Growers were given a list of 13 potential barriers to transitioning to organic (Table 1) and were asked to select the three largest obstacles. Most growers considered insect and weed management—78 percent and 73 percent, respectively—to be a major obstacle and 61 percent considered disease to be a major obstacle. Nearly one-quarter of the growers (23 percent) considered organic farming to be too labor intense. Growers were asked to list the top three areas in which they would like to see more research. Herbicides were listed by 62 percent of respondents, cultivation by 49 percent and insecticides by 42 percent. This suggests that concerns about pest management and the need for better tools not only prevents growers from adopting organic practices, but is also a major concern for conventional growers. This concern is reflected in the number of acres planted with sweet corn relative to tomatoes or other vegetables. The average fresh market grower planted eight acres of sweet corn and 0.7 acres of tomatoes. Growers reported fewer tillage and cultivation passes and less hand-weeding for sweet corn than for tomatoes, suggesting that pest management is less problematic in sweet corn than in tomatoes. This likely reflects better herbicide options for sweet corn than for tomatoes.

Despite their concerns about pest management, 35 percent of respondents listed organic agriculture among their top three areas for research. This suggests that Indiana growers are interested in organic vegetable production but desire additional evidence based on university research that pests can be successfully managed. They appear willing to consider transitioning to organic production but need greater assurance that effective production tools are available.

Table 1. List of potential obstacles to converting to organic vegetable production. Growers were asked to check the three largest and the three smallest obstacles from the list.

1. Difficulty controlling insects.
2. Difficulty controlling disease.
3. Difficulty controlling weeds.
4. Managing fertility without synthetic fertilizers.
5. Too labor intensive.
6. Requires too much time to manage.
7. Not sure which crop rotations to use.
8. Don’t know where to sell organic products.
9. Wouldn’t make as much money as with conventional farming.
10. Have too much invested in current equipment.
11. The certification process is too difficult.
12. Inadequate information of organic farming.
13. Difficulty obtaining organically approved seed, fertilizer, or other production inputs.

The blueberry maggot is a key pest of blueberries because infestation of fruit by the larvae of blueberry maggot makes it unmarketable. Management of this insect, whether organically or conventionally, depends on monitoring and appropriate reaction to trapping of flies. Organic growers may be more likely to engage in cultural controls to disrupt the life cycle, but the goal is the same – to prevent berries from becoming infested. This article reviews the currently available organic management options against blueberry maggot.

The first blueberry maggot flies begin to emerge from the soil in late June or early July, and are often stimulated to emerge by rain. After emergence, flies spend six to ten days feeding on insect honeydew, secretions and other deposits on foliage and bird droppings. During this period, female flies become sexually mature and mate. Once mated, the females seek ripening blueberries in which to lay eggs. At this time, flies often immigrate into fields from surrounding wild habitats, but if infestations are established in fields the flies can emerge here and quickly move to the bushes. The female fly punctures the skin of the blueberry in order to deposit a single white elongate egg. In three to five days, the eggs hatch and the larva (maggot) begins feeding. As the larva feeds and grows, the berry begins to shrivel. Breaking open one of these berries will reveal a small white maggot set against the bluish-colored flesh of the fruit. After two or three weeks of feeding, the larva becomes full-grown and the berry is unmarketable. Infestations tend to increase rapidly to a peak by mid-August when larvae begin exiting the berries and dropping onto the soil. Once there, they burrow into the soil and pupate in the top few inches of soil.

Weekly checking of yellow sticky traps can be used to identify when adult blueberry maggot flies are active, and action should be taken soon thereafter to prevent infestation of the fruit. Yellow traps baited with ammonium odor are the most attractive. The traps can be purchased with a glue impregnated with the odor, and this lasts for about two weeks. After that, yellow plastic “chargers” can be used to provide the odor, so that the traps can be changed when they become filled with insects. To increase the chance of catching flies, hang traps in a V-orientation with the yellow side facing down. Good maintenance of traps will ensure that flies will be attracted to the traps, so it is important to clean traps at each visit and to maintain the odor bait.

Accurate fly identification is critical for blueberry maggot management because there are a few other species of fruit flies that look similar to the blueberry maggot. Being sure that a fly on the trap is not a blueberry maggot can help growers save money by avoiding unnecessary sprays, or make the appropriate decision to protect the fruit if the fly is a blueberry maggot. In Michigan, the cherry fruit fly is active in the field slightly before the blueberry maggot and may be captured on the same traps. These flies usually come from wild cherry and are therefore most likely to be trapped next to deciduous woods. Care should be taken not to mistake these flies, which are distinguishable from blueberry maggot by their wing patterns (see Figure 1). The apple maggot has wing patterns similar to the blueberry maggot but it is bigger, appears later in the season (timed to apple ripening) and is not attracted to blueberry. It is unlikely that any flies trapped in blueberry fields would be apple maggot.

Cultural controls can be powerful approaches to reducing infestation by blueberry maggot. Selection of very early- or very late-ripening varieties may minimize the likelihood that flies will be active when the fruit is ripening. It will be interesting to see how the adoption of late-season varieties affects this pest. Research in New Jersey, has identified populations of blueberry maggot that emerge much later than the typical populations, presumed to have been pushed later because of insecticide spraying.

Mulches may have direct and indirect effects on blueberry maggot. If an infestation is established in a field, application of a dense wood mulch or plastic over the top of the pupae in the fall or in the spring could trap the flies and reduce their ability to emerge in the following summer. However, there may also be indirect effects on the natural enemies that walk across the ground surface searching for larvae or pupae. In experiments conducted in Michigan blueberry fields, we found lower densities of ground beetles (predators) in plots with bare ground compared to plots with clover or ryegrass.

Options for chemical control of blueberry maggot under organic standards in Michigan include kaolin clay mineral particle film, neem, pyrethrum and spinosad products. Please consult www.omri.org for changes and updates in the brand name product listings.

Kaolin is a naturally occurring clay, resulting from weathering of aluminous minerals such as feldspar. Kaolin likely acts as an irritant to the blueberry maggot. After landing on a treated surface, particles of kaolin break off and attach to the insect’s body triggering intensive grooming that distracts the flies from laying eggs. Surround® WP Crop Protectant (Engelhard Corp.) is a kaolin product registered for use in Michigan that is available as a wettable powder. Application can be made with most commercially available spray equipment, but large amounts of water are required because thorough coverage is essential. Periodic shaking is recommended for a backpack sprayer or use of an automatic agitation mechanism for larger equipment in order to keep the material suspended in water. Hydraulic sprayers at full dilution apply a better covering than mist blowers using concentrated sprays. Surround WP is considered to provide excellent protection against blueberry maggot infestation. Growers selling their fruit as U-Pick or into the fresh market should be aware of the white residue left on the fruit by this product. In MSU trials, the residue was very difficult to remove from the calyx cup of blueberries.

Neem products are derived from the neem tree, which is native to southern Asia. Neem has been used for centuries for medical, cosmetic and pesticidal purposes. Neem pesticide products are made by crushing neem seeds, then using water or a solvent to extract the pesticidal constituents. Neem products obtained with different extraction techniques may result in different biologically active chemicals (or amounts of chemicals) being present in a product. Thus, the efficacy of different products may vary. Neem products registered in Michigan include Agroneem® (Agro Logistic Systems, Inc.), AZA-Direct™ (Gowan Co.), Neemix® 4.5 (Certis USA). Note that Ecozin 3 percent EC (AMVAC) is not OMRI-listed. Neem products are considered to provide fair protection against blueberry maggot infestation.

Pyrethrum is an insecticide derived from the powdered, dried flower heads of the pyrethrum daisy, which is native to southwest Asia. Pyrethrum is a fast acting contact poison that affects the normal function of the nervous system leading to paralysis. However, some insects are able to recover after the initial knockdown if the dose is too low. No pyrethrum products are labeled specifically for use against blueberry maggot in Michigan. However, PyGanic® Crop Protection EC 1.4 II (MGK Co.) is registered for use against Japanese beetle which often occurs at the same time. Pyrethrum products are considered to have fair to good activity against Japanese beetle and will also have some activity against blueberry maggot. Note that Evergreen® Crop Protection EC 60-6 (also by MGK Co.) is not OMRI-listed.

Spinosad is composed of spinosyns A and D, substances produced by aerobic fermentation of a filamentous bacterium found in the soil. Spinosad acts primarily through ingestion. It activates the nervous system of the insect, causing loss of muscle control. Spinosad products registered for control of blueberry maggot in Michigan include Entrust™ (Dow Agrosciences, LLC) and GF-120 NF Naturalyte™ Fruit Fly Bait (Dow Agrosciences, LLC).

Web editor’s note: Vicki Morrone, MSU’s organic vegetable and crop outreach specialist, has developed the following list of web links for organic and sustainable agriculture that she shares with Extension audiences. She graciously agreed that we could post it here at the New Agriculture Network. This should not be considered an all inclusive list – just ones that Vicki has found useful and we hope you will also. – Joy Landis.

http://www.oacc.info/
OrganicAgriculture Centre of Canada extension and research info.

http://www.mottgroup.msu.edu/
C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems (Michigan State Univ.)

http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/ageng/resource/utiliow.htm
Utilization of Organic Wastes: On-farm Composting. (West Virginia University).

http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/compostfs3.pdf
Improving and Maintaining Compost Quality. (Cornell University)

http://www.covercrops.msu.edu/
Links to publications on cover crops; organic systems research; info on selection, management and benefits of cover crops. (Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State Univ.)

http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/cgi-bin/ccrop.exe
Lists crops used for cover crops and offers linked info for each. (Univ. of California-Davis)

http://www.safs.msu.edu/
Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems including a section on organic agriculture production. (Michigan State University)

Organic & Sustainable Pest Management
http://www.sare.org/publications/insect/insect.pdf
SARE publication “Manage Insects on Your Farm, A Guide to Ecological Strategies by Miguel Altieri and Clara Nicholls. A whole system approach to manage pests on a farm.

http://ipm.msu.edu/natural-enemies.htm
Identifying natural enemies (Michigan State University)

http://ipm.msu.edu/plants/home.htm
Enhancing beneficial insects with Native Plants (includes pollinators)

Soil management and soil building information
http://www.msue.msu.edu/portal/default.cfm?pageset_id=212421
Keep it in the Root Zone -- info on appropriate manure management and maximizing return to your soil using manure and compost. (Michigan State University)

http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/agron/nutrient/Plan/Multi_calc.pdf
Worksheet to help calculate nitrogen credits for the soil using manure as the nitrogen source. (Maryland Cooperative Extension)

Organic and Sustainable Animal Production
http://web1.msue.msu.edu/fis/extension.htm
Using forage for animal production or ground cover systems. (Michigan State Univ.)

http://www.smallfarms.cornell.edu/pages/resources/production/organic.cfm#dairy
Info for dairy farmers transitioning to organic. (Cornell University)

http://www.glti.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/publications/nrph.html
NRCS manual on pasture management. Chapter 6 calculates the nutrition needed by the grazing animal and how to supply that in the pasture.

Market Identification and Decision Making Tools
http://www.newfarm.org/opx/
New Farm’s database with updated prices for organic produce found at major U.S. markets.

http://www.farmersmarkets.msu.edu/
Michigan Farmers’ Market Association for farmers and vendors. Resources for making decisions and details needed for selling at farmers markets.

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/NewCrops/decision.html
Tools to identify and develop new farm enterprises. (University of Kentucky)

http://www.farmnotebook.com/
Free on-line record keeping system for farm market growers and CSAs.

http://www.productcenter.msu.edu/
The MSU Product Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources helps Michigan farmers develop and commercialize high value, consumer-responsive products and businesses in the agriculture and natural food sectors.

Organic Certification
http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/plantsci/crops/a1181w.htm
An article entitled, “Organic Farming: Is It For Me?” (North Dakota State University)

http://attra.ncat.org/new_pubs/attra-pub/PDF/organcert.pdf?id=Michigan
Info on certification process from USDA group called ATTRA. Note the section on $5000 exemption if you are a new and smaller sized grower may be relevant to farmers selling less than $5000gross per year.

http://www.ccof.org/cert-faq.php
List of frequently answered questions and answers about requirements of organic certification from the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF).

http://www.omri.org/
OMRI is an institute that is independent but tests if products are suitable for certified organic systems. Note that all products do not have to be approved by OMRI, but if they are, then you are sure it is ok to use in an organic system.

http://www.michigan.gov/mda/0,1607,7-125-1567_1600-70307--,00.html
A cost share application for Michigan farmers. Michigan Department of Ag will pick up 75% of the certification cost for all organic farms in Michigan. Available after you have received your certification.

Periodicals related to organic farming
http://www.acresusa.com/magazines/magazine.htm
Acres U.S.A. is North America's oldest, largest magazine covering commercial-scale organic and sustainable farming.

http://www.organicdownunder.com/site%20index.htm
Useful for family gardening, chickens and fruit trees.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa/
Technical resources, market listings (where a farmer could list their farm) and other weblinks about CSAs and Biodynamic farming. (from USDA)

Grant Resources
www.ofrf.org
Organic Farming Research Foundation: An annual call for proposals with a deadline of Dec 15. This is strictly for research applied projects.

www.sare.org
Sustainable Agriculture Research & Extension is the USDA source of grant money for organic and sustainable farmers’ research, professional development and applied research. Each section has a separate call for proposals and separate financial support.

http://www.attra.org/  
National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service offers fact sheets and information sources on all aspects of sustainable and organic agriculture. There are many fact sheets as pfd files that are excellent educational resources to use for references and farmer references.

Organizations to promote organic agriculture and organic foods
http://www.moffa.org/
Michigan Organic Food and Farming Alliance brings consumers and farmers together to understand the values of organic and local food systems in Michigan.

http://www.mosesorganic.org/
Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service has an annual organic conference and offers fact sheets on many aspects of organic agriculture and marketing.

I like the dry weather; I can more easily control disease. It creates another farm task having to water, but it is nice to get good rains to soak everything. Crops seem to grow better from rain than they do from watering. This is typically the time of year we fight the “battle of the weeds” before we switch almost entirely into harvest, process and delivery-only modes. There are still some skirmishes.

We planted squash, some sweet corn and peppers into a crimped winter rye cover. Weed suppression is good, but some weeds are showing through and I am going to use organic herbicides and hand-weeding to eliminate those weeds.

Besides from our every week salad greens tilling, we have been setting up sterile seedbeds, etc. We have been finishing up the weeding on long-term beds of crops like kale, basil, etc. It is also the time of year when tomato plants seem to grow six inches every night, so we have been working on keeping them tied up. We are still planting some corn and starting some late basil for transplanting.

We are doing a lot of marketing right now—definitely not by our choice! Two produce managers are giving us some problems, one skimming margins too close and business is down and the other is a new hire that appears to be in over her head. But, we are starting with a new outlet that should work fine.

This year is screwed up. Sandy made some mistakes in starting transplanting, which has caused some crops to be delayed. Kale is not being sold as fast as it is growing, causing some problems and waste. Basil is going early this year, but basil customers are down due to manager bobbles and a hydroponics grower cutting into our market with an inferior product, but longer season. Long season sometimes wins over better product! Basil not being cut at the right time messes up how it grows. From a pretty smooth system it has some bumps this year—it’s frustrating and not as profitable as it could be! How it all shakes out still remains to be seen, but at this point it looks like not-so-great-a-year.

Over the next two weeks, we will finish getting paths on long-season crops weeded—all of the growing areas are mulched, weeded and weed free. We will get shade cloth up on salad greens areas, continue salad greens plantings, start some cover crops, work on some marketing stuff, and harvest, process and deliver. We will keep this up for three months.

Illinois
Northern Illinois, Kane County – David Campbell of Lily Lake Organic Farm
Presently we have 72 acres of hay on the ground that has been there for the past seven days due to light rains and high humidity. I hope to bale some of that hay today, Tuesday, June 26. Soil moisture is adequate for now, but we need some good rains in the near future. The weatherman is calling for an extended period of hot and dry weather after this next storm system passes through tomorrow, Wednesday, June 27.
 
I just started cultivating corn for the third and final time yesterday and hope to be finished cultivating all of my corn this Saturday, June 30. We are harvesting first cutting hay. We should be caught up with field work by early next week. I then plan to work on mowing thistles around farmstead.

North West Central Illinois – Fulton & Peoria Counties - Anne G. Patterson, Living Earth Farm
Things were becoming totally dependent upon soaker hoses (I don’t recommend using these, but this is what I have) along with putting in an irrigation system on one field, which I can utilize water from a lake. Finally we got rain, 3.5 inches over the past week. No hail or wind, just nice rain. The reprieve from outside work allowed me to do some catch up in my office. It’s hot and humid now.  The rains kept us out of the fields for three days, and we got back into working, mainly just weeding yesterday. I don’t like being behind in weeding; however, I will take it over trying to save plants from dying due to lack of rain.
  
Current farming practices include: weeding, mulching, planting cover crops of canola, buckwheat and cow peas into spent lettuce beds. Ongoing harvesting of lettuces, cabbage, edible flowers, cut flowers, red and white onions. I deliver on Tuesdays for E-customers and a restaurant, Wednesdays  for farmers’ markets, and Fridays for E-customers who come to the farm to pick up Friday or Saturday. I continue to plant romaine lettuce and mesclun throughout the season. We are still working on new strip mulch beds for herbs and cut flowers. This should have been done before the season. Once I get all the flower transplants put into these new beds I will be relieved.

In the next two weeks, I am planning to start fall crops around 4th of July – kales, turnips and heirloom lettuces.

I am still staking tomatoes with the California weave and will mow and till and then fallow disk cover crop of buck wheat and cow the peas. And we continue with the above tasks I listed. I hope to harvest tomatoes from hoophouse.

Southwest Central Illinois, Montgomery County—Floyd Johnson of Shoal Creek Farm
We are really dry, however, we did get rain last weekend. We received about two inches overall and our humidity is back up—which makes my cloths wet more often—but the crops look much better.

I am getting the ripper ready to rip the corn as soon as it dries off enough. We spread manure on the corn ground this spring, so I am anticipating some compaction. The ripper I use is spaced on 60 inches, so it goes between every other row and runs about 14 inches deep.

Over the next two weeks, I will be hoeing soybeans, cultivating corn and mowing weeds. Also, I need to keep an eye on the last soybeans planted to see if we get a good stand.

Questions
What is everyone’s favorite hay equipment? What is everyone’s favorite field cultivator and do you pull a harrow behind all the time or just when you are conserving water? I guess I have had a hard time killing weeds during wet spells.

We are spending four days a week harvesting now. Our CSA delivers on Tuesdays and Saturdays, so we spend Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays harvesting and with distribution of shares. The other days of the week allow us to focus on weeding and succession planting. Some of our early beds of lettuce are being ripped up, compost added and replanted again. We are continuing to succession plant as our CSA is 20-weeks and will run through the middle of October.

Our main focus though is weeding and watering! It is quite a task to keep up with the weeds in July, especially since we did not use any black plastic mulch and our weeds are all removed mechanically. Our International 274 1-row cultivating tractor helps significantly and so do the three interns.
         
During the next two weeks, we will continue to set-up irrigation and water, water, water! There is also a lot of weeding to do—it is July! We are looking forward to harvesting the first of our new potatoes, summer squash and cucumbers. We will continue to succession plant crops like lettuce, arugula, kholrabi and bulb fennel. Our main potato crop will be hilled, and we will continue to monitor and hand-pick insects. We still have some tomatoes to trellis. We use just about anything we can to get the tomatoes off the ground—t-post, t-posts with plastic fence, tomato cages and t-posts with a basket weave rope. We have tried just about everything with varying results, and still haven’t decided that one particular method is better than others.

Current work includes corn, sunflower and soybean weed control. We are planting female (seed producing) rows in hybrid sunflower seed production field. This year split planting was necessary as the male and female seed are of differing maturity. The extreme dryness delayed emergence of the male plants, thus delaying planting of the female plants. Moisture was marginal for emergence, but heat usually helps to compensate for moisture shortage.

During the next two weeks we will continue corn, sunflower and soybean weed control measures as well as prepare fields for buckwheat planting in mid-July. We will mow thistle patches in clover seed fields. It is a good time for that as thistle is in bud stage; clover re-growth will take over and actually thin the thistle patches and sometimes eliminate them!

Questions
Any news of aphids? Rust?

Over the next two weeks I will finish the second pass cultivating soybeans and begin walking the soybeans to get an early start. I will finish the second cutting of hay and oatlage baling and try to relax in the shade as much as possible as the 4th of July is nearly upon us.

Questions
My big concern is soybean aphids and if there are any signs of them showing up already.

Iowa
Northwest Iowa, O’Brien County – Paul Mugge
It has been very dry, with no serious rain since the first of June. The corn is stressed and the beans have mostly stopped growing, although I don’t think there is any permanent damage yet. It does, however, intensify the damage done by weeds, especially thistles. I’m afraid the big damage will be with the small grains. No rain and very hot all the way through grain fill will probably take a toll on both yield and quality.

I have finished cultivating corn and am working on second cutting of alfalfa, which will be pretty short.

I will at some point cultivate the beans one more time, but I would sure like to get a rain first so the beans are a little bigger. If I go now, a rain will germinate a lot of new weeds in the row middles that might make seed if the beans don’t get big enough to shade them. I have some manure to haul to the compost windrow and pigs to move. I still have some thistles to cut. I don’t think I have ever seen thistles so bad. Triticale harvest is fast approaching, hurried along by the hot dry weather. I will need to get the combine ready soon.