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NewsletterVol. 46 No. 4 Fall 2015

34

6, 710,11

12

NCR SLR Meeting

Pest Management Solutions for Specialty Crops and Minor Uses

Workshops

Wanted: Master Field ResearchDirector, Mechanically inclined,Tech-savvy, Number crunching-Farmer with communication chops.

How does that sound for a FieldResearch Director (FRD) jobdescription? Oh yeah, and don’tforget to document it all. Odds arethat most of our current FRDsdidn’t read such a description whenthey started their jobs. In reality themost consistent and productiveFRDs who crank out excellent fielddata books are exemplars of thishybrid, and rare skill set. Acombined set of mechanical,documentation and crop growingskills make up the researcher’strifecta of effective characteristics.

Where exactly does the role of aresearcher intersect with baling wireand tractor driving? Although it’s

unlikely that gene splicers will spendmuch time on a tractor, there aremany IR-4 trials that requireknowledge of RPMs and tractorspeeds. If there’s not a tractorinvolved there very well may bewalking speed, nozzle size andboom pressure to balance theprotocol’s application requirements.Those researchers with long termexperience in the program will alsorecall the challenging trials thatrequired unusual booms orequipment layouts beyond theparameters of a straightforward,single application trial. Mechanicalskills and a bit of hands-onconfiguring go a long way when theprotocol ventures into uncharteredwaters.

If you’re a top-notch code wizardyou will likely be headed to Google

or Pixar, but a top notch FieldResearch Director will have a similarability to communicate and documentin the digital age. Our field GLPstudies combine technical tools withdata delivery using a good ol’ oldfashioned paper notebook. The FRDwho remembers to snap a fewpictures with their camera (or smartypants phone) and forward them tothe Study Director is well on theirway to elevated tech-Savvy status.This same photograph can then beprinted (with some explanatory notes)and inserted into the notebook. Mostof these technical tools require acertain amount of “tweaking” to learnexactly what capabilities exist. Howclose is that GPS unit to a knownspot? Does that Kestrel wind speed

What Makes a MasterField Research Director?— by Western Region Assistant RFC, Stephen Flanagan

Workshops

ToleranceSuccesses

Spotlight:Rhododendron

continued on pg 8

Dragon Fruit: bloom, James Kam & Julie Coughlin training vines, and fruit at the Universityof Hawaii.

pg 2Vol 46 No 4

Dear Friends,

I am excited to share with you highlights from the four wonderful workshops IR-4 held this autumn in Chicago.During the week of September 20, IR-4 successfully facilitated the first Global Minor Use Workshop, theannual IR-4 Food Priority Workshop and the second IR-4 Biopesticide Workshop. On October 7th and 8th,IR-4 held its biennial Ornamental Horticulture Priority Setting Workshop. Over 350 people from more than30 countries attended one or more of the workshops.

There are detailed articles of the workshops (see What a Week of Workshops! And Then Another One (pages6, 7, 10 & 11 ) and articles on some of the Regional Priority Setting meetings (North Central Region page 3and Southern Region page5). The goal of all these workshops/meetings is to provide direction for theselection of research priorities on the most important pest management needs on specialty crops. I want toacknowledge the efforts of many of my associates in the planning and running of the workshops. Dan Kunkel,was the Chair of the Global Workshop Organization Committee that planned the program and developed anew global minor use database that tracks global minor use pest management voids. Van Starner once againdid an excellent job in coordinating the Food Use Workshop. Kudos to Michael Braverman and KristaColeman for their efforts on the Biopesticide Workshop. Also great job to Cristi Palmer in the OrnamentalHorticulture Workshop; this workshop gets better and better. Special recognition to Cheryl Ferrazoli, SusanBierbrunner and the four IR-4 Regional Field Coordinators (Edith Lurvey, Michelle Samuel-Foo, SatoruMiyazaki and Rebecca Sisco) for their contributions in all four workshops.

Some highlights of the workshops included the tropical crop caucus from all regions of the world comingtogether and identifying a single minor use priority for research, Jason Sandahl of USDA-Foreign AgricultureService announced that USDA is providing IR-4 $500K to help IR-4 launch a Global Minor Use Fund tosupport global research efforts. Special recognition goes to Dr. Mary Hausbeck who was presented the 2015SOAR Award for her excellence in Service, Outreach, Altruism and Research. Also receiving the 2015 SOARAward is Dr. Robin Bellinder. Sadly, Dr. Bellinder passed away on November 13, 2015. Her family receivedthe award posthumously.

During the workshops, I spoke several times on the numerous IR-4 challenges and transitions surroundingIR-4. Together, we need to continually look for ways on improving efficiency in order to accomplish ourmission. We have begun planning for an organizational assessment that will look at many aspects of the IR-4research programs and suggest improvements.

Switching gears, congratulations are in order for the IR-4 Project Management Committee Chair, DavidSoderlund, who was recognized as a 2015 Fellow of the Entomology Society of America. The news releaseon this prestigious award can be found at entsoc.org/esa-recognizes-2015-fellows.

Finally, I want to give a shout out to my friend and colleague, Dr. Mary Duryea who retired this summer. Maryserved for many years as the IR-4 Southern Region Administrative Advisor. Most recently, she was Chair of theAdministrative Advisors. Mary has provided great support and advice for IR-4 and has helped us navigate theProject through some of its greatest challenges. We will miss Mary’s insight and ideas. One of Mary’s lastduties was to recruit her replacement, and she did a fine job in recruiting Dr. Jackie Burns of the University ofFlorida to take on the Southern Region Administrative Advisor role. Jackie has instantly engaged in IR-4activities and continues Mary’s legacy of sound advice and guidance.

All the best,

Jerry

Executive Director Notes

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pg 3Vol 46 No 4

On August 24-25, 2015, theNorth Central Region (NCR) heldits annual NCR IR-4 LiaisonMeeting at Michigan Stateuniversities’ (MSU) BiotechnologyInstitute, in Lansing. The meetingbegan with an introduction of themeeting attendees that includedJohn Wise, the Director of the IR-4NCR, Satoru Miyazaki, The NCRRegional Field Coordinator, SueErhardt, the Regional Lab ResearchCoordinator, Michael Chen, theNCR Quality AssuranceCoordinator and several NCR StateLiaison Representatives, a numberof NCR field research directors andKathryn Homa, IR-4’s FungicideCoordinator.

Following the approval of 2014minutes and appointment of theoperatingcommittee fornominations andawards, the2015 IR-4AwardPresentationswere made. Thetwo 2015 NCR

awardrecipientswere SueErhardt, theNCRRegionalLaboratoryCoordinatorat MSU,

who received the MeritoriousService Award, and Blair Harlan,the Field Research Technicianworking with Mary Hausbeck atMSU, who received the TechnicalService Award.

A majority of the first day of themeeting was spent nominating theNCR food-use research priorities inpreparation for the 2015 IR-4Food Use Workshop that was heldin Chicago September 22-23,2015. Herbicide priorities includedproject requests on root crops,onion subgroups, leafy greens,Brassicas, beans, strawberries, rye,herbs, canola and marigold.Fungicide priorities includedproject requests for ginseng,potato, onion subgroups, leafygreens, Brassicas, beans and peas,

tomatoes, blueberry,strawberry, asparagusand hops. Insecticidepriorities includedproject requests fortomato, squash, stonefruits, berries, sweetcorn and hops.

After all prioritieswere selected, the

IR-4 Project Status Update wasgiven by Kathryn Homa of IR-4Headquarters. This presentationcommunicated the continued needfor IR-4 as a major resource forsupplying pest management tools(conventional, biopesticide,organic) for specialty crop growersand minor uses. IR-4 is facing new

NCR Priority Setting

challenges including harmonizationof MRLs with trading partners, pestresistance issues, new emerging andinvasive pest pressures, morecomplex residue studies, newregulatory challenges and label userestrictions. Other major discussionpoints included the fact thatregistrants are increasinglyregistering specialty crop uses withtheir own funds and are relyingmore on IR-4 to provideperformance data to support newuses. Because of this, IR-4 will bedirecting more resources to fundingperformance research in 2016.Other highlights of the presentationincluded yearly accomplishments inthe IR-4 Food Use, Biopesticide,Ornamental Horticulture and PublicHealth Pesticide Programs,involvement in internationalactivities and IR-4 transitions withpersonnel and funding to increaseefficiency, service stakeholders andaddress budget issues.

The remainder of the day wasfocused on a number of topicsincluding the IR-4 NCR leaderlaboratory reports for pesticide fieldand laboratory programs, a qualityassurance report, the NCR fieldresearch center reports and theNCR IPM Center program update.Then NCR specialty crop growershad some time to discuss theirmajor needs in the region. Mites,whiteflies and thrips were identifiedas major pests in both organic andconventional systems. The major

A Review of the 2015NCR Liaison Meeting — by Kathryn Homa, Fungicide Coordinator,

IR-4 Project Headquarters

continued on page 5

Spotlight on Orn. Hort.

Well, not exactly, but throughoutthe world there are more than1,000 species of Rhododendron, or“rose trees”. Commonly known incultivation as azaleas andrhododendrons, Rhododendronspecies are grouped with ericaceousplants (heath, heather, cranberry,and blueberry) and can beevergreen or deciduous.Rhododendrons are distributedworldwide in temperate to tropicalclimates. In addition to the largenumber of species, manyinter-species hybrids and cultivarshave been bred for improved bloomsize, color, fragrance and foliageform.

Together, azaleas and rhodo-dendrons are considered one of thetop broadleaf evergreen horticulturecrops in the US with over $141million wholesale value annually(USDA NASS, Census ofAgriculture 2009 (bit.ly/statstool).

In cultivation, there are threeprimary groups: evergreenrhododendrons, deciduous hybridazaleas, and evergreen hybridazaleas. Evergreen rhododendronspecies are understory plants inmany eastern US forests and arecommonly used in landscape

plantings inshady spots.

Bothdeciduousandevergreenazaleas maybe placed inshady areas

but are often transplanted in moresunny locations, which can lead tostress and increased problems withlace bugs. A fourth group (Vireyarhododendrons) are unusual in thatthey are epiphytic tender shrubs.Vireya rhododendrons originated inSoutheast Asia in tropical regions,but they grow mostly in coolmountainous regions as epiphyteson tall trees or low growing shrubs.

Azaleas and rhododendrons are inthe same genus which means theyhave fairly similar characteristics.However, along with othermorphological and genetic traits,they can be separated based on thenumber of stamens present in theflowers: azaleas have 5 stamens,and rhododendrons have 10.

Azaleas and rhododendrons areprone to several diseases and pests.Root pathogens includePhytophthora, Rhizoctonia, andfoliar pathogens include Botrytis,Botryosphaeria, rusts and variousfungi causing leaf spots. Pestsinclude root-feeding insects such asthe larval stages of black vine andstrawberry weevils, Japanese andoriental beetles, and foliage orshoot feeding insect such as theadults stages of previous mentionedinsects, lace bugs, aphids, scaleand leaf miners. IR-4 has sponsoredefficacy research on some of these

pathogens and pests. In particular,many experiments have beenconducted to screen efficacy forvarious Phytophthora speciesincluding P. ramorum, a pathogenwhich causes foliar blighting.

Weeds impact production ofazaleas and rhododendrons pots.Crop safety studies using over thetop or directed herbicideapplications are necessary forgrowers to know which products touse during dormant periods orduring periods of active growth.

Crop safety studies have beenconducted with 15 fungicides, 61herbicides, and 10 insecticides.

In addition, IR-4 has sponsoredresearch on Rhododendron species

with plant growthregulators to increase plantbranching. Productscontaining 6-BA orcyclanalide exhibitedvariable impact fromdecreased to increased

branching and products containingGA4 + 7 had no impact. In otherwords, some additional work isneeded to determine best ratesand/or timing to foster improvedbranching characteristics withdifferent species and cultivars.

Rhododendron species have beenwell-studied crops through IR-4due to their popularity over theyears. As priority projects shift todifferent pathogens and pests, wewill continue to work to developefficacy and crop safety data forrelevant problems.

— by Cristi Palmer, IR-4 Ornamental Horticulture Manager

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A Thousand and One Arabian RoseTrees?

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Regional Priority Setting

pathology issues included the needfor good Pythium products.Pesticide resistance was also amajor issue.

The following day was spentdiscussing the SLR Reports and therecommendations for IR-4 failedfield trials, which was put togetherthrough an Ad Hoc committee thatwas formed to look at ways toreduce/eliminate avoidableproblems in IR-4 field trials. Theremainder of the meeting focusedon the need for increased fundingdue to more and more complicatedresidue studies, additional protocolreviews before the protocol isfinalized, and the desire foradditional minor/specialty crop trialsconducted in the NCR region.

Following the NCR meeting,Kathryn Homa met with Dr. MaryHausbeck (plant pathologist) toview efficacy work at MSU fieldsites and discuss current growerissues. Some of the major issuesincluded bacterial diseases in appleand tomato, downy mildew andPhytophthora in cucurbits, Pythiumin brassicas, Alternaria in carrot,purple spot in asparagus, anddowny mildew in hops production,which is becoming a popular cropin the NCR growing region.

If there are inquiries pertaining tothe 2015 NCR IR-4 LiaisonMeeting, please contact John Wiseat wisejohn@msu.edu or SatoruMiyazaki at ncrir4@msu.edu.

NCR Meeting continued from page 3The IR-4 Newsletter Vol 46 No.4Fall 2015

The IR-4 Newsletter is published quarterly fordistribution to cooperators in our partnerState/Federal/Industry research units, Stateand Federal officials, commodity groups, andprivate citizens. Material from the IR-4Newsletter may be reproduced with credit tothe publication. New Jersey AgriculturalExperiment Station PublicationNo.P-27200-15-04. This material is basedupon work that is supported by the NationalInstitute of Food and Agriculture, U.S.Department of Agriculture, under awardnumber 2015-34383-23710 withsubstantial cooperation and support from theState Agricultural Experiment Stations andUSDA-ARS.

Editor: Sherrilynn NovackIR-4 Public Relations and CommunicationManager, 732.932.9575 x 4632, novack@aesop.rutgers.edu

Newsletter Committee:Northeast Regional Field Coordinator, EdithLurvey, 315.787.2308.

North Central Regional Director, John Wise, 517.432.2668.

Western Regional Assistant Field Coordinator, Stephen Flanagan,541.688.3155.

Southern Regional Field Coordinator,Michelle Samuel-Foo, 352-294-3991Southern Region Program

Research Prog/Svs, Crd/QA Robin Federline 352-294-3983.

Commodity Liaison Committee member,Mike Bledsoe, 407-493-3933, VillageFarms.

IR-4 HQ, 732.932.9575Assistant Director, Van Starner x 4621

Ornamental Horticulture Manager, andTechnical Copy EditorCristi Palmer x 4629

Technical Coordinator/Entomology, Ken Samoil x 4614

Fungicide Coordinator, Kathryn Homa x 4604

Public Health Pesticides Manager, andTechnical Copy Editor, Karl Malamud-Roam x 4628

The IR-4 Southern Region (SOR)holds a face-to-face priority settingworkshop on alternating years atrotating locations throughout theSoutheastern US. The goal of theworkshop is to select and rankprojects of regional importance,whether they are for GLP residuework or performance researchneeded for registration. Theseselections are considered SORpriorities at the national IR-4 FoodUse Workshop. In off years, theSOR region decides on prioritiesvia a combination of regional field

coordinator moderated, disciplinespecific conference calls and orwebinars. In 2014, an onlinequaltrics survey was utilized tohelp with this task, whereparticipants were able to vieweligible products online and inputnominations for crops of interestwith comments.

This year the SOR meeting saw agroup of about 60 stakeholderstravel to sunny Coconut GroveFlorida on Aug 18th and 19th, fora day and a half of project

Highlights from the2015 IR-4 SOR PrioritySetting Meeting

continued on pg 9

— by Michelle Samuel-Foo, IR-4 Southern Regional Field Coordinator

Vol 46 No 4

FeatureWhat a Week ofWorkshops! And ThenAnother One

First Global Minor UseWorkshop: Seeking PestManagement Solutions for

Growers Around the World

The week began on Sunday,September 20, 2015, with the firstever Global Minor Use Workshop.Over 170 people from more than30 countries gathered in Chicagoand participated in the GlobalMinor Use Workshop. The goal ofthe Global Workshop was todevelop plans for cooperativeresearch targeting one study eachon tropical and temperate growingclimates and one in greenhouseenvironments.

The Global Workshop wasorganized by IR-4 and several otherinternational partners and fundedby USDA’s Foreign Ag Service(FAS) and industry sponsors. It washeld in association with IR-4’sannual research priority settingworkshop for specialty food crops

and biopesticides. Conducting theGlobal Minor Use Workshop wasan “action item” identified at theSecond Global Minor Use Summit(GMUS2) that was held at the FAOheadquarters in Rome, in 2012.The idea of countries workingtogether to share data and conductfield studies came out of the modelformed between the IR-4 Projectand the Agriculture and Agri-FoodCanada’s Pest Management Centre(PMC). This collaboration, whichbegan in 1996, saves bothcountries valuable resources andfacilitates trade of high valuespecialty crops. The successbetween IR-4 and PMC hasinfluenced additional collaborationsbetween IR-4 and Australia, CostaRica, Brazil and Mexico.

The Workshop was one of the manysteps in global cooperation to solveminor use needs. US specialty cropgrowers and their internationalcounterparts seek harmonization ofpesticide standards, regulations andMRLs. Differing standards mayblock the use of newer lower riskproducts that are a critical

component in modern pestmanagement systems. Otherongoing efforts involving IR-4include capacity building indeveloping countries led byMichael Braverman and EdithLurvey.

Activities at the Global Workshopconcentrated on reviewing a newlydeveloped database of priorityglobal minor use pest managementneeds, another GMUS2 “actionitem”. This database was createdthrough a worldwide surveyconducted months before theworkshop. Forty countries sharedinformation about their specialtycrop pest management voids andneeds for solutions. Informationfrom the database was used todetermine what the most importantpest needs were and to seekpossible solutions for jointresearch. As needs were discussed,many countries responded byoffering existing data to assist insolving pest managementproblems.

FAS sponsored numerousdelegates fromdevelopingcountries. LucyNamu, principalanalytical chemistwith Kenya PlantHealth InspectorateServices (KEPHIS)noted, “Thisworkshop will enable

us to obtain more crop protectiontools, which will help open marketsfor our products. The workshop

Participants of the STDF Residue Project from Africa,Asia and Latin America with the IR-4/USDA-FASCapacity Building Team Attending the Global PrioritySetting Workshop.

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Vol 46 No 4

Featurealso gave us an opportunity tounderstand how priorities can beidentified in order to help allcountries and we all appreciated theinteraction with those from othercountries.”

Many of the developing countriesparticipated in the selection of aresearch project for tropical crops.IR-4, through its network developedunder the Standards TradeDevelopment Facility, fundedcapacity building and trainingprograms, and agreed to be the“lead country” for the tropicalproject and will provide theoversight and direction for theproject. The priority project and“lead country” is still pending forthe temperate and the greenhouse crops.

Jason Sandahl, USDA-FAS Office ofCapacity Building and Development,announced that the USDA-FAS hasprovided a contribution of $500Kto a Global Minor Use Fund. Heproposed this as “seed” money, andchallenged other countries tocontribute to the fund in order tofund global research projects. TheGlobal Minor Use Fund will beadministered through the IR-4Project at Rutgers University.

The workshop also provided clearerdirection for the organizers inreorganizing the selection processfor future global workshops. Mostagreed the Global Minor UseWorkshop was invaluable, and thebeginning of conversations andcollaborations that will unitecountries and build trust.

EPA Risk Assessment ForumImmediately following the GlobalMinor Use Workshop, BarbaraMadden, Minor Use Coordinator,EPA Office of Pesticide Programs,offered an enlightening seminarabout EPA data review. Her intentwas to help IR-4 stakeholders better

understand the EPAdecision-making process, and howit relates to IR-4 submissions.Based on feedback after theseminar, her presentation wasvaluable and well received.

The IR-4 Annual Food UseWorkshopIR-4 kicked off the annual FoodUse Workshop (FUW) with a“Welcome to Illinois” from AlanDeYoung, a conventional andorganic grower in Momence, IL.Barbara Madden provided EPAupdates on key topics that impactspecialty crop stakeholder priorityresearch needs. She also providedinformation on crop groupingrevisions, pollinators andantibiotics. IR-4 Executive Director,Jerry Baron, completed the day’sactivities by presenting a “State ofIR-4” address. Jerry alsorecognized researcher Dr. MaryHausbeck, she, along with Dr.Robin Bellinder (who will receivethe award in early 2016) are the2015 IR-4 SOAR Awardrecipients.

The next day, following industrypresentations, over 210participants got down to thebusiness of prioritizing researchactivities for 2016. This year’sFUW was particularly challengingas only 40 “A” priority projectscould be assigned, down from asmany as 65 in past years due tofunding constraints. This, alongwith urgent research needed onnewer crops such as marigold oil,chia, and quinoa, which have fewpest management tools registered,made for an exhausting day of“horse trading”.

Participation for all the workshopswas the highest in recent IR-4history and included a number ofnew commodity representatives.Commodity participation is very

important to the process of meetinggrower needs.

In addition to fewer priority “A”residue projects, more and morecompanies are asking IR-4 toproduce performance data forinclusion in registration petitions.Recognizing this need, the IR-4Project Management Committeeagreed to a budget scenariowherein $450K is dedicated to fundthis research and less is dedicatedfor residue studies than in previousyears. Five high priorities (H+)were identified for this performanceresearch.

Most who answered the IR-4 FUWsurvey were satisfied with theoverall workshop, the format, time that was allowed for networking,the location and venue. Manycommented they liked thenetworking opportunities the best.

This year, the priorities wereselected on day two of theworkshop. Survey commentsregarding this order stated thatsome felt it was better to choosepriorities on the first day and have anight to sleep on it. Theycommented this would give peopletime to talk and propose ways tocooperate.

Many of the attendees of the GlobalMinor Use Workshop stayed on and

Dr. Mary Hausbeck received the IR-4 SOARAward for her excellent Service, Outreach,Altruism and Research during the Food UseWorkshop.

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Master FRD

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indicator come anywhere close tothe weather station readouts? Am Ithe only FRD whose bean leaveslook like toasted sesame buns?Once weather data, storage temper-atures and a plethora of other datapoints are collected, the researcheris required to deliver a completednotebook. This “knack ofdocumentation” is the ability to sitdown at a desk to complete thecopious records and deliver athorough accounting of the trial.The resulting field data book is themark of a master FRD.

The third leg of the FRD tripod iscertainly the farmer’s green thumb.This green thumb and“phyllophillic” embrace of all thingsgreen is essential for the FRD’s skillset. Even describing this as a greenthumb is a stretch at times as ourFRDs have grown oysters (muddybrown outsides, white and grayinsides), dates (dark brown andglassy), avocados (black and green),and a host of other green and notso green specialty crops. A greenthumb here translates into acuriosity about a new or unusualcrop that will take some tweaking tosuccessfully produce a commerciallyacceptable crop.

A recent “new crop” arrival in thewest (also in the south) has beenstevia which was successfullycultivated and harvested at UCDavis and the UC Kearney Researchand Extension center. Stevia is anherbaceous perennial crop whosefoliage is harvested for the

extraction of “steviol glycosides”which are the actual compoundsthat make stevia a natural sweetener.Both Davis and Kearney successfullyestablished research plots for steviaresidue trials. Seth Watkins and GuyKyser established additional plotsfor UC Davis Weed ScientistSpecialist Brad Hanson that wereused to screen potential herbicidecandidates. The stevia plots atKearney thrived under David Ennesand Keri Skiles’ care to the extentthat the untreated stevia may besold back to the commercial steviacooperators upon the completion ofthe residue trials.

Dan Groenendale at WSU tinkeredwith growing wasabi at the IrrigatedAgriculture Research and ExtensionCenter in Prosser Washington. WSUentomologist Doug Walsh utilizesDan’s technical and growing skills toconduct efficacy and residuesstudies on hops, grapes and a widearray of specialty crops includingwasabi. This uniquely grown,semi-aquatic brassica species wasestablished by Dan in researchgreenhouses at Prosser. Dan thenpassed his experience onto OregonState researchers who were alsoconducting wasabi residue trials.Wasabi has a lengthy growingperiod which extends beyond 18months, during which disease andinsect pressures had to be creativelyaddressed. The fact that both OSUand WSU produced this challengingcrop is a testament to FRD tenacityin learning and tweaking the growthcycle of this new crop.

The other essential element that tiestogether good mechanical,documentation and growing skills is

Master FRDcontinued from pg 1

an ability to carry these actions outwithout losing a sense of humor. Forall of us working within thenumbered and numbing world ofGLP generated data, there’s often agotcha or corrective tone to ourinteractions. With certainty GLPdoes require us to painstakinglydocument each and every detail of astudy. At times, this is particularlyevident when we’d rather notannounce to our colleagues thatwe’ve erred seriously (or simply)during our study conduct. The FRDwho can respond to questions andreviews of their data with a straightface (and the occasional humorousquip) makes the whole process flowthat much more smoothly.

It was that now retired FRDextraordinaire Chuck Farrar of UCRiverside who famously used the TEerror code. When prompted toexplain this unauthorized use of anon-sanctioned error code (it doesnot appear in the official IR4notebook list) Chuck quipped back“tedium error.” Excellent data,clearly and cleverly delivered, with asense of humor toward the vagariesof life under GLP marks the work ofan excellent Field Research Director.The IR-4 program is well served byField Researchers who can combinethis unique skillset involvingmechanics,documentation,and plants whiledelivering solidresults within aprofessional,human context.Thanks to all our FRDs whoexemplify and strive toward thisapex of field research skills.

Dan Groenendaleand Wilson Pengworking in thewasabi greenhouse.

pg 9Vol 46 No 4

S0R Priority Setting

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evaluations.IR-4 Executive Director,Jerry Baron, opened the meetingwith an update on the status of theIR-4 project. He outlined some ofthe challenges that the program isexpecting to face in coming yearswith budgets and indirect costs tothe program, and also talked aboutplans for re-structuring the way thatIR-4 operates in order to continueto be relevant and to meet thecontinuing needs of IR-4stakeholders.

A select group of registrants, bothconventional chemistryrepresentatives and those focusedon biopesticides and organics,presented brief product andtechnical updates to the attendees.This was followed by a series of 10minute presentations from IR-4 SORState Liaison Representatives (SLR)and other invited speakers who tookthe opportunity to highlight whatthey saw as the most critical pestand disease management needs fortheir individual states or industry.Mike Aerts, of the Florida Fruit andVegetable Industry presented on the“Pest Challenges and RegistrationNeeds for Florida Specialty Cropswhile Dr. Jonathan Crane, ahorticulture science professor at theUniversity of Florida (UF) andfaculty advisor for the IR-4 residueprogram at the UF’s TropicalResearch and Education Centerpresented on the “Pest and DiseaseChallenges of the Tropical Fruit

Industry.” Dr. Ric Bessin, IR-4 SLRfor Kentucky spoke to the groupabout the “Emerging IR-4 priorities”for his state, including the need forconventional chemistry options forchia, a growing specialty crop in KYand OK. Other SLRs gave similarthemed presentations, with the ideathat state contacts had anopportunity to highlight the mostimportant needs for their localitiesbefore the actual projectprioritizations began.

With the aid of discipline specificleads Roger Batts, IR-4 fieldresearcher/study director at NorthCarolina State University (weedscience), Melanie Ivey, SLR atLouisiana State University (PlantPathology) Ric Bessin (Entomology),and Michelle Samuel-Foo, regionalfield coordinator for the IR-4 SORprogram, led discussions andproject evaluations that lastedthroughout the afternoon. At theconclusion of the priority setting, atotal of 88 projects were selected asregional priorities for either residuetesting or performance research.Projects that received at least one Anomination automatically moved onto the national workshop for furtherevaluation. If a project receivessupport at the national workshop, ittypically enters the residue testingfield program for 2016.

Day 2 of the meeting was focusedprimarily on Biopesticides, as aprelude to the national biopesticideworkshop. Krista Coleman, whohelps coordinate the Biopesticideeffort at IR-4 headquarters (RutgersUniversity) presented the 2014priorities that were identifiednationally and conducted in thesouth. The discussions hereidentified weed management in rowmiddles in organic crops and sugarcane as issues that requireattention, in addition to spotted

wing drosophila in thin-skinnedfruits and whitefly control ingreenhouses.

The SOR IR-4 program honored 3individuals at this gathering withrecognition for outstandingcontribution over the years. Dr.LeopoldoEstorninos(pictured right),a weed scientistand fieldresearch directorat Arkansas StateUniversityreceived the IR-4technical service award for his workin developing data in support ofregistration petitions in EPA region4, while Dr. Gary Vallad from theUniversity of Florida’s Gulf CoastResearch and Education Center,received the IR-4 Meritoriousservice award for his long-standingdedication and contributions tospecialty growers in the SOR.

Lastly, Dr. Marty Marshall, whorecently retired as IR-4 SORdirector, was recognized with anappreciation award for his years ofservice to the program. Dr LiweiGu, an associate professor in theFood Science and Human Nutritiondepartment at the University ofFlorida will assume this rolebeginning in 2016.

The IR-4 SOR will meet again in2017 to repeat this process.Priority setting for 2016 will occurvia an online process andteleconferencing. Stakeholders canexpect to begin receivinginformation regarding this inmid-spring 2016.

Roger Batts, Ric Bessin and Melanie Iveyled the discussions.

SORcontinued from pg 5

2015 Workshops

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for residue studies than in previousyears. Five high priorities (H+)were identified for this performanceresearch.

Most who answered the IR-4 FUWsurvey were satisfied with theoverall workshop, the format, time that was allowed for networking, thelocation and venue. Manycommented they liked thenetworking opportunities the best.

This year, the priorities wereselected on day two of theworkshop. Survey commentsregarding this order stated thatsome felt it was better to choosepriorities on the first day and have anight to sleep on it. Theycommented this would give peopletime to talk and propose ways tocooperate.

Many of the attendees of the GlobalMinor Use Workshop stayed on and

participated in the FUW. Thosewho commented in the survey feltthe FUW method of prioritizingresearch, by using crop groups,was a better way to prioritizeresearch projects. Seeing thishelped the organizers of theGlobal Workshop to strategizefuture Global Workshops in thismanner.

Planning is already underway forthe 2016 Food Use Workshopand it is expected to be held in theUS Western region.

The Biopesticide and OrganicSupport WorkshopOn September 24, 2015, IR-4held its second Biopesticide andOrganic Support Workshop toidentify the most importantresearch priorities for conventionaland organically grown crops. Onehundred and sixty-three peopleattended the final workshop of theweek.

Until last year, priorities wereselected through a request forproposal system, which includedthree stages of research: Early,Advanced and DemonstrationGrants. IR-4 turned to the prioritybased grant system for 2015trials. These priorities wereselected in a workshop andincluded spotted wing drosophila(SWD) for fruit crops, fireblight onapples, chestnut blight as anornamental priority, RNAi basedtechnologies in all crops, varroamite control in honeybee colonies,mosquito control and bacterialdiseases of fruiting vegetablecrops. Studies were conducted onthese priorities and the resultswere presented to the workshopparticipants.

Participants were then asked toform breakout groups forentomology, plant pathology andweed science. Groups were asked

to answer the following questions:

Should IR-4 continue funding thesame projects in 2016 that werefunded in 2015?

Within the list of priorities, have anybecome a more serious problemthat needs more attention?

Are there certain priorities that areof national importance versusregional interest?

Are there any new products thathave a lot of potential to the degreethat a particular priority should beranked higher than others?

Where do resistance problems existthat need alternatives or how tointegrate biopesticides,conventional products and culturalpractices to manage the pest?

Within the groups of Fruit,Vegetable, Organic, and Other whatare the most important priorities?

Following the breakout groups,participants were asked to vote forthe top priority needs forBiopesticide & Organic supportresearch. The results found the toppriorities were SWD in fruit, fireblight in organic production,chestnut blight, weeds in all crops,and bacterial diseases in fruitingvegetable crops.

Those who answered the workshopsurvey, thought the workshopprovided a venue to learn aboutnew products, and research results

Workshopscontinued from pg 7

Weed science breakout group.

Seeking compromise during the FUW, WesternRegion SLR, Doug Walsh (Washington state),talks with North Central Region researcher, MaryHausbeck, about the needs specific to theirregions.

Biopesticideand OrganicSupportWorkshopleaders l to r,Dan Kunkel,Krista Coleman,MichaelBraverman andBill Barney.

2015 Workshops

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and they liked the networkingopportunities. They felt thereneeded to be more time fordiscussion, and to betterunderstand how the Biopesticideprogram is funded.

And Then The OrnamentalHorticulture WorkshopThe 2015 Ornamental HorticultureWorkshop, held at the HyattRegency Schaumburg-Chicagostarted with an optional tour onOctober 6, visiting the BallHorticulture seed treatment facility,Morton Arboretum, and threefacilities of Midwest Groundcovers.At Ball, participants split into twogroups to tour 1) the seed storageand packaging facilities to view amachine that counts and measuresseed as fast as 2000 seeds persecond and 2) the seed coatingstations where naked seed is slowlycoated with inert ingredients and anoutercoat to facilitate automaticseeders.

In the breeding greenhouse atMorton Arboretum, theenthusiastic Joe Rothleutner isdeveloping new trees with improvedcharacteristics. The afternoon stopincluded Midwest Groundcoversheadquarters, the Natural Gardens,and their primary productionfacilities in Virgil, IL where theyclearly demonstrated a commitmentto growing high quality plants of

many types using the best strategiesavailable.

During the morning of theworkshop, registrant representativespresented new active ingredientsand highlighted opportunities forexisting products. Then, the resultsof the Grower & Extension Surveywere presented, and participantsdiscussed the pros and cons forconducting efficacy or crop safetyresearch on 41 current andpotential new projects acrossentomology, pathology and weedscience. To have these discussionsflow smoothly, IR-4 staff developedproject sheets (bit.ly/ornhorsheet)that summarized recently studiedprojects and potential new projectsbased on the annual Grower &Extension Survey and newlyreceived project requests. Also,new projects for each disciplinewere raised as potential researchavenues during the workshop. Themoderators for each disciplineincluded: Cristi Palmer (Pathology),JC Chong (Entomology), and TimMiller (Weed Science).

After the relative merits of eachproject were captured onposter-size paper and fastened tothe walls the regions rankedprojects of interest, a “StickerCaucus” was held so that attendeescould vote for the research projectsIR-4 should undertake during 2016– 2017. During the secondmorning of the workshop, theoutcomes for each discipline weredisplayed and protocol directionswere finely tuned.

The Pathology Projects includeBotrytis efficacy, Bacterial Diseaseefficacy, New Product crop safety.The Entomology projects includethrips efficacy, foliar feeding beetleefficacy, new product crop safety.For Weed Science, thepre-emergent liquid herbicide cropsafety continued with a primaryfocus on liquid herbicides withcertain granular herbicidesinvestigated, while the Ornamentalgrass herbicide crop safety willcontinue to screen Dimension2EW, Gallery, and Pendulum 2G onthose grass species already started.

After the priorities for theOrnamental Horticulture Programwere finalized, the group led byMichael Braverman and KristaColeman discussed and prioritizedprojects for the Biopesticide andOrganic Support Program. Thehighest ranked projects were similarto the ones determined at lastyear’s Biopesticide Workshop. Inparticular, there was a decision tocontinue the research on managingchestnut blight. The twoapproaches for chestnut blightmanagement include resistancefrom an oxalate oxidase gene andusing a virus to reduce the activity(hypovirulence) of the fungi(Cryphonectria parasitica), thatcauses chestnut blight.

In all, the 2015 IR-4 OrnamentalHorticulture Workshop wassuccessful in fostering gooddiscussions and finalizing researchpriorities.

People who provided feedback likedthe registrant presentations,networking opportunities and theflow and organization of workshop.

Please visit ir4.rutgers.edu for linksto presentations, posters andphotos of the workshops.

Morton Arboretum: one of the many displaysincorporating colorful pumpkins and gourds with fallblooming flowers. —Photo by Cristi Palmer

Ball Horticulture Company: examining seedgermination. — Photo by Cristi Palmer

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Major funding for IR-4 is provided by Special Research Grants andHatch Act Funds from USDA-NIFA , in cooperation with the StateAgricultural Experiment Stations, and USDA-ARS.

Tolerance SuccessesUnited States Department of AgricultureNational Institute of Food and Agriculture

Federal Register: July 08, 2015S-MetolachlorTrade Name: Dual MagnumCrop: Lettuce, Fruiting vegetable(except tabasco pepper) group8-10, Cucurbit vegetable group 9,Low-growing berry (exceptcranberry) subgroup 13-07G,Sunflower subgroup 20BPR#: 01676, 03659, 06656,08982, 09406, 10099, 10218,11280, 11281

Federal Register: July 22, 2015NovaluronTrade Name: RimonCrop: Avocado, Succulent bean,Carrot, Fruiting vegetable group8-10, Pome fruit 11-10, Cherrysubgroup 12-12A, Peach subgroup12-12B, Plum subgroup 12-12C,Cucurbit vegetable group 9 (revisedtolerance) PR#: 09246, 09522,09780, 10237, 11025, 11026,11414, 11415, 11416

Federal Register August 06, 2015Fluazifop-p-butylTrade Name: FusiladeCrop: Sweet potato (revisedtolerance) PR#: 02328

Federal Register: August 14, 2015FludioxonilTrade Name: ScholarCrop: Carrot, Stone fruit group12-12 PR#: 11181, 11449

Federal Register: August 26, 2015DifenoconazoleTrade Name: Inspire, QuadrisCrop: Globe artichoke, Ginseng,Stone fruit group 12-12, Tree nutgroup 14-12 PR#: 10387, 10446,11441, 11442

Federal Register: September 09,2015CyprodinilTrade Name: Switch, Inspire,VanguardCrop: Globe Artichoke, Pomegranate,Guava, Acerola, Feijoa, Jaboticaba,Passionfruit, Starfruit, Wax jambu,Stone fruit group 12-12PR#: 06983, 07127, 10387,10613, 11440, 11443

Federal Register: September 17,2015Halosulfuron-methylTrade Name: SandeaCrop: Pome fruit group 11-10,Small vine-climbing fruit (except fuzzykiwifruit) subgroup 13-07F (East ofthe Rockies only)PR#: A7768, A9722

The trade names listed below are provided as a means to identify the chemical for which atolerance has been established. A trade name listed here may not be the name of theproduct on which the new food use(s) will be registered. Only labeled products may be usedon a food crop. Be sure to obtain current information about usage regulations and examine acurrent product label before applying any chemical.

July - September 2015