A4o : Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 1, 2002
New Insight On Pollinators May Aid Strawberry Production
TROY, Ohio A steady rain
fall soaks strawberry fields in this
town just outside of Dayton, but
the weather doesn’t deter Ohio
State University entomologists
from trekking through standing
water and mud to record the
growth progression of strawberry
blooms food for many insects
whose pollination transforms the
flowers into fruit.
“The blooms have to be open
wide enough for the insects to get
in and pollinate,” said Ohio State
research assistant Diane Hartzl
er, pointing to blooms that were
either partially or fully open. “If
the blooms don’t get pollinated,
the result is irregular fruit, or no
fruit at all.”
Though no pollinators were to
be seen on this wet day, such ob
servations are giving university
researchers a better handle as to
how insects, namely native feral
or wild bees, affect strawberry
fruit set, development and yield.
“People used to think that
honey bees were the main polli
nators of strawberry plants. They
pollinate brambles like raspber
ries and blackberries,” said Roger
Williams, Ohio State leader of
Conservation Sign-Up
Through June 30
LANCASTER (Lancaster
Co.) The Farm Service
Agency will be accepting ap
plications through June 30 for
the Environmental Quality In
centive Program (EQIP). This
sign-up period will be held for
farms located in the Chickies
Creek Watershed.
EQIP works primarily in
areas where there are signifi
cant natural resource con
cerns, such as soil erosion,
water quality and quantity,
wildlife habitat, wetlands, and
forest and grazing lands. Pri
ority is given to areas where
state or local governments
offer financial, technical, or
educational assistance and to
areas where agricultural im
provements will help meet
water quality objectives. Activ
ities must be carried out
according to a conservation
plan.
EQIP is one of several fed
eral, state, and local conserva-
tion programs that fanners
can use to solve their natural
resource concerns. EQIP offers
financial, educational, and
STEEL BALE BOXES
small fruit entomology with the
Ohio Agricultural Research and
Development Center in Wooster,
Ohio. “Though other insects like
ants and beetles help pollinate
strawberries, we have found that
the primary pollinators are native
bees.”
Williams said the startling con
clusion came after three years of
identifying bee species that were
visiting strawberry fields in
Wooster and Moreland, Ohio.
The researchers recorded 19 dif
ferent species, all of which were
native except the honey bee. Bee
species included carpenter bees,
leaf cutting bees, orchid bees,
bumble bees, digger bees, cuckoo
bees and small, metallic bees of
the family Halictidae.
“We didn’t know what to ex
pect as not much literature exists
that describes strawberry pollina
tors,” said Williams.
Williams and his associates
have expanded their research to
other areas of the state in the
hopes of compiling a comprehen
sive guide of bee pollinators. The
goal of their work is to more
clearly define which species polli
nate strawberry plants, how field
technical help to install or
implement structural, vegeta
tive, and management prac
tices called for in five- to
10-year contracts.
These practices which in
clude manure management
systems, pest management
and erosion control help im
prove and maintain the health
of natural resources. Cost
sharing may pay up to 75 per
cent of the costs of certain
conservation practices. Half of
the funding for EQIP is tar
geted to livestock-related nat
ural resource concerns and the
remainder to other significant
conservation priorities.
Contracts are awarded on a
competitive basis among ap
plicants in the Chickies Wa
tershed. Proposals are ranked
using a scoring system based
on ballpark estimate of total
program costs of the practices
planned. Requests can be
made at the Farm Service
Agency, located at the Farm
and Home Center, 1383 Arca
dia Rd., Lancaster, or phone
(717) 397-6235.
placement affects pollination and
ultimately establish a new market
of beekeeping in Ohio.
“More and more growers want
to get their crop off earlier in the
season. If we can identify which
bee species pollinate fields in cer
tain areas, then we may be able
to create a new opportunity for
beekeepers to provide those spe
cies to the grower,” said Wil
liams.
The honey bee, European in
origin, clearly dominates the bee
keeping industry in Ohio. More
than 5,000 apiaries, or places
where colonies are kept, exist in
More Rain Could Mean Higher Corn Prices
COLUMBUS, Ohio Corn
prices are likely to increase
within the next several weeks if
wet weather persists throughout
the eastern Corn Belt, says an
Ohio State University Extension
agricultural economist.
“Based upon the Chicago
Board of Trade, com prices
right now are $2.30 and could
climb 10 to 12 cents higher be
cause of the weather,” said Matt
Roberts. “I think the real ques
tion is what it will be like the
next two weeks. If wet weather
continues for both Indiana and
Ohio, we’ll see those com prices
start to rise and soybean prices
soften.”
Excessive rainfall in Indiana,
Ohio and parts of Illinois has
significantly delayed both com
and soybean planting. Ohio
com growers only have 17 per
cent of the com crop planted,
compared to 74 percent this
same time last year. Planting is
two weeks behind the five-year
average. Six percent of the soy
bean crop has been planted so
far, compared to 70 percent last
year.
Roberts said that growers are
remaining optimistic that they
will get their com crop in the
ground on time. “The window
WATERLESS TOILETS
“SUN-MAR”
Composting
Toilets
Several models available
including non-electric
• NO Septic System
• NO Chemicals
Save the Environment!
Recycle Back to Nature!
FREE:
► gl PAINTING i
I c Interior/Exterior 4
L Including Aerial Work i
L. Specialists in Sand Blasting and A
r Spray Painting Farm Buildings 1
F Also Roof Coating • Water Blasting j
►r • Repair All Types of j
Spray Equipment - Pumps & Guns M
f Fisher's Painting 1
k 4056 A Newport Rd. 4
r Kinzers, PA 17535 J
W On Rt 772 Across From
T Pequea Valley School 2
r 717-768-3Z39 1
every county in the state. Honey
bees are essential to Ohio’s vege
table production, as the insects
account for 80 percent of all crop
pollination.
Though honey bees do polli
nate strawberry plants, Williams
said it’s clear that native bees are
the main pollinators, a discovery
that could give both strawberry
production and beekeeping a
boost.
“One reason why we want to
look into identifying and possibly
marketing native bees is because
of the recent problems honey bees
have with mites and diseases,”
for planting corn still has not
closed,” he said. “It’s very rea
sonable given Ohio’s typical
growing conditions that one can
plant corn through the end of
May and still see very good
yields given a good growing sea
son.”
He added, however, that if
growers are pushed to the limit,
a significant shift from com to
soybean acreage could occur
that might impact farm profita
bility over the long term.
“Given the new Farm Bill, if
we see a significant shift to soy
beans, that might begin to im
pact farm profitability simply
because soybean support is not
as generous as it has been in the
past,” said Roberts.
The government’s loan rate
for soybeans in the 2002 Farm
Bill is set at $5 per bushel, down
from $5.26, while com was in
creased from $1.89 to $1.98 per
bushel.
“The changes in prices
changes the relative profitability
of those crops,” said Roberts.
“By switching acreage from
com to soybeans, there will
probably be some implications,
but it’s still a little bit early to
worry about the impacts of
large scale shifts.”
said that
analysts are
said Williams. “Also if the straw
berry plant doesn’t get pollinated,
it affects fruit size, fruit quality
and overall market value.”
Williams said that where
strawberry fields are located in
the landscape might also have an
impact on how often the plants
are pollinated. In their studies,
the researchers found that straw
berry fields located near native
habitats, like woods, swamps,
ponds and prairies, had higher
berry development and less de
formed berries, than those straw
berry fields found in and around
residential areas.
calculating a shift back to larger
soybean acreage than what was
originally forecasted in the
USDA’s annual prospective
plantings report released in
March. “There is little doubt
that if the wet weather persists
for another week or so, that the
com harvest will be smaller
than currently projected,” he
said.
Despite the grim outlook on
com planting, Roberts specu
lates that the situation is not se
vere enough to drive farmers to
collect their government pay
ments.
“I don’t think we are any
where near the point where we
are talking about abandonment
where people are taking pay
ments because they couldn’t get
their crop planted at all or
where those acres that got
planted were flooded so bad
that it killed the seedlings,” said
Roberts. “If growers haven’t
gotten anything in the ground
for com, there is still a window
where they can get soybeans in
the ground. 1 think they would
prefer to try to plant something
than take payments and have
those fields sit idle for the rest of
the season.”
Roberts added that it
wouldn’t be until mid-June be
fore any indication surfaces that
farmers have made claims on
abandonment payments.
Roberts
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS
RETAIL STORE
EVERYTHING MUST GO
All general merchandise such as; Ertl Farm
Toys, Lawn & Garden Supplies, Mulches, Pet
Supplies, Bird Houses & Feeders and more.
You must come in and see what we have!
Also, Retail Store Equipment -- Gondolas, 2
platform scales and 1 balance scale, Onan
Generator, credit card processors and printer
and other items too numerous to mention.
Call and we will fax a complete equipment
listing.
SHELLYS FARM & HOME CENTER, LTD.
519 SUMNEYTOWN PIKE
HARLEYSVILLE, PA. 19438
215/256-8731