Pierce’s Disease (PD) is a serious threat to the cultivation of grapes in the United States, especially in the warmer southern regions. Recently the UC Davis grape breeding program has developed new European (Vitis vinifera) grape selections with resistance to PD that are expected to produce high quality yield in regions with PD pressure where the Vitis vinifera production was previously not a …

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists, in cooperation with Pacific Biosciences and Penn State University, have published the first genome of the invasive Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) in the journal Gigascience and they did it from a single caught-in-the-wild specimen. Not only is it the first published genome for this pest, but no closely related species has had its genome sequenced, making the data even more important, …

BASF launched a new industry-wide initiative to eliminate on-farm weeds. Operation Weed Eradication calls on growers and partners to take action against troublesome weeds in their fields, through cultural practices, chemical control and enhanced diligence. Research by Stratus Ag shows that nearly 75 percent of growers nationwide are dealing with glyphosate-resistant weeds in their fields and today’s management practices are …

Wasps, hornets, and even bees are opportunistic feeders, and during the mid to late summer they are actively searching for sources of sugars. Once they find sources of sugary foods, they will aggressively forage in those areas and recruit additional workers from the colony. As such, these stinging insects can be a real nuisance in grapes, especially at harvest. Unfortunately, …

Spotted-wing Drosophila (SWD) trap catches continued to remain high at our four remaining locations in the last week of August. In addition to fall raspberry risk of damage, a key concern for grape growers should be the high numbers of SWD at Chanhassen (Hort. Research Center, HRC), and at Hastings. Traps in our network are effective at catching both male and …

As many of us across the state are either in the midst of harvesting or are finished, we can take a look back at the season that Mother Nature threw at us. For most of us, both fall and spring were unseasonably wet. The rain acted as both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because the vines experienced little …