Update from NS Crop and Livestock Commission

A note from NS Crop & Livestock Insurance regarding frost damage:

Any blueberry growers participating in crop insurance who believe their crops were impacted or may be impacted by recent frost events (or damage from any other insured perils) must provide a notice of damage to the Nova Scotia Crop and Livestock Insurance Commission. Notices can be mailed (P.O. Box 1092, Truro, N.S. B2N 5G9), faxed (902-895-4622) phoned (902-893-6370 or 1 800 565 6371) or emailed (nsclic@novascotia.ca) to the Commission offices.

Sincerely, 

Bill MacLeod, P.Ag.

CEO

Nova Scotia Crop and Livestock Insurance Commission

P.O. Box 1092, Truro, N.S. B2N 2P2

Botrytis Update for Nova Scotia - May 30, 2017

It was certainly cold last night but I'm not sure we had a severe enough frost to do any amount of damage last night.   That being said, there could have been some pockets that did receive below zero temperatures.  Generally speaking temperatures need to be below -2 degrees C for an extended period of time to get significant damage to the flower.

Bloom is moving along nicely with good anticipated pollination weather for both today and tomorrow.  The weather forecast is calling for wet conditions Wednesday evening through Thursday. For those who have not treated for Botrytis yet, and are typically prone to botrytis infections, they should strongly consider making an application prior to the coming wet period.

If your bees are in the field, try to make the application when the bees are not flying (ie. in the evening or early morning) to minimize contact with pollinators.

I have yet to see any Botrytis symptoms showing up in the field, but we are still early in bloom.  I have seen a fair amount of Monilina infections, particularly on vegetative buds.

I will continue to make regular updates through the summer on this blog, but will make less regular updates on the blight line (662-4242) as we move through the summer.

Monilinia Symptoms and Frost

I was out looking at some fields yesterday and noticed that monilinia symptoms are starting to appear. (seen at very low levels).  There is nothing that can be done now to control these infections. 

I've attached a photo of what leaf infections look like

Also I did see some low level damage from a frost event on Monday.  I have heard of several fields that did have some damage as well.  The damage was seen in early fields and in low lying areas.  The appearance can range from partially brown flower petals to a completely darkened flower.

If you have crop insurance, it is a good idea to check your fields and let crop insurance know if you are seeing any damage.

Cold weather damage

Many of you may have gotten an e-mail last week talking about cold injury. I have also been getting calls about delayed development in certain crop fields.

This is a quote from Paul Hildebrand - "Earlier this week Willy travelled to Westchester Mountain and he noticed poor foliage development in some fields. This is due to the cold nights we had around April 30. The growing point in the vegetative bud is blackened and only a few leaves per leaf shoot develop. Also, flower buds are stunted and/or are turning brown. These symptoms are not due to Monilinia blight. We are not sure how wide spread this problem is, but it likely will affect yields in some fields. Apple growers have reported injury in the Valley as well."

We are starting to see some monilinia blight out there but the cold weather symptoms look quite different. Take a look at a pictures Paul Hildebrand sent and the post I made yesterday on the blog to compare.