Spotted Wing Drosophila Update

Jul 01, 2019

Spotted Wing Drosophila Update, June 18-24, 2019

This post contains a summary of trap counts for June 18-24, 2019. The numbers reported are number of SWD per trap.

The regional monitoring program is being conducted in berry and stone fruit crops and grapes in Essex, Chatham-Kent, Elgin, Norfolk, Niagara, Durham, Ottawa/Carleton and Northumberland counties.

The monitoring project is supported by a grant from the Canada Adaptation Program and collaboration among Niagara Peninsula Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, Ontario Tender Fruit Growers, Eastern Ontario Berry Growers, Grape Growers of Ontario, OMAFRA staff and private consultants.

Traps were first deployed last week (one week earlier in Essex Co) in berry and stone fruit blocks. We have placed 4 traps with commercial SWD lures at each site. Use these results in addition to your own monitoring program to determine when SWD is present on your farm. Conduct a salt water test or a plastic baggie test to confirm presence of larvae in fruit.

Source : Ontario.Ca

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.