Winter, 1990 (v2n2)
	Apple Transition Meeting A one-day meeting in Watsonville November 17 presented growers with production and marketing information for making the transition to certified organic apple production. The meeting was sponsored by the Committee for Sustainable Agriculture, California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), Santa Cruz County Cooperative Extension, and the Agroecology Program of UC Santa Cruz. Prevention Steve Gliessman of the Agroecology Program began the morning with an overview of the transition process. "Organic tools for cleaning up problems don't work as well as conventional tools," he said, "so preventive measures are much more important." Establishing a cover crop to compete with weeds and to provide habitat for beneficial insects is one important preventive strategy. Bob Cantisano of Organic Ag Advisers discussed soil fertility from non-synthetic sources. Organic matter is the key, he said, and earthworms are the physical evidence of a biologically active soil. Purchased organic materials may be useful during the transition (based on a tissue analysis), but after two or three years the most cost-effective system is to "grow your own" nutrients with a nitrogen-fixing cover crop, he said. Richard Smith, San Benito County farm advisor, elaborated on the topic of cover crops. According to Smith, cover crop benefits include improved water infiltration, erosion and insect control, weed suppression, and nematode inhibition. Potential drawbacks include competition for water and nutrients, increased pests of some kinds (e.g. rodents, ants), difficulty of controlling noxious weeds, and increased frost risk, he said. Cereals provide good growth in cool weather, but residue may be a problem if they are not mowed or incorporated early. Properly inoculated legumes provide nitrogen and decompose quickly when turned under, but put on growth mainly in the warmer weather of spring, he added. Mustards put on rapid, early growth and are easily incorporated, but are not recommended for apples because they harbor orange tortrix (apple skinworm). Insect Pests Insects pests were discussed first by Sean Swezey of the Agroecology Program. He is comparing conventional and transitional management in replicated plots in a commercial orchard of Granny Smiths. The orchard is in its first year of transition. The Pajaro Valley study site has low codling moth pressure due to its cool, maritime climate, Swezey said. After one year, the conventional and transitional plots have approximately the same leaf area and leaf and fruit damage from codling moth or other insects, he said. The organic plots had a somewhat heavier crop made up of a greater number of smaller apples, since chemical thinning was not used. IPM Area Advisor Carolyn Pickel described control measures for several insect pests. Codling moth and apple scab are usually the worst pests in organic apple orchards, she said, while orange tortrix is often the biggest problem in conventional orchards. Monitoring is the key to codling moth control, so that treatment with a narrow-range oil can be timed exactly at egg laying, Pickel said. The Environmental Protection Agency will likely restrict the use of oil for air pollution reasons, however, so growers should be cautiously experimenting with natural oils such as cottonseed oil, she noted. Because cottonseed oil can be phytotoxic (harmful to plants), growers should experiment to find out safe levels for their particular varieties and conditions, Pickel said. Frequent, aggressive codling moth control is important in the early years of transition because once it builds to high levels it can be difficult or impossible to control organically, she said. Lyn Garling of the Agroecology Program, described various monitoring methods for codling moth, including cardboard bands around tree trunks in conjunction with two kinds of experiments: male confusion with pheromones (not very successful in their first trial) and parasitic nematodes (very successful). Management Timing Santa Cruz County Director Ron Tyler gave an overview of orchard management by seasons. After harvest, organic fertilizers should be applied (if used), and cover crops should be planted. Apples need only about 60 lbs/acre/year of nitrogen fertilizer, although growers may want to apply somewhat more in the first few years of transition to account for the slower release from organic sources, Tyler said. He said research is needed to provide better information on the degradation of organic materials under California conditions, noting that too much nitrogen will cause bitter pit. A cover crop can supply all the nitrogen that is needed; Tyler recommends a barley/vetch mixture, or any similar legume and grass. He said he would like to see CCOF allow zinc sulfate treatment without prior leaf analysis, because it often shows up visually in tree tops but not in leaf samples from lower leaves. Winter pruning can aid in thinning and help to prevent alternate bearing: Prune lightly after a heavy crop, and heavily after a light crop. Tyler said thinning is the most costly operation for organic growers, especially for fresh market. At green tip stage, he suggested using lime sulfur for scab and mildew, and begin pest monitoring. At pinkbud stage, Tyler recommended applying the second lime sulfur treatment and, if the cover crop is blooming, mowing or disking it so that it won't compete with the trees for bees. Thinning is important to control crop size, and also helps with worm control, since codling moth and apple skinworm like spots between two apples, he said. Unless growers are trying to avoid tillage, Tyler said summer irrigation and disking are important. Rototilling is less desirable than disking, as it causes a very severe plow pan if soils are wet, he noted. Leaf analysis from non-fruiting spurs in July or early August is mainly to determine nitrogen and potassium levels. Harvest offers a second chance (after thinning) to sort for quality, Tyler said. Rapid cooling of harvested fruit (not to be confused with cold storage which is too slow) can help reduce postharvest bitter pit, he noted. Growers Talk Transition Growers Jim Rider, Bill Denevan, and Robert Stephens described their experiences with the transition process. They agreed that organic production was very difficult in areas of high codling moth pressure, and that maintaining a clean orchard with a strong program is easier than rehabilitating an abandoned orchard. A strong pest management program may be expensive, however, cautioned Denevan, who has been able to grow organically for ten years because he's "always looking at the bottom line." Tony Scherer of Ocean Organics, and John Battendieri of Santa Cruz Natural Company, discussed marketing. The Alar crisis last spring created product shortage and skyrocketing prices which have not been maintained, they said, but the trend in both fresh and processed organic is rising. Organic prices are generally more stable than conventional, according to Scherer. The future looks very good, he said, even though it may be rocky in the short term: The forecast of a million boxes of organic apples from Washington looks like a lot in the traditionally small organic marketplace, but it is a "drop in the bucket" in the overall marketplace, and organic growers need to supply large, reliable volumes in order to convince chain stores to carry their produce. Betty Emlen, the local CCOF certification chair, ended the day with a description of the certification process. CCOF Executive Director Bob Scowcroft described the political scene for organic production, including organic legislation being developed at both state and national levels. Index for Sustainable Agriculture Winter, 1990