SMALL FRUIT UPDATE | WEEK 24 |  

JUN 09, 2021

Black Raspberry Fruit Status 5-28-21. Photo by Tom Peerbolt

WHAT'S INSIDE
Julie Pond
INDUSTRY RESOURCES N O R TH W E ST B E RR Y FO U ND A T I O N

GROWER RESOURCES

ALERT: Emergence of adult Rose Stem Girdler (RSG) has been found over the last
INDUSTRY NEWS week in the Willamette Valley region of Oregon and Southwest Washington. This
follows much of the same emergence timing to those first appearances found
PEST MANAGEMENT several years in a row now. Newly planted fields are the most susceptible and
would be the top management priority as primocanes are most vulnerable in those
SFU SPONSORS new plantings.

The length of flight is still being determined with current research projects
monitoring adults via some experimental trapping as well as general observations
of adults (who live an average of one week after emergence), tattered leaf feeding,
and D-shaped emergence holes on the lowest portions of the cane. There is clear
overlap between the tail end of pollination and Rose Stem Girdler emergence so
hopefully bees can be removed or have already been removed from fields with RSG
presence prior to applications. Here is the current PNW Handbook section on RSG.

At least we are having a rare low population SWD year, right?

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Julie
Small Fruit Update is
produced once a week
during the growing
season and bimonthly
outside the growing
season (Oct - Feb)
Updated as of May 24, 2021: ‘Maximum Pesticide Residue Limits
(MRLs) for USA and Foreign Markets’ for Blueberries, Blackberries, Insecticide efficacy rankings for SWD Control
Raspberries and Strawberries
From a survey of national entomologists who work with
Compiled by Dani Lightle, Pesticide Registration Research Leader, Oregon
SWD. Below is the PDF to be linked here.
State University

VIEW SHEETS VIEW PDF

Regional Monitoring

May 28, 2021

VIEW FULL REPORT SIGN UP HERE

REGIONAL MONITORING
(This is a repeat of last week’s information as the new report wasn’t received in time to include in this week’s edition.)

Welcome to this week's Agragene Regional SWD Report. The story this week is more of the same
continued trend of a steady, low-level, population. This might be sounding fairly redundant at this
point, but this is excellent news! The SWD population hasn't been able to create the new generation
of flies in order to build up their numbers, and each week that goes by is indication we will have
later start to actually seeing SWD pressure on susceptible crops.

Location Total SWD

SAUV I E I S LAND 8

BANK S 0

FORE S T GROVE N/A

CORN E L I US 0

HILL S B O RO 3

YAMH I L L 0

DUND E E 0

MCMI N N V ILLE 0

WILS O N V ILLE 0

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 Blueberry Bud Development

PA TRIOT BLUEJAY DU KE DRA PE R TOP S HE L F L IBE RTY A U RORA L A S T CA L L CA L YPS O

WEEK 23 6/4/2021
WEEK 22 6/5/20
WEEK 22 5/31/19
WEEK 22 6/1/18

PA TRIOT BLUEJAY DU KE DRA PE R TOP S HE L F L IBE RTY A U RORA L A S T CA L L CA L YPS O

NWBERRYFOUNDATION.ORG PAGE 03
 Grower Resources

REGIONAL FIELD REPORTS

Western Oregon, Willamette Valley (6/7) From Julie Pond, PCM, Portland, OR
Blueberry: Fruit is swelling well as long as watering is kept up. Blush in the earliest
varieties and bloom is about finished in the latest Rabbiteye varieties.

Strawberries: Hoods are about wrapped up, with a shortened season due to the
recent heat wave. Marys Peak and Puget Crimson are beginning. Sunburn is
noticeable on fruit that didn't have a canopy covering it. But at least SWD hasn't been
a concern.

Raspberries: See photo comparison between Cascade Harvest in NW WA and

Willamette, OR taken within a few days of each other.
Rose Stem Girdler Adult. Photo by Patrick Jones-
OSU-NWREC-6-2-21
Blackberries: Halls Beauty just finishing bloom, Triple Crown is past peak bloom. Fruit
is expanding with regular watering helping unusually dry fields along.

Photos of Cascade Harvest. Left: Photo by Charlie Gunderson in NW WA on 6/3/21. Right: Photo by Julie Pond in OR on 6/7/21

Northwest Washington, (6/8) From Charlie Gundersen (NorCal/Planasa):

Albion has been going strong since a week before Memorial Day and Sweet Sunrise is into harvest now also.

Northern Washington, Whatcom & Skagit Counties (6/8) From Lisa Wasko Devetter, Small Fruit Horticulturist, WSU NWREC,
Mount Vernon:
Strawberry: Strawberry harvest is underway in Skagit and parts of Whatcom. So far, quality is looking good in both the
day-neutrals and June-bearers.

Blueberry: Pollination for blueberries in northwest Washington looks like it was good, especially in 'Duke', However,
'Liberty' and 'Last Call' have had some issues with pollination, which I expect is due to low attractiveness of these cultivars
to honey bees. Raspberries are pushing ahead with honey bees in most fields.

Duke: left photo is open pollinated and right photo is of pollinators excluded. 6/2/21 by Lisa DeVetter

NWBERRYFOUNDATION.ORG PAGE 04
Eastern Washington From Gwen-Alyn Hoheisel (6/8), WSU Regional Extension Specialist:
The high heat last week did advance blueberries. Many are still green but the fruit set and berry size looks good overall.
Some farms have started their first blueberry harvest. SWD do not reproduce well in high heat last week and traps check
so far were minimal to no SWD captures.

Washington (6/8) From Alan Schreiber, Executive Director, Washington Blueberry Commission
We expect first harvest of open field blueberries to begin the week of June 14 in eastern Washington with this part of the
state in full harvest by the week of June 21. Wind storms have slightly reduced yields in some fields blemishing what
otherwise has been one of the best growing conditions in memory. The only pest problems of note has been some aphids
showing up which is not common.

British Columbia, Fraser Valley (6/8) From Chuck Mouritzen, Southwest Crop Consulting, Chilliwack, BC
Blueberry: Kind a of a mixed bag for fruit development out there in the blues. As Jason says the early bloom period was
affected by the weather and it shows in the green fruit in early varieties. Bluecrop looks decently pollinated to me and
Duke has shown some variability field to field so far. Liberty looks off as does Last call. Draper looks ok but we're waiting
for the annual green fruit drop before giving a final estimate on crop potential for this variety.

Raspberry: Early raspberry cultivars like Rudi and Squamish are wrapping up their flowering period now. There has been
an a bit of a considerable increase in aphid numbers in some raspberry fields, so the end of flowering in these earlies will
allow us to apply some control measures. Meekers are continuing to bloom and won't be spray candidates for a while yet,
although there are aphids building in this variety as well. Some fresh Squamish harvest under high tunnels started last
week. Always nice to start getting some returns on all the time and effort put in.

British Columbia, Fraser Valley (6/8) From Jason Smith, Grower, Abbotsford, BC
Blueberry: Fruit is sizing nicely in some fields but seeing 10-20% aborted fruit in early flowering varieties such as Reka,
when we had a lot of rain for 1st 10 days. I am seeing a bit in Duke starting and expecting to see more in other varieties
over the next couple weeks.

The moisture we received over the weekend and possibly through this week is a good think in my opinion. Some fruit rot
here and there but nothing extreme that I've seen yet. Aphids are definitely out there. There was a big push by many
growers who had bees to get them out asap after bloom to control aphids with ongoing virus issues in fields.

Industry News

Survey: How do you get your blueberries pollinated?

As part of a USDA-funded project to improve blueberry pollination, a research team across the US is trying to get a
better understanding of how blueberry growers get their fields pollinated. In addition to the fieldwork being conducted
at blueberry farms in MI, OR, WA, and FL, we want to learn about pollination practices from blueberry farms across the
US. Whether you have 1 acre or 1000 acres, are a U-pick or large scale commercial farmer, please fill out the short
survey below.

COMPLETE SURVEY

NWBERRYFOUNDATION.ORG PAGE 05
PODCASTS OF THE INDUSTRY

The Business of Blueberries: A podcast from the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council hosted by
Kasey Cronquist and Rod Cook.
LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP: A CONVERSATION WITH TOM BODTKE

PolliNation: A podcast from Oregon State University Extension Service hosted by Dr. Andony
Melathopoulos.
182 - MIRANDA JONES - THE GREAT OREGON SQUASH BEE HUNT

NEWSLETTERS

June 2021 Interpack Bulletin

Fruit & Nut Production - MSU Extension News

Oregon IPM Center: Quick News for June 2021

FEATURED LINKS
Blueberry growers needed for pollination survey (6/3, Good Fruit Grower)

Washington state repeals COVID-19 rules for vaccinated farm workers (6/2, Fruit Grower News)

OZblu claims record blueberry sea voyage length (6/2, Fresh Fruit Portal)

Severe drought spreads in Washington (6/4, Capital Press)

Maine’s wild blueberry crop faces climate change peril (6/5, ABC News)

LABOR
April hired farm workers down 11%; wages up 6%, USDA reports
READ MORE
(6/3, Fruit Grower News)

PEST MANAGEMENT
An organic alternative to combatting spotted wing Drosophila
READ MORE
(6/2, Cal Fresh) “Methyl benzoate is a naturally occurring compound produced by plants.”

COMPANIES
Always Fresh Farms remains a leader in berries
READ MORE
(6/3, The Produce News)

FOOD SECURITY
USDA to invest $1 billion to purchase food for food insecure Americans & build food bank capacity
READ MORE
(6/4, The Packer)

NWBERRYFOUNDATION.ORG PAGE 06
 World food prices rise at fastest pace in a decade as inflation concerns continue in U.S.
READ MORE
(6/4, The Packer)

HEALTH BENEFITS NEWS

USHBC promotes the health benefits of blueberries during Brain Health Month
READ MORE
(6/3, Fresh Fruit Portal)

NORTH AMERICA
Texas: Bumper peach and blackberry crops forecast
READ MORE
(6/4, Fresh Plaza)

AFRICA
Morocco: Blueberries in the Sahara
READ MORE
(5/31, Blueberry Consulting)

Pest and Crop Management

Please note that our Pest and Crop Management section will return in
the near future.

Industry Calendar

JULY 2021
Washington Blueberry Commission Meeting
07
FURTHER DETAILS COMING SOON.

Washington Raspberry Field Day

14
WEDNESDAY, JULY 14TH 1-3PM AT THE HONCOOP FARM: 9696 NORTHWOOD ROAD, LYNDEN, WA.

SEPTEMBER 2021

Washington Red Raspberry Commission Board Meeting

15
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2021, 1PM -5 PM

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small fruit industry through education, research and information access. The SFU is made possible through the generosity of our sponsors and
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NWBERRYFOUNDATION.ORG PAGE 07
 THE SMALL FRUIT UPDATE
WEEK 24 | JUNE 09, 2021

This is the sole industry publication, For more information or requests please contact:
gathering grower and producer news, and
regional field reports to unite, stabilize, and Abby Gearing,
strengthen the Northwest berry growing SFU Designer & Editor
region (Canada and US). abby@nwberries.org

Production is independent of government Tom Peerbolt,

and commercial control and made possible NBF Director & Editor
by the following commission & councils. tom@peerbolt.com.