BLUE
FOCUS NEWSLETTER- June 2022
(Perennia’s
Wild Blueberry Newsletter)
Dear Growers,
I hope all of you have had a great
season so far. In this month’s newsletter, I will share updates from NS, and
other production regions (Maine, QC, NB and PEI). We have a few field days
coming up in July, so please remember to check out our event page.
Hugh Lyu
Wild Blueberry Specialist, Perennia
hlyu@perennia.ca; 902-890-0472.
June 14, 2022
Table of Contents:
Nova Scotia and Other Production Regions’ Updates
Upcoming Management Recommendations
Weather Station Apps and Website Training Session- Recorded
Video Available
WBPANS
2022 Twilight Meetings Highlights
Upcoming Events
Nova Scotia and Other Production
Regions Updates
NS Wild Blueberry Growing Degree Days and Crop
Updates
Figure
1. Wild Blueberry GDD Summary- June 13, 2022
The average of GDD accumulations from all stations was
659 (as of June 13). We have many different production regions in the province
with different crop stages, but in general, we are looking at plant emergence
in sprout fields reaching 90% and the tip dieback stage is about to start. Most
early and middle fields are looking to the end of pollination, and in areas
like Advocate and Cape Breton, fields are still in the early to the mid-bloom
stage.
Overall, this growing season has been going well with great
yield potential if things stay adequately.
To this point, here are a few summary points about
pests according to personal observation and communication with growers:
1. Low
monilinia infection due to dryness during susceptible crop stages (F2 to before
bloom).
2. We
observed early development and noticed more red (sheep) sorrels this spring.
3. I
noticed more and fast development on grasses, such as poverty oat grass, common
vetch, colonial bentgrass, witch grass and woolly panican grass. Last but not
least, hair fescue.
4. Broadleaf
weeds: spreading dogbane, goldenrods, and hawkweed.
5. We
had some good pollination days in the last few weeks.
6. 2
major frosts in the mainland area didn’t cause significant damage to flowers across
the province.
I also received updates from other regions’ specialists,
here is the summary:
Maine:
Last year's
bud set was good due to rain in July and dry, sunny
conditions otherwise. They had a very warm fall and didn't see a frost
until October which is late for them. They've had a good bloom and pollination
weather so far. Peak bloom was over. They have the usual amount of mummy berry,
blueberry flea beetle and span worm. Spanworm seems to have enjoyed the warm
fall conditions with more life cycles last season than is typical.
QC:
No winter damage was observed in the spring. They are
in middle bloom now. Similar to us, their frost events didn’t cause significant
damage.
Quebec growers are experiencing a beehives shortage.
On the fortune side, there was a good dispensability of bumble bees.
NB:
In the most region, there
was little winter damage, observed. Fields' growth stage is within a few
days from the previous years. Early spring weather made it seem like the crop
was advanced, but things are returning to average dates.
Honey bees – There have
been mixed reports of losses, a few medium operations had significant losses,
but most larger commercial operations have losses similar to the previous year
(ranging from 10-20%). As the many blueberry growers depend on honey bees
from Ontario, beehive availability is an important factor for NB’s crop yield
in 2022.
Many growers in
Northeastern NB also depend on the Alfalfa Leafcutter bee for pollination, and
demand is staying stable or increasing. As well, more growers ordered
commercial bumble bee quads, as part of their pollination strategy. It is early
to tell, but fruit bud numbers look good.
PEI:
The sprout fields last year set floral buds well due
to the favourable weather and the winter weather was generally favourable as
well (above average snowfall).
The Spring Monilinia season was not severe due to
bouts of dry weather during the susceptibility period. There is a lack of honey
bee hives on PEI this year which will hinder the crop’s yield potential.
Upcoming Management Recommendations
Sprout-year Fields:
· Weed
management: pull or cut weeds above the blueberry canopy before they go to seed
or cut weeds to the base. If needed, apply selective post-emergent herbicide,
such as Callisto 480 SC
· When
wild blueberry plants' growth stage reaches tip-dieback (black top on the top
of plants), consider leaf tissue samples for nutrient analysis and take soil
samples for pH analysis.
· Leaf
diseases control: apply fungicides for leaf diseases control, especially if
high levels of leaf loss have occurred in the past
Crop-year Fields:
· Weed
management: pull or cut weeds above the blueberry canopy, especially in areas
weeds are too tall that might hinder harvester operation
· Insect
management: preparing monitoring traps and monitoring for SWD and blueberry
maggot
Weather Station Apps and
Website Training Session- Recorded Video Available
The webinar recording for the Weather Station Apps
and Website Training Session is now available on the Perennia YouTube
channel.
You can find the link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ujYsZ88kAk
WBPANS 2022 Twilight Meetings Highlights
This year, WBPANS organized two twilight meetings on
May 31 and June 7. Here are some highlights from both meetings.
On May 31, the first meeting was held in Debert. Dr. David
Percival and his group presented three topics:
1. Improving
agrochemical delivery efficiency and deriving canopy characteristics by use of
UAV and remote sensing technology, by Joel Langdon
2. Selective
agrochemical and nutrient application to reduce production costs, by Daniel
Mahoney
3. Assessing
fungicide efficacy for improved management of the wild blueberry foliar disease
complex, by Alex Cornel
Figure
3. Daniel Mahoney talked about new sprayer technology
On June 7, the association and Perennia organized and
presented the second twilight meeting in Parrsboro. We had a great turnout at
the meeting.
Perennia’s Agri-technology Specialist, Thomas
Harrington gave a detailed introduction to the Weather Station Program and a
few data use examples. Wild Blueberry Specialist, Hugh Lyu, also talked about a
few great ways to utilize the program and collected data to guide this season’s
production and management.
Figure
4. Thomas presented on the weather station program
Upcoming Events
Please check out the event page under
the wild blueberry blog for more details. http://www.novascotiawildblueberryblog.com/p/events.html
We have a couple of wild blueberry field days
coming up in different regions in July. I only showed as many details as I know
about those field days in this newsletter, so please check with each region for
more details.
· Perennia
tailgate meeting- Compost and Cover Crops, July 11, 1-3 pm
Location: Soil Mates Farm, 297
Farmington Rd, Barss Corner, NS
More details and registration: https://www.perennia.ca/eventer/compost-and-cover-crops/edate/2022-07-11/
· Maine
Blueberry Hill Farm Field Day, July 14
Location: Blueberry Hill Farm, 1643
Rt 1, Jonesboro, ME
This year’s big field day will
feature a morning of IPM with UMaine researchers, burgers on the grill for
lunch, followed by an exciting afternoon with the following sessions: Improved Harvesters,
Fresh Pack Technology, Drought Management, and Commission Updates.
More details and registration: https://extension.umaine.edu/register/product/blueberry-hill-farm-field-day-2/
· Quebec
Field Day, July 14, Normandin, Quebec
· WBPANS
Field Day, July 19
Location: 581 West Side Road, East River Saint Mary’s,
NS
Pre-registration is required! Please
contact the WBPANS office to register before July 7,
2022 by phone: 902-662-3306 or email:
info@nswildblueberries.com.
· Bleuets
NB Blueberries (BNBB) Field Day, July 21, Aulac, NB