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CapitalPress.com
Friday, April 16, 2021
Researchers receive grant to study rapid apple decline
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
ITHACA, N.Y. — Cor-
nell University researchers
recently received a $299,000
USDA grant to study rapid
apple decline, a little-under-
stood phenomenon respon-
sible for killing apple trees
across Canada and North
America, including in the
Pacific Northwest.
The three-year study is
one of the first federally
funded projects to investi-
gate RAD in the U.S. The
goal is to track down the
cause, or causes and learn
about root systems of apple
rootstocks in the process.
Awais Khan, associate
professor of plant pathol-
ogy and plant-microbe biol-
ogy at Cornell and lead proj-
ect researcher, said the study
will likely prove “very help-
Awais Khan
Marc Fuchs
ful” to the apple industry.
Rapid apple decline was
so named to describe the
rapid deterioration and death
of trees associated with the
syndrome. It is also called
sudden apple decline, apple
decline or rapid decline of
apple trees.
Scientists started tracking
RAD around 2013, although
a similar phenomenon was
reported in Washington state
orchards as early as 1983.
Scott Harper, assistant
professor of plant pathology
at Washington State Uni-
versity, said in recent years
Courtesy of Cornell University
A tree killed by rapid apple decline.
he and fellow researchers
have responded to reports of
decline at about 20 sites from
the Yakima Valley north into
the Brewster-Omak region.
Khan, of Cornell, said
it’s not clear whether people
have recently been reporting
more cases because cases
are on the rise, because peo-
ple are simply more aware,
or both.
Because RAD’s cause is
unknown, it’s also unclear
whether trees in different
regions are dying for the
same reasons.
Khan suspects the syn-
drome may have something
to do with root health.
“We can see only above
ground. So, if a tree’s
declining, we think some-
thing is wrong with the leaf
or branch or trunk,” he said.
“But we ignore the hidden
half of the plant, the roots.”
Over the next few years,
Khan and fellow researcher
Marc Fuchs, a Cornell Uni-
versity virologist, plan to
study roots.
Khan said one possible
explanation for RAD might
be that modern, high-density
orchards lead to weaker root
systems.
About 15 to 20 years ago,
growers planted 250 to 300
trees per acre.
“That has changed dra-
matically,” Khan said.
Many growers have
moved to dwarfing root
systems and plant 1,500 to
2,000 trees per acre. This
is called a high-density
orchard, which has a high
economic return and is eas-
ier to manage. But Khan said
he wonders if the root sys-
tems are too close together,
possibly causing trees to rob
one another of nutrients.
“There is no compre-
hensive scientific study on
the sustainability and vul-
nerability of high-density
orchards,” he said.
Khan and Fuchs aim to
study this.
The researchers have
obtained young trees from
one West Coast nursery and
two East Coast nurseries.
They will also work with
adult trees provided by com-
mercial growers.
Idaho Water Users Association
Club aims to enhance visibility of
slates ag water safety campaigns LGBTQ students in agriculture
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
The Idaho Water Users
Association is adapting its
annual canal-safety messag-
ing to a growing population
and increasingly diverse
media landscape.
IWUA each year pro-
motes safety around the
state’s irrigation canals,
ditches, laterals and other
water-delivery infrastruc-
ture. Its new Ag Water
Safety Week campaigns, set
May 24-28 and July 26-30,
will replace the traditional
six- to eight-week summer
campaign.
Executive
Director
and General Counsel Paul
Arrington said delivering
safety messaging during a
concentrated period over
broadcast, print and social
media aims to leave a last-
ing impres-
sion
on
more peo-
ple. That’s
import-
ant partly
because
Paul
some
of
Arrington
the state’s
fast-grow-
ing population lives near
irrigation infrastructure for
the first time.
“Our hope at the end of
the day is less drowning. …
For us, success is not expe-
riencing injuries or deaths in
the canals,” he said.
At least one person dies
most years in an Idaho
canal. The association
reports more children drown
in irrigation facilities than in
any other water body in the
state.
“We teach children to
stay out of the road, and we
need to teach them to stay
away from these canals as
well,” said Twin Falls Canal
Co. Field Supervisor Jay
Barlogi, who chairs IWUA’s
Rural and Urban Affairs
Committee.
“To some, a canal might
look like an inviting place to
swim or recreate,” Arrington
said. “Really, they are quite
dangerous.”
Swift undercurrents, sub-
surface structures and debris,
and steep banks that make
escapes difficult are among
the factors that make canals
much more dangerous than
they may appear, he said.
Black Canyon Irrigation
District Manager Carl Hayes
said municipal planning also
can put more people close
to canals. An example is a
public walkway positioned
to make an irrigation water-
way a scenic amenity.
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S214631-1
OSU starts first
Cultivating Change
chapter on West Coast
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
CORVALLIS, Ore. —
Growing up in suburban
Seattle, Abi Bickford admits
she didn’t know much about
agriculture.
Bickford, 21, came to
Oregon State University
four years ago and initially
planned to major in sociol-
ogy. Then she took a class in
soil science, and it changed
her outlook.
“We got to dig in the dirt,
and get our hands dirty. It
was fun,” said Bickford,
who switched her major
to agricultural sciences. “I
realized this is my path, and
these are my people.”
However, Bickford, who
describes herself as a mul-
tiracial queer woman, said
she didn’t recognize herself
reflected among many of her
classmates. While nobody
intentionally made her feel
unwelcome, she had a hard
time connecting with other
people like her.
A new club aims to
change that feeling of iso-
lation. Bickford and others
were instrumental in forming
a new chapter of the Culti-
vating Change Foundation at
OSU, promoting LGBTQ+
inclusiveness in the agricul-
ture industry. LGBTQ refers
to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender and Queer.
Cultivating Change is a
national nonprofit founded
in 2015, with university
chapters at Penn State, Vir-
ginia Tech, North Carolina
State, Ohio State and now
OSU — the first west of the
Mississippi River.
OSU officially recog-
nized Cultivating Change
as a student organization in
January. Before that, Bick-
ford said members and fac-
ulty advisors met regularly
over Zoom to discuss their
mission, and develop their
constitution.
“It’s really about visibil-
Abi
Bickford
Christina
Walsh
ity, networking and advo-
cacy, all within LGBTQ+
agriculturists and allies,”
Bickford said.
Christina Walsh, student
engagement coordinator for
the College of Agricultural
Sciences, serves as one of
the club’s faculty advisers.
Walsh also openly identifies
as a queer woman, and is a
highly visible presence on
campus.
Students
approached
Walsh and Robin Fro-
jen, who manages the OSU
Creamery, about forming
a club for members of the
LGBTQ+ community spe-
cifically in agriculture.
“Being a part of the
LGBTQ community, it’s
not always obvious who
else around you in class, or
in your college and on cam-
pus, is also part of that com-
munity,” Walsh said. “What
I hear overwhelmingly is a
great appreciation that this
opportunity to connect with
others exists.”
Frojen, faculty co-spon-
sor alongside Walsh, said she
is excited about the potential
of more people who iden-
tify as LGBTQ+ getting the
support and acceptance they
need to thrive in their future
agricultural careers.
“We believe this club
has the ability to open a lot
of doors that students may
have felt were closed in the
past,” Frojen said.
Ryan Auld, a first-year
student at OSU majoring in
bioresource research, was
another key figure in starting
the club.
As a bisexual, transgen-
der man, Auld said there is
a perception that agriculture
is dominated by white cis-
gender men. But that is not
really true.
“Because there’s no one
really representing anyone
else, we don’t see the real
diversity
that exists in
the agricul-
tural com-
munity,” he
said.
Once stu-
Robin
dents return
Frojen
to campus
for in-person classes next
fall, Walsh said she believes
the group will be able to
reach many new members.
“The conversations are
starting to turn toward
what we can do, and what
we can get out of this,” she
said. “There is talk about
possibly doing outreach
to high school LGBTQ+
groups.
“We’re also hoping to
hear from and do outreach
to agricultural sectors and
industry members who either
run operations or are part of
the community, who want to
connect with our group and
do some professional devel-
opment,” Walsh added. “I
know those folks are out
there, and we hope the estab-
lishment of this group will
help identify them and make
those connections.”
Kirk Maag, a Portland
attorney and OSU alumnus,
is president of the board of
directors for the national Cul-
tivating Change Foundation.
The foundation previously
held its third annual recep-
tion in Portland in 2019.
“I am particularly proud
to see such enthusiasm for
this important work at OSU,”
Maag said. “It takes leader-
ship from the top and vocal
allies that students would
even feel comfortable pre-
senting an idea like this.”
Bickford was elected as
the first president of the OSU
chapter, and hopes to con-
tinue in the group’s leader-
ship. She said they are plan-
ning to hold more in-person
events in the coming months
as pandemic restrictions are
lifted, such as group picnics
and plant swaps.
“Queer people are here,
and they are actively part
of this (agricultural) com-
munity,” Bickford said. “I
think the need for this club is
pressing.”