| 4 ( HortiCountry
TimEVcner
'&/ '* Lancaster County
HoracuUureA 9 ent
(Continued from Pago 1)
customers to ask themselves
if it is worth the extra effort
to go to the farm to get their
berries.
You should not be harvest
ing berries with white tips,
because this indicates an im
mature berry. If in doubt,
taste a few berries and decide
if the berries taste as good as
is possible. If you have a pick
your-own operation, you
should also educate your cus
tomers about the advantages
of harvesting fully-ripened
berries. They may only be fa
miliar with what they see in
the market and thus harvest
their berries with white tips.
Educate your customers
about the advantages of a
fully ripened berry and
chances are they will return
to your farm again.
One disadvantage to har
vesting your berries more
mature is a decrease in shelf
life. You will need to handle
these mature berries carefully
to prevent damage. You will
Were
Breaking
Mew
Grounds
Disc Harrows
• 5'2”, 6'4" or 8' widths
• Adjustable gang angles
• 18" Notched or smooth disc blades, 22" on 8'
• Break up the ground with a heavy-duty frame and
heat-treated disc blades
• Ideal for landscapers and small acreage farmers
Betts Equipment
3139 Windy Bush Road.Rt 232
New Hope, PA 18938
215-598-7501
Hoober, Inc.
Mam Street
Intercourse, PA 17534
717-768-8231
Hoober, Inc.
East Main Street
McAlisterville, PA 17049
717-463-2191
Deerfield Ag &
Turf Center, Inc.
RR 2 Box 212
Watsontown, PA 17777
570-538-3557
Detlan Equipment, Inc,
141 East Main St.
Silverdale, PA 18962
215-257-5177
Thomas L. Dunlap
Rt 220, Mam St Exit
Jersey Shore, PA 17740
570-398-1391
also need to keep the berries
as cool as possible before they
are sold. Start by harvesting
as early in the morning as
you can (but after any dew on
the berries has dried). Keep
ing your strawberry fields
weed- and disease-free
should also help increase the
shelf life of your fruit.
Apply fungicides, espe
cially during wet weather, to
reduce the development of
gray mold. This disease is a
major factor in postharvest
berry rotting. Always follow
the label directions regarding
the PHI for your crop. Con
trolling gray mold during
flowering can reduce the
amount of this fungus in your
fields during harvest. So plan
carefully now for fruit quality
at harvest.
New And
Safer Insecticides
The current review of pes
ticides by the EPA has caused
the loss of some materials we
previously used for pest con-
Eckroth Bros Farm Equip.
Rd 2, Box 24A
New Rmgold, PA 17960
570-943-2131
Eckroth Equipment Co.
4910 Kernsville Rd
Orefield, PA 18069
610-366-2095
Hines Equipment
RT. 220, Belwood, PA
814-742-8171
Keller Brothers
R 7 Box 405
Lebanon, PA 17042
717-949-6501
1950 Fruitville Pike
Lancaster, PA 17601
717-569-2500
M.S. Yearsley & Sons
West Chester, PA
610-696-2990
Pikeville Equipment Inc
RD 2, Oysterdale Road
Oley, PA 19547
610-927-6277
•W
trol in the field and may
result in the loss of additional
materials in the future.
However, there are several
new insecticides introduced
recently that should take the
place of these lost materials
and be safer to use as well.
These newer, safer materials
are often referred to as ‘biora
tional’ pesticides.
But what does this mean?
Pesticides affect their target
organism in different ways,
depending upon the chemis
try of the material. With
many of the older pesticides,
the way an insect was af
fected by a particular chemi
cal was the same as it would
affect a human. Thus these
materials were considered
fairly toxic.
However, some of the
newer insecticides target spe
cific biological systems in in
sects that are not present in
humans. One example would
be the molting system of an
insect. By targeting systems
that are not present in
humans or other mammals,
these new insecticides are
considered safer and termed
“biorational.” This has
helped speed up the registra
tion process at the EPA.
Sometimes this selectivity
can be even more specific,
landpnde com
Stoltzfus Farm Service
Cochranville, PA
610-593-2407
Stouffer Bros Inc.
1066 Lincoln Way West
Chambersburg, PA 17201
717-263-8424
Rodio Tractor Sales
North White Horse Pike
Hammonton, N.J. 08037
609-561-0141
Warren County Service
Center
228 Route 94, Blairtown, N J
908-362-6916
Frank Rymon
& Sons, Inc.
RD 3, Box 355
Washington, N J 07882
908-689-1464
Grower and Marketer, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 20, 2000—Page
such as for a certain group of
insects. While this is benefi
cial to you, your workers and
the environment in general, it
also means that you will need
to more carefully monitor
your fields for insects.
In the past, many of the in
secticides used eliminated a
large group of pests that may
have been found in your crop.
However, the newer materi
als may selectively remove
some of the pests but leave
others unaffected. You will
need to scout your fields to be
sure that you have controlled
the pest(s) that were present
in your crop. So while you are
gaining safer materials to
use, you will need to monitor
your fields more carefully.
Overall, these new chemi
cals will be beneficial since
they will improve worker
safety and reduce the ecologi
cal impacts from crop pro
duction. I also believe that
they will improve crop pro
duction because growers will
be observing their crops more
closely and hopefully spott
ing any potential problems
earlier. However, always re
member that these materials
are still pesticides and, there
fore, be sure to read the label
and follow the instructions
for usage and safety instruc
tions.
Fungicide Resistance
Management
Just as for insecticides,
there are some new fungi
cides available for use on veg
etables and fruit.
One group of new fungi
cides is the “strobilurins,”
which research and grower
experience have shown to be
very effective in controlling
diseases. The strobilurin
products now labeled on
some vegetables include
Quadris and Flint. Abound is
a product labeled for various
fruit and nut crops.
One reason that these ma
terials are so effective is that
they have some systemic ac
tivity, meaning that they ac
tually move into plant
tissues. However, a disadvan
tage of this type of activity is
that diseases tend to develop
resistance to these materials.
A good example of this is
Benlate resistance of diseases
on fruits and vegetables.
Because of this potential
problem, the companies that
sell these products have de-
Quarryville Growers’ Market Expands
QUARRYVILLE (Lancas
ter Co.) The Quarryville
Growers’ Market opened for
business for the season here
one week ago today.
The market, open every
Saturday through October, is
located at Good’s Store at the
corner of Rt. 222 and Rt. 372.
The market features vegeta
bles, fruit, cut flowers, baked
goods, bedding plants, peren
nials, and nursery stock. The
market accepts Women, In
fants, and Children (WIC)
Program checks.
The market, five years old,
continues to expand, focusing
veloped usage guidelines for
resistance management. Dr.
Alan Mac Nab, vegetable dis
ease specialist at Penn State,
reports that there is no resist
ance to strobilurins in the
U.S. but that there is already
resistance outside North
America.
Therefore, he reminds
farmers to follow these guide
lines. Resistance manage
ment strategies include
alternating strobilurin mate
rials with other effective ma
terials and limiting the
number of strobilurin appli
cations per season.
Information on these
guidelines will be included on
all new labels, but some prod
ucts do not have the new
label information yet. The
new guidelines are listed
below. Be sure to follow these
to help reduce the risk of veg
etable diseases developing re
sistance to these new effective
fungicides.
• Cucurbits. (1) No more
than one application before
alternation to an unrelated
fungicide that is effective in
controlling the causal fungus
and (2) no more than four
total applications per season.
• Potatoes. (1) No more
than one application before
alternation to an unrelated
fungicide that is effective in
controlling the causal fungus
and (2) no more than six total
applications per season.
• Tomatoes. (1) For late
blight, no more than one ap
plication before alternation
to an unrelated fungicide that
is effective in controlling the
late blight fungus; (2) for all
other diseases, no more than
three sequential applications
before alternation to an unre
lated fungicide that is effec
tive in controlling the causal
fungus; and (3) no more than
five total applications per
season.
NOTE: The sequential and
totals reflect total strobilurin
applications (at this time,
both Quadris and Flint for
vegetables). Therefore, if
Flint is used for two applica
tions on cucurbits, only two
additional sprays can be
made, regardless of whether
they be Quadris or Flint.
Likewise, if Quadris is used
for two applications on cu
curbits, only two additional
sprays can be made, regard
less of whether they are Flint
or Quadris.
on its “we grow what we sell”
philosophy. A new baker has
been added to the market,
and the market numbers 12
vendors.
“Being a growers’ market
means you are buying from
the ones who grow it, locally,
never shipped in, and always
the highest quality we can
provide,” said Linda Boyer of
Lambert Farm, Narvon.
“Here you will find friendly
service, locally grown prod
ucts, and always fresh, fresh,
fresh.”
For information about the
market or signing up as a
vendor, call (717) 806-1997.
183