BLUE FOCUS NEWSLETTER- FALL 2024

                                                             BLUE FOCUS NEWSLETTER- FALL 2024

(Perennia’s Wild Blueberry Newsletter)

 

 

Hi, everyone

We are starting to see leaves changing colors in fields. Fall field view is one of the scenic moments near wild blueberry fields! Enjoy!

Before the long weekend, I want to deliver the last production newsletter for this season (2024 Fall Edition). I hope this information can prepare you well for this fall’s management activities and some upcoming events to fill your fall and winter calendars.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hugh

 

Hugh Lyu

Wild Blueberry Specialist, Perennia

hlyu@perennia.ca; 902-890-0472.

October 11, 2024

Table of Contents: 

 

-        Cumulative Precipitation (January 1- October 1)

-        2024 Wild Blueberry Regional Yield Updates

-        Field Soil Temperature Checking Tool

-        Upcoming Management Recommendations (FALL)

-        Upcoming Events

 

 Cumulative Precipitation (January 1- October 1)

 

We had a decent production season on the weather side in 2024. Still, wetness continues to be an unforgettable factor that impacted agricultural production in some affected regions, which caused a significant yield reduction in those places.

Jeff Franklin prepared this graph, summarizing the cumulative precipitation from January 1 to October 1 from the Kentville Research Weather Station. This data would give us a general idea of the province's wetness status for the current season and some historical trends.

When comparing the current season (red line) to the 10-year average (black) and 2023 (blue), we had a long and wet period from mid-July to the end of August in 2024 (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Kentville Research Weather Station Cumulative Precipitation from Jan 1 to Oct 1, 2024 (Provided by Jeff Franklin, AAFC).

2024 Wild Blueberry Regional Yield Updates

 

Although harvesting has been completed for over a month, I haven’t received the final yield numbers for all regions. I have limited sources and information, but that’s the closest I got (Figure 2). I listed what we predicted in mid-July and a better yield prediction after the picking season.

We overestimated, and we could be looking at less than 300 million lbs for 2024 wild blueberry yield (Figure 2). In Nova Scotia, we might end up lower than the 5-year provincial average (45 million lbs). All regions shared some common production challenges in this production cycle, such as rainfall, adequate pollination weather, and higher insect pressures (SWD and Blueberry Maggots).

Figure 2. 2024 Wild Blueberry Yield Updates: July Prediction VS Now.

 

In this blog post, I discussed some points related to yield reduction. If you haven’t seen it, here is the link: http://www.novascotiawildblueberryblog.com/2024/08/why-are-we-seeing-inconsistent-yields.html. Besides those points I already mentioned, here are a few additional points.

I have discussed the weather and above-ground parts, and here are some points related to the risks of having wet soil during a crop growing season.

We have two wet production seasons back to back, and many wild blueberry fields were saturated for a long time. Excess water could impact the soil and crop environment through oxygen depletion, root respiration reduction, changes in vital plant processes, and the production and accumulation of phytotoxic compounds, such as ethylene. A saturated soil condition could hamper plant growth and cause yield losses. In the wild blueberry example, the excess water in both sprout and crop years impacted plant shoot elongation & maturing (tip-dieback stage) and fruit bud formation since the summer of 2023.

 

Field Soil Temperature Checking Tool

 

Soil temperature is one of the critical factors for a successful Kerb application and hair fescue control. We recommend growers wait until the soil condition is cool enough but before frozen to apply Kerb. The optimum soil temperature is between 0 to 10 degrees Celsius.

To check soil temperatures from 44 weather stations in wild blueberry fields across NS, go to the weather page of the wild blueberry blog: http://www.novascotiawildblueberryblog.com/p/weather.html.

 

Click on the weather stations you want to check and continue to click on the Live Data Link. Once you are on a different page, scroll down to the bottom and find this information: “Temperature Probe.”

 

 

Upcoming Management Recommendations (FALL)

 

Two key activities are happening in wild blueberry fields this time of the year:

Mowing:

The amount of vegetation in your crop fields might slow you down if fields contain dense blueberry canopy and large weed patches, like sheep sorrel, goldenrods, and grasses. More blueberry vegetation is expected in most crop fields due to the overgrowth of blueberry plants during this cycle. We discussed 2-pass mowing before, which can be an excellent technique to save mowing fuel this year.

 

Herbicide application in mow fields:

I don’t want to discuss herbicide application in your sprout fields. We have limited herbicide options, and if you really want to do something about sprout fields, spot treatment would be a better choice.

Many of you might be struggling with blueberry-like woody weeds like lambkill, huckleberry, and Rhodora or want to use Glyphosate products to spot control weeds; here is a helpful factsheet about this topic from NB:

Fall Glyphosate Use for Lambkill Control: https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/10/pdf/Agriculture/WildBlueberries-BleuetsSauvages/C470-e.pdf.

 

Before or after mowing, a fall herbicide application might be needed depending on field weed populations.

Why is Post-Harvest fall weed control important? Here is a short article discussing this topic. It discusses the rationale behind the fall herbicide program and some environmental factors related to fall herbicide application. It is worth a read. Here is the link: https://wssa.net/2024/10/post-harvest-weed-control-helps-minimize-spring-weed-emergence/.

 

Fall Wild Blueberry Herbicide Programs:

The three major weed species requiring a broadcast spray are sheep sorrel, mosses, and hair fescue grasses.

·        Sheep sorrel: there are approved chemicals that growers can use in the fall and in the spring for this weed. Generally speaking, a spring application is more economical and potentially more effective if you only deal with a small amount of sheep sorrel. If crop fields contain a high population of sheep sorrel and big sizes, growers might need to consider a fall application and re-assess the situation in the spring.

·        Mosses: fall is a better and safer window for moss control.

·        Hair fescue and other grasses: we have several herbicides that can be used for grass control in the fall. Air and soil temperatures and moisture in the soil are critical factors to watch for a better control result.

·        Here is another article about fall weed control, specifically for wild blueberries. https://www.atlanticfarmfocus.ca/farm-focus-august-2022/2022/10/5/fall-is-a-good-time-to-manage-weeds-in-wild-blueberry-fields.

 

Upcoming Events

 

1.      Agri-Stability and Agri-Invest Virtual Education Session for Wild Blueberry Growers

Oct 22, 2024; 3-3:45 PM @ Zoom. Please see the details below:

 

 

 

2.     WBPANS AGM: November 21& 22, 2024. Please see the details below:

 

3.     Agricultural Water Information Session: November 28 or November 29. Here is the registration link: https://s.surveyplanet.com/c769lzwd. Details below:

 

 

4.     Lastly, please regularly check Perennia’s Agriculture Learning Opportunities page for upcoming in-person and virtual events: https://www.perennia.ca/learning/agriculture-learning-opportunities/.