeds on Asian citrus psyl-
lids.
The greenhouse was built
through a $400,000 grant
from the state Citrus Pest
and Disease Prevention Pro-
gram, which is funded by
citrus growers. Hornbaker
said predator insects are al-
ready used in urban areas in
Southern California to avoid
having to use chemical treat-
ments, and they will be de-
ployed in Kern County soon.
Meanwhile, the citrus
industry and the University
of California-Riverside are
teaming to build a top-notch
laboratory near that campus
that will enable researchers
to try to neutralize huan-
glongbing, which has al-
ready devastated the citrus
industries in Florida, Geor-
gia, Louisiana, South Car-
olina and Texas. Numerous
other research projects are
ongoing.
“We’ve got some of the
best researchers in the world
working on the problem,
and some of those research-
ers reside in California,”
Hornbaker said. “We’re
working hard with all these
researchers to improve tech-
nologies, to improve traps
and find new ways of sur-
veying for insects and the
disease.”
32-1/#04N
growers
reporting
strong wheat
harvest
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
AMERICAN FALLS, Ida-
ho — Though grain prices re-
main low, Idaho growers say
they’ve been mostly pleased
by plump kernels, decent
quality and above-average
yields at the start of the 2016
fall wheat harvest.
With harvest starting
slightly later than normal,
some growers have been
forced to switch ields upon
encountering green patches
while cutting their grain.
But they’ve also report-
ed strong yields, test weights
above 60 pounds per bushel
and fewer disease problems
than expected.
“We’re getting a good start
on soft white winters, and
we’re seeing areas from the
west towards the east with
excellent yields,” said Jim
Rooney, with Lansing Trade
Group.
Protein levels have been
below average — a common
challenge in high-yielding
seasons. Rooney said growers
should expect steep discounts
for low protein levels in hard
wheat varieties, as well as
generous premiums for high
protein levels.
Early this season, crop pa-
thologists warned conditions
were aligned to cause Idaho
growers problems with sev-
eral diseases and pests, in-
cluding fusarium headblight,
stripe rust, barley yellow
dwarf virus and wireworms.
Rooney believes growers
generally avoided major crop
damage due to favorable
weather conditions and good
management, such as using
seed treatments and delaying
fall planting until after aphid
migrations, in the case of bar-
ley yellow dwarf.
Rooney said stripe rust
caused headaches for growers
who planted susceptible vari-
eties this season, even some
who sprayed three fungicide
applications, but resistant va-
rieties, such as SY Ovation,
escaped damage.
Roughly
15
percent
through his harvest, Declo
grower Mark Darrington said
his yields were slightly above
average and his test weights
were about 61 pounds per
bushel on soft white wheat.
“If you planned ahead and
put a disease package on when
you were planting wheat vari-
eties, you were less subject to
rust and in good shape,” Dar-
rington said.
Idaho Falls grower Gary
Dixon, while preparing to
start harvest, was optimistic
about full kernels and good
yield and quality.
“I think it’s going to be
one of our better crops,” Dix-
on said.
Inkom grower Bill Mc-
Nabb, who started cutting July
25, said kernels are plump in
his fall grain, but he’s wor-
ried the heat could stress his
spring wheat.
With 10 percent of his
harvest complete, American
Falls grower Doug Ruff said
he’s been pleased by his crop,
as have other growers in his
area. Soda Springs dryland
farmer Sid Cellan believes
this year’s crop will be about
average, following a “once-
in-a-lifetime” crop last sea-
son. He’s pleased that hot
weather helped him avoid a
wireworm problem, forcing
the pests deep into the soil.
Grower returns, however,
remain in the cellar, with pric-
es out of Meridian at $4.13
per bushel for hard red winter
and $4.30 for soft white.
According to USDA, the
average price for wheat is ex-
pected to inish the marketing
year at $3.80 per bushel, down
from $5.99 three years ago.
Kansas State Universi-
ty Extension economist Dan
O’Brien explained major
growing areas throughout the
U.S. and the world have all
had bumper crops, and it’s
projected that for every 100
bushels of wheat raised in the
U.S. this season, 49 bushels
will be unused at the market-
ing year’s end.