VegNet Vol. 14, No. 10. May 17, 2007
Ohio State University Extension Vegetable Crops
On the WEB at:  http://vegnet.osu.edu

In This Issue

1. Carzol for onion thrips control on dry bulb onions

2. Cabbage damage by springtails.

3. Crop Reports

4. Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the U.S. Senate – Action Alert!

Carzol for onion thrips control on dry bulb onions by C. Welty

The EPA has approved Ohio's request for a section 18 emergency registration of Carzol 92SP for dry bulb onions for control of the onion thrips in 2007. The label has not yet reached ODA, but as soon as it does, we will share details via VegNet. Carzol is made by Gowan Company. It is an old insecticide used primarily on fruit crops, with the active ingredient formetanate hydrochloride. It is in the carbamate group, along with Lannate and Sevin. It was the most effective insecticide for onion thrips control in many recent field trials.

Cabbage damage by springtails by C. Welty

Cabbage seedlings in Putnam County have been damaged during the past week by small insects called springtails. We are also seeing them on broccoli seedlings in Columbus. The species is probably Bourletiella hortensis, known as the seedling springtail or garden springtail. This species is part of the family known as globular springtails because of their round shape. They feed on cole crops, cucurbits, and sugarbeets. They damage plants by chewing, and although they are very small, they can be present in large numbers, so damage can be severe on small plants. They are tiny, about 1.5 mm long. They are grey in color and similar to aphids in size and shape, but unlike aphids, they jump when disturbed. They jump by flexing a structure called a furcula, a forked structure attached to the end of their abdomen, which is like a built-in catapulting device. Little information is available about how to control them. Cultivation is supposed to destroy their eggs in the soil. This pest is not listed as a target pest on insecticide labels. Any broad-spectrum insecticide registered for use on a crop is likely to provide good control; for cabbage, likely choices are Diazinon, Lorsban, Mustang, Warrior, Asana, or other pyrethroids, as well as Lannate.

Crop Reports by Ron Becker, Brad Bergefurd and Hal Kneen

Meigs County report

Slow rain is falling Wednesday May 16, first in almost two weeks. Hoping to have two days of gentle rainfall, it is needed. Have had only one inch of rain in past month. Vegetable crops have been irrigated since planting season began. Cold front expected to bring in cooler temperatures until Saturday, lows in the low forties. Expect to bounce back into the 80's by Sunday and lows in the upper 50's.

Tomatoes being suckered, staked and trellised. Plants are blooming and beginning to set fruit. Several growers planting on planting a later crop fpr late summer sales. Peppers are slowly growing need more heat especially at night. Early sweet corn,especially on plastic is coming alone nicely. Some in the ninth to tenth leaf stage. BAre ground corn could use rain or irrigation. Seedling andf transplanted cucumbers beginning to take off, irrigatin has been necessary for growth

Southern Ohio Veg Net Report
Harvest of mature green tomatoes in high tunnels has begun. Harvest of field spinach, field radishes, field green onions, field leaf lettuce, field head lettuce continues. First plantings of field peas and snow peas are in full bloom. Harvest of vine ripe high tunnel tomatoes should begin this week. Plasticulture strawberry harvest is really kicking in with excellent quality and taste being reported from Sweet Charlie and Chandler varieties. Growers are reporting losses of up to 90% on Sweet Charlie and up to 80% in some fields and in some locations on Chandler vaiety. There is a VERY HIGH pre picked and pick your own market demand for this early strawberry product.

Some badly needed rain fell on southern Ohio production areas the evening of May 15th with showers and thunderstorms lasting through the morning hours of May 16th. Rainfall amounts reported ranged from .5 inch in eastern areas to 1.5 inches in western growing regions.

Cucumber beetles trap catches have increased this week in trap stations in a Circleville pickle field. Growers in Circleville have also reported cucumber beetles attacking melon transplants that were being hardened off outside on wagons. Early machine harvest pickle fields planting finished up last Sunday the 13th of May.

Melons are beginning to vine on plastic. Tomatoes have been staked with one tie applied. Sweet corn is at the 5 leaf stage. All plastic covered sweet corn was slit open over the weekend with air temperatures approaching  90 degrees and temperatures under the plastic were well over 100 degrees with some plants touching the plastic being burnt.

.5 ounce row covers and wire hoops and zip tunnels remain on early planted melon, pepper and tomato fields with some nighttime temperatures falling into the 40's this week.

Irrigation was being run constantly on newly planted vegetable fields and strawberry fields until the rains fell Tuesday night. Early sweet corn was being irrigated.

Planting of all vegetables, melons and watermelons continues. Working ground continues for new plantings. Some growers who no till plant   pumpkins into standing Rye crops have sprayed the rye crop with herbicide to ready fields for Memorial Day pumpkin plantings. Seeding of melons, watermelons, tomatoes, cabbage and broccoli transplants continues in the greenhouse.

Wayne County Report
Most of the tomatoes and vine crops that have been planted in the Wayne County area are still under row covers where there has been some light slug damage.  Green beans that were planted last week have emerged and are showing feeding from bean leaf beetles.  Several fields of cole crops have had to be sprayed for flea beetles.  We are just starting to find eggs and newly hatched larvae of the Imported Cabbage Worm.  Thrips have not yet been found in onions in our area.  Sweet corn has had light cutworm leaf feeding damage with only dead flea beetles being found due to the use of seed treatments.  Several fields of sweet corn had to be replanted due to crusting following heavy rains two weeks ago.  Most growers are planning to put in the majority of their crops during the week of May 20th.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform in the U.S. Senate
Farm Bureau members are asked to contact Senators Brown and Voinovich to support Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Deadline: May 29, 2007

Senator Sherrod Brown, Phone: (202) 224-2315, Fax: (202) 228-6321,

Web Contact Form

Senator George V. Voinovich, Phone: (202) 224-3353, Fax: (202) 228-1382
Web Contact Form

General Talking Points
Support Comprehensive Immigration Reform that includes the following:
-Usable guest worker program that allows employers to pay employees a prevailing wage.
-Adequate transition provisions that provide some farm workers with an opportunity to apply for legal status.
-Reliable verification system that strengthens the current system for verifying the status of workers.

Specific Talking Points Usable Guest Worker Program
Farm Bureau strongly supports reforming the H-2a program so that it:
-More closely follows the H-1b and H-2b programs, both of which allow employers to pay workers a prevailing wage (not an artificial AEWR);
-Accommodates the needs of modern agriculture, including year-round livestock operations, whose labor needs have changed since the inception of the program; and
-Eliminates unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape so it is more responsive and timely to growers’ needs but does not make the program more of a litigation magnet than it is.

Adequate Transition Provisions
Farm Bureau supports a range of approaches that provide some farm workers with an opportunity to apply for legal status. It could take years to grow a worker program with less than four percent of the hires to a size that can accommodate the majority of agriculture’s labor needs. Growers must be able to maintain a workforce during the transition.

Reliable Verification System
Farm Bureau supports strengthening the current system for verifying the status of workers so that the process is simple, conclusive, reliable, timely, and provides a safe harbor for employers acting in good faith. As part of a broader package, we could support tamper-resistant, machine-readable documents that include biometric identifiers if the technology is proven in the agricultural sector.

One legislative proposal, referred to as AgJOBS, has many positive provisions. In particular:
-It provides short-term, transitional stability for the sector by providing a path for legalization for many agricultural workers who lack proper documentation.
-In the short-term, it provides critically important relief for growers who use the H-2A program. By rolling back and freezing the adverse effect wage rate (AEWR) for a short time, growers who have followed the law, but been penalized for doing so, are granted long overdue relief from exorbitantly high wage costs.
-The long-term ‘reforms’ in the H-2A provisions of AgJOBS, however, fall far short of the changes that are necessary to make the program sustainable in the long term. We urge continued efforts on behalf of all those who support agriculture to ensure that whatever program is approved not make agriculture non-competitive and more vulnerable to foreign imports

Background
The U.S. Senate has set aside time in late May to once again discuss and attempt to find a workable compromise on Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Comprehensive immigration reform is a critical priority for farmers in Ohio. We strongly urge Senators Brown and Voinovich to take an active, energetic role in assuring that comprehensive legislation is passed without delay that assures agriculture a stable, legal workforce now and into the future.
Who to Contact for More Information
John Wargowsky, Ohio Farm Bureau, PH: 614-246-8291, 614-361-7849 (mobile), FX: 614-246-8686 jwargows@ofbf.org
Feedback Request
Notify John Wargowsky via e-mail or fax that you have contacted Senators Brown and Voinovich.