Text Transcript and Visual Descriptions
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| Music plays | Title card. Interview title: Orchard Management and Socioeconomic Considerations. Interviewee information: Jill Tonne, Crop Consultant with Nutrien Ag Solutions. |
| So we are here today with Jill Tonne, and we are tackling the last of our cultural control management. Jill can you give us a little bit of background on your history and where you’ve worked? | Two speakers appear on screen in a split screen video call. |
| Yes, so my name is Jill Tonne and I grew up in agriculture in the Royal City area. I went to WSU and graduated in 2003. With all of my internships and working, I’ve been in the industry for a little over 20 years. Most of that was at Simplot, and then I just made the move to Nutrien AG Solutions a year ago. I’ve worked tree fruit permanent crops for the entire time, and we’ve worked with a lot of growers to address codling moth issues both conventionally and organically, so I’m pretty familiar with that aspect. | Jill appears full screen. |
| So we’re going to spend time talking about how horticultural practices can influence codling moth populations or just pest infestations. So when you go and you pull up to an orchard, can you tell us a little bit about how you approach the visual inspection for codling moth and how you decide to scout? And are there areas of the block when you drive up that you just sort of look at it and you say, “that could be a problem”, or “I need to spend more time in certain areas”? | View switches back to split screen of Jill and the interviewer. |
| Yes, so when I come up to a block, I really do look at borders. I look at the neighbors. I see what everything looks like, how far away other blocks are, the condition of those blocks. | Jill appears full screen. |
| Are they big, huge, gnarly, very overgrown trees? Are they big huge old grannies with lots of bark? Are they sprayed or the weed strips taken care of? | A photo appears of an apple orchard in which the trees are overgrown and the weed strip is not well maintained. Wooden bins sit in the orchard row. |
| I always look for bin piles. I always look for neighbor bin piles, if anything’s new, if new piles have come in. I always talk to my growers and see if they found anything different, if there’s any history. Or even any of the workers that are out there, I always try and contact them because they are out there every single day, down every row, and are able to see way more than I can see in my one time a week I’m out in the orchard. So I really do the borders and the neighboring fields and anything that’s moved or different. | An overhead camera view shows a forklift moving large wooden bins filled with apples. |
| So just to be really more specific about it why do you pay attention to the gnarly granny? | View switches back to split screen of Jill and the interviewer. |
| Yeah, because those big huge tree are typically unmanaged and maybe not pruned as well because they don’t need it. | Jill appears full screen. |
| So a lot of times it’s hard to get spray penetration into those trees. So you need to worry about that. Then also, there’s lots of bark and different areas of that tree for pest pressure and codling moth in particular to hide. So you need to be making sure that you can see all of that. Get into the middles of those trees, look up high where you’re not going to get very good spray penetration. | A photo appears of a sprayer being driven down an orchard via tractor. Mist is seen being sprayed onto the surrounding trees. |
| Three ways that really you can look at codling moth populations, you can use a model you can use trap counts, and then visual inspections, which you just talked about. How do you use all three of those and what’s some good advice that you can give around that? | View switches back to split screen of Jill and the interviewer. |
| So I typically I look at the models, because it’s a good baseline of where everything should be on a normal year. We also look at the weather, we look at visual, we look at what our trap count numbers are coming in, and then what the tree looks like as well. There’s a lot of those variables that, right now, are not accounted for in those models. But it is a very good baseline to start your programs out with. Just know, it’s not set in stone. | Jill appears full screen. |
| And then how do you calibrate the trap counts with what your history and knowledge of the field is? | View switches back to split screen of Jill and the interviewer. |
| So using trap counts, it is a way to spray sooner, stretch out your interval, tighten up your spray interval. My trap counts are a little different based on grower, mating disruption, and history. If I have a really hot area and we’re only catching ones or twos, that’s really low. But if I have an area with minimal codling moth history and we catch one or two that’s a big indicator we need to get out there, because there’s going to be a problem. So a lot of it has to do with history, what everything looks like in the field. I use those trap counts to, like I said, either increase–like we can stretch out our spray interval–or we need to tighten that down because we’re starting to have some issues and spikes in this historical aspect. | Jill appears full screen. |
| What if you had a very well managed orchard and you all of a sudden are finding increases in trap counts? What is your next action? What do you think is going on, or what would that spark you to go do in the field? | View switches back to split screen of Jill and the interviewer. |
| So I actually had an issue like this this last growing season in some organic Pink Ladies that typically have never had an issue. We’d maybe see a codling moth here and there, but just very low pressure. And we started seeing stings in the orchard with no trap counts about August, with no issues before. We had put first and second generation sprays on. We were kind of thinking, okay, we’ll make it through harvest. Third generation, we’re good. We started seeing some codling moth stings. It’s pretty isolated, so the grower and I drove around the neighborhood a little bit to see what was going on. | Jill appears full screen. |
| I didn’t see any backyard trees that could pose a problem, but the grower, because he has that relationship with those people, he was able to do a little bit more digging and looking over fences. He was able to find a rogue pear tree that we couldn’t see, and it was literally littered with codling moth. It was little, so it had just started flowering, later in the season. And so he was able to talk with that neighbor and he took care of the tree for them. He offered to come pick some fruit if they wanted so that so we could take care of that tree for them. You really need to look for like apples, pears, almonds, nut trees, even some crab apples–for some reason they’ve had an issue–anything neglected. And I have always encouraged my growers to reach out to their neighbors instead of me, because they have that relationship with them, to try and address those issues. | |
| Are there any particular red flags when you go up to a block that you see that you say, “Oh, I know that’s gonna be a problem.”? | View switches back to split screen of Jill and the interviewer. |
| So the first thing, of course, you look for stings. If there’s stings in that orchard, that is the biggest red flag. I like to go and look around at some of the neighbors, and you know, kind of be inconspicuous and look at the neighbors and see if they if I can spot any stings on the borders. | A photo appears of a codling moth sting on the surface of an apple. |
| If there’s any other pest issue, so like, if you can see leaf roller, you don’t have to get close to see that there’s other pests that might be a problem. I always look for that, because that’s a big indicator that they’re not spraying and taking care of their orchard. So those are kind of the big red flags, just any other pest issues. | A photo appears of a leaf roller caterpillar on the surface of a leaf. Holes are seen where the caterpillar has fed. |
| So when you’re going up to it, are there any other horticultural or farming practices that lend themselves to better codling moth control. For example, it would be analogous to having an open canopy that gets sunlight penetration, it helps with mildews. So what about cultural controls in training or other cultural management, mowing, pruning, etc. for codling moth control? | View switches back to split screen of Jill and the interviewer. |
| So absolutely, the more open canopy you have, the better spray penetration you’re going to have. Like earlier when I talked about the big, hairy granny trees. It’s really difficult to get spray penetration into those big trees, especially the old plantings. And just more open canopy where you can get into the middle, get light penetration. | Jill appears full screen. |
| Also clustered apples, so that’s a big area for codling moth to hide, and you start rolling those clusters around and you’ll see stings where they’ve bored in that you weren’t even looking for before. The other thing is just keeping everything clean, your weed sprays, making sure that weed strip is somewhat maintained. I know it’s kind of hard when you get into the season, but just keeping everything maintained will absolutely help with all of your insect pressure. | A photo appears of apples which are growing very close together on the tree, forming a tight cluster. |
| You just talked about spray coverage being very important, so what are some tips that you have for growers that you give them as a consultant to achieve better spray coverage? | View switches back to split screen of Jill and the interviewer. |
| I think the sprayer part of it is important in the fact that they need to slow down. They need to gear down, go slow, get good sprayer penetration. I always tell my guys make your sprayer gear down because most of the time, they’re flying through that orchard because they’re trying to get done. I mean, they just want to empty their tank and start again. So you need to make sure that you slow down, you use good water volume to get good coverage, you go all the way to the end of the rows, and spray a border wrap around everything as well. You have to finish that row, and I think that is where some of the sprayer issues are coming into effect. They stop before they get to the end of the row, they forget to wrap around the border, and they don’t slow down so you get good spray coverage. | Jill appears full screen. |
| So I think it’s essential to be getting good coverage when you’re making these insecticide sprays. And you really need to pay attention to your tree row volume. For the most part in our industry–there is some very high density blocks that can handle a little bit of a lower volume–but for the majority of our industry, you need to be at least 100 gallons an acre. You need to be getting good coverage. There’s a big push toward the low volume sprayers just because it’s a lot quicker and easier to get through the orchard, but especially with insecticide sprays you need to be at that higher volume. You can’t get through with a 25 or 35 gallon per acre of water application and expect to have really good codling moth control or any other insect control. | |
| Okay, so thank you, Jill. As we conclude this, what are the key messages that you think are the most important things for growers to pay attention to in relationship to their horticulture, spraying, etc. for codling moth control? | View switches back to split screen of Jill and the interviewer. |
| I think just a base good orchard management can help with codling moth and other insect management. You need to start your codling moth program early. Don’t skip your first generation sprays that people want to do just because they haven’t had pressure before. | Text appears on screen, “Good orchard management from pruning to weed control will help”. |
| When they’re making their insecticide applications, they need to slow down, spray your borders, spray your bin piles, increase your water volume, get good coverage. | Text appears on screen, “Slow down and confirm you are getting good spray coverage”. |
| And you need to be vigilant, don’t wait to address the problem you need to. If you feel like you have an outside source, talk to your neighbors, figure out where the issue is coming from. And just pay attention to what’s going on and look at those bin piles look at the outside sources and be vigilant about it. | Text appears on screen, “Be vigilant about new sources of codling moth from backyard trees and bin piles. |
| So we thank you for sharing your years of experience and it is very informative. Thank you. very much. | View switches back to split screen of Jill and the interviewer. |
| You’re welcome, thank you. | |
| Music plays. | Credits for interview and video production roll. |
