summer, 1999 vol. 2, no. 41 publication of the northeast organic … · 2013-10-10 · summer, 1999...

Summer, 1999 Vol. 2, No. 41 Publication of the Northeast Organic Farming Association ISSN 1077-2294

Save August13 - 15 for 25th

Annual NOFASummer

ConferenceBy Dre Rawlings

As the summer conference steadily approachesexcitement is building among the enthusiasticconference committee staff. We have beenworking to finalize plans and look forward to anexciting event, this being our 25th annual celebra-tion!

There are still some areas in which we’d lovesome input from you, our NOFA members. NOFANibbles - our favorite spot to snack and chat - isseeking someone to provide a water filter fromThursday, August 12th at 1:00pm, until Sunday at2:00pm. If you can help out, please contact JaniceSanford at (203) 263-2626 or by email [email protected].

Richard Murphy is still looking for peopleinterested in debating the organic McDonald’stopic. If you have a strong opinion on the subject,please contact him by email at [email protected] at (508) 867-5735 . Thanks to those who senthim leads for tracking down a domestic organicbeer. At the Friday night party, and also again onSaturday night, attendees will have a chance toquench their thirsts with a Wolaver’s organic ale –either Pale Ale, Brown Ale, or India Pale Ale.

Wolaver’s is a brand of the Panorama BrewingCompany (PBC) of Santa Cruz, California, and iscertified organic by Oregon Tilth. But the beer isbrewed under contract at small craft-breweries forregional distribution around the US. TheWolaver’s we sample will be brewed by the OtterCreek Brewing Company in Middlebury, Ver-mont. PBC donates 10% of after-tax profits toorganic farming and sustainable agriculturecauses and invites you to learn more aboutWolaver’s at www.wolavers.com

Helping Hands are still needed and greatlyappreciated. It’s a great way to cut your confer-ence costs and meet lots of new people. Remem-ber that there is also scholarship money availablefor qualifying individuals. We encourage you toget involved and pursue these options. They canenable you to participate in the summer confer-ence - FOR CHEAP! See your registration formfor more information.

We’d like to remind everyone of the changeswe’ve made in the format of Saturday’s old-fashioned Country Fair. We are planning both afarmer’s market AND a crafts market wherepeople can display and sell their produce andhandmade wares, but we’re changing thingsaround a bit. In order to provide the opportunity

for more growers to participate in the farmer’smarket, we’ve decided to allow ANY organicproduce to be sold this year, whether certified ornot. In terms of the crafts market, we are empha-sizing only handmade items. (This for example,would exclude authors from selling their booksunless they have been HOME PUBLISHED).Potential demonstrators and those of you gener-ous members with auction items to donate, pleasesee the registration form for more details. In otherFair news, a balloon artist has been hired toentertain the kiddies with his original creations,and we’re working on some face painters to addsome fun and color to the festivities. We’re alsosending out a call to anyone interested in jugglingor clowning around (we’re talking the face make-up, big shoes, and the nose!) during the Fair.Please contact Dave Getman at (978)-464-7745.

The Children’s Conference update: Day care forthe 2-4 year old set will be run during adultworkshop times. Parents can drop their kids off 15minutes early in order to avoid missing any oftheir workshops. Toys to share, personal comfortitems, changes of clothing and towels are recom-mended items to have along. The teachers havewaterplay, art and songs planned to entertain thelittle ones. Snacks are available, as is a nappingplace if needed. Animal visits will also be part ofthe fun. A new program has been planned for the5 and 6 year olds this year. They will stay withtheir teacher, and one special workshop will cometo them each day. This may not be clear on theregistration form, but the change should providemore uninterrupted project time, and less confu-sion and wandering for the kids.

There are a variety of workshops planned for the7-12 year olds. There will be active, outdoorsubjects to explore, cooking, crafts, and musicworkshops. Each time slot will have at least twoworkshop options to choose from in addition tothe group leader’s planned activity. With every-thing there is to do over the weekend, the kidsshould go home tired and happy, having learnednew skills and forged new friendships. So join us!Please get your registration in early (for teens andall children by July 31) to avoid disappointment.

As you can see, everything’s coming together. Wehave lots of new and exciting workshops planned- Gardening, Ox Power for Small Farms, andIntro to Aromatherapy, to name just a few. Wealso have a bunch of thought-provoking films toscreen this year, including “Escape FromAffluenza” and “Field of Genes”. So take advan-tage of that Early Bird Special and send in yourregistration forms soon! Looking forward to afantastic conference this summer -- see you there!

Inside this issue:Features

Pioneer Valley Seed Savers Meet 6Using Nematodes to Fight Cutworms 24

Supplement onBeneficial Insects

The Big Picture 7Beneficials at Long Wind Farm 10Biological Control - an Alternative 12BioControl of Tarnished Plant Bug 14The Growth of a BioContol Business 16New Jersey’s Bio-Pest Control Program 18Perennial Insectary Plants 19BioContol at Hutchins Farm 20Like a Bump on a Log 21Confessions of a BioControl Producer 22

DepartmentsEditorial 2NOFA Exchange 4News Notes 5Book Reviews 25NOFA Contact People 26Calendar 27

photo by Jack Kittredge

Dale Perkins gives a workshop on ruminants at NOFA Summer Conference

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r S u m m e r , 1 9 9 9

For many people, a simple way to describe thedifference between conventional and organicgrowing is that the conventional approach tries to“control” nature, while organic growers try to“cooperate” with nature. A prime example mightbe a conventional dairy farm like the one down theroad from us, where corn is planted in the samechemically-fertilized field year after year. Thatfarm stands in contrast to an organic dairy wherenot only are grain crops rotated into differentfields each year, but as much nutrition as possibleis delivered to the cows through grazing of grass.Instead of forcing both corn and cow into a rigidmanagement pattern and trying to deliver to themwhat they need as outside inputs, the organicapproach tries to let living organisms get whatthey need as much as possible on their own, bysetting up an environment conducive to their

growth and health. One of the areas where conven-tional and organic methods diverge most clearly isin management of insect pest problems.

Any objective observer would have to admit thatinsects are the dominant form of life on earth. Thenumbers of Insecta, both of individuals and ofspecies, far outdistance those of any other class ofcreation. Insects are the dominant consumers ofplant life on the planet, and have evolved intocountless species, each brilliantly suited to thrivein a particular niche. The success of a smallnumber of insects (less than 1% of insect specieshave achieved the status of agricultural “pests”)brings them into conflict with humankind in ourstruggle also to appropriate the productive energyof plants.

During the last half-century conventional agricul-ture has attempted to win this conflict by formulat-ing various synthetic chemical pesticides. Theseare sprayed on crops or otherwise applied in afashion that is toxic to insects that feed on theplants in question. Although highly successful atfirst, the widespread success of chemical pesti-cides has led to problems that threaten their long-term usefulness:

1) Because pesticides exert a strongselective pressure for resistance, andinsect reproduction is so prolific andrapid, resistant strains of insectsquickly emerge and become dominant,destroying the efficacy of the pesti-cide.

2) As more and more new chemicalsmust be developed to replace out-moded ones, research and develop-ment costs increase and force theresulting product to become expen-sive, sometimes so much so that it isno longer practical for use.

3) It is hard to tailor a toxic chemical to aspecific species of insect, so pesticidestend to kill a broad spectrum ofinsects, including the beneficial ones.

4) Because of increasing insect resis-tance, doses of older pesticides mustbe increased to be effective, thusraising their cost of use - sometimesbeyond the threshold of practicality.

5) Since the introduction of chemicalpesticides, observers have increasinglynoted their damaging effects on bothhuman health and the natural environ-ment.

Organic farmers have rejected this approach infavor of evading insect damage by crop rotation,smaller and more diverse cropping patterns, andbetter soil and thus plant health. They also haverecognized the value of natural predators of pestinsects – largely other insects who have evolved toprey upon the pest and keep it fromoverpopulating. If the feeding is good and the pestbegins to reproduce rapidly, it automaticallyprovides all the more food for the predator, whichkeeps pace and thus brings balance. This principlehas been around for a long time. In ancient Egypt,cats were imported to keep down rats that thrivedon the stores of grain produced by the rich deltasoil. Linnaeus speaks of beetles and ants broughtinto citrus groves to control pests.

Unfortunately, with the international travel ofhumans during the last few centuries, a number ofinsects have been transported far from their naturalhabitats. There some find crops quite similar tothose they left at home (often the crops and pestwere transported thousands of miles together inthe form of infested fruit or sacks of seed.) –except for the absence of the predator, whichalways kept pest numbers in balance. Fortypercent (40%) of the insect pests now in theUnited States are such “exotics”. To deal withthese “exotics”, researchers have returned to thepest’s land of origin and searched for the predatorwhich kept it in control. Once found, smallpopulations of the predator have been brought tothe infested area and released.

Beneficial Insects & Biocontrol of Pests

The Natural FarmerNeeds You!

The Natural Farmer is the newspaper of theNortheast Organic Farming Association (NOFA).All members receive a subscription as part of theirdues, and others may subscribe for $10 (in the USor $14 outside the US). It is published four times ayear at 411 Sheldon Rd., Barre, MA 01005. Theeditors are Jack Kittredge and Julie Rawson,(assisted by their kids), but most of the material iseither written by members or summarized by usfrom information people send us.

Upcoming Issue Topics - We plan a year inadvance so that folks who want to write on a topiccan have a lot of lead time. The next 3 issues willbe:

Autumn 1999 - Clever ImplementsWinter 1999-00 - Food SafetySpring 2000 - Flowers for Market

Moving or missed an issue? The Natural Farmerwill not be forwarded by the post office, so youneed to make sure your address is up-to-date ifyou move. You get your subscription to this paperin one of two ways. Direct subscribers who sendus $10 are put on our data base here. These folksshould send address changes to us. Most of you,however, get this paper as a NOFA memberbenefit for paying your chapter dues. Each quarterevery NOFA chapter sends us address labels fortheir paid members, which we use to mail out theissue. We don’t keep copies of these, and if youmoved or didn’t get the paper, your beef is withyour state chapter, not us. Every issue we print anupdated list of “NOFA Contacts” on the last page,for a handy reference to all the chapter names andaddresses.

As a membership paper, we count on you forarticles, art and graphics, news and interviews,photos on rural or organic themes, ads, letters, etc.Almost everybody has a special talent or knowssomeone who does. If you can’t write, find some-one who can to interview you. We’d like to keepthe paper lively and interesting to members, andwe need your help to do it.

We appreciate a submission in any form, but areless likely to make mistakes with something typedthan hand-written. To be a real gem, send it viaelectronic mail ([email protected]) orenclose a computer disk (3 1/2 inch size). We use aMacintosh G3 with Microsoft Word but can withonly modest difficulty convert IBM disks as well.Also, any graphics, photos, charts, etc. you canenclose will almost certainly make your submis-sion more readable and informative. If you haveany ideas or questions, one of us is usually nearthe phone - (978) 355-2853, fax: (978) 355-4046

ISSN 1077-2294copyright 1999,

Northeast Organic Farming Association

Advertisements not only bring in TNF revenue, whichmeans less must come from membership dues, they alsomake a paper interesting and helpful to those looking forspecific goods or services . We carry 2 kinds of ads:

The NOFA Exchange - this is a free bulletin boardservice for NOFA members. Send in up to 100 words(business or personal) and we’ll print it free in the nextissue. Include a price (if selling) and an address orphone number so readers can contact you directly. Ifyou’re not a NOFA member, you can still send in an ad -just send $5 along too!

Display Ads - this is for those offering products orservices on a regular basis! You can get real attentionwith display ads. Send us camera ready copy andenclose a check for the appropriate size: Full page (15" tall by 10" wide) $240 Half page (7 1/2" tall by 10" wide) $125 One-third page (7 1/2" tall by 6 1/2" wide) $85 One-quarter page (7 1/2" tall by 4 7/8" wide) $65 One-sixth page (7 1/2" tall by 3 1/8" wide), or

(3 3/4" tall by 6 1/2" wide) $45 Business card size (1 1/2" tall by 3 1/8" wide) $12

note: These prices are for camera ready copy. If youwant any changes we will be glad to make them - or totype set a display ad for you - for $10 extra. Just send usthe text, any graphics, and a sketch of how you want itto look. Include a check for the space charge plus $10..

Frequency discounts: if you buy space in several issuesyou can qualify for substantial discounts off these rates.Pay for two consecutive issues and get 10% off each,pay for 3 and get 20% off, or pay for 4 and get 25% off.An ad in the NOFA Summer Conference Program Bookcounts as a TNF ad for purposes of this discount.

Deadlines: We should receive your ad copy one monthbefore the publication date of each issue. The deadlinesare:

January 31 for the Spring issueApril 30 for the Summer issueJuly 31 for the Fall issueOctober 31 for the Winter issue

Contact: If you have questions, or want to reservespace, contact our advertising manager at (978) 355-2853.

Disclaimer: The Natural Farmer cannot investigate theclaims of advertisers and we don’t vouch for anythingadvertised here. Readers are expected to exercise duecaution when inquiring about any product or service.Different NOFA chapters have different standards forfertilizers, for instance, and a product acceptable in onestate may be prohibited in another. Please check withyour chapter when in doubt. Remember, however, thatadvertisers are helping support the paper and, whenappropriate, please support them.

Advertise in The Natural Farmer

2

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rS u m m e r , 1 9 9 9

In some cases, dramatic reductions in pest popula-tions have been the result. At the beginning of thiscentury a new weed appeared in California, alongthe Klamath River, which was toxic to cattle andsheep. By 1944 the weed, which by then had beenidentified as of European origin, infested morethan 200 million acres in 30 counties. In 1945 and1946 2 species of beetle — which preyed upon theKlamath weed in Europe – were released inCalifornia. Within 10 years the Klamath weed wasencountered only rarely and ranchers were esti-mated to have avoided (and continue to avoid)over $3.5 million a year in damages. Anotherexample of strikingly successful biocontrol –which William Day mentions in his article in thisissue – is the introduction of vidalia beetles tocontrol scale in the California citrus industry.

But biocontrol has not always been an unqualifiedsuccess. In some cases an introduced predatorunexpectedly preys upon another predator species.Parasitoids (parasites who kill their prey ratherthan just parasitizing it) have becomehyperparasitoids, attacking another parasitespecies which they were brought in to bolster. Orthe immigrant will surprise everybody and proveso well adapted to the new locale that it displacesnative species – as the honeybee did in America,or the European ladybird beetle, brought in tocontrol the Russian wheat aphid, did withmidwestern ladybird beetles. Or the newcomerwill find other prey to its liking besides theintended host. The Indian mongoose was intro-duced to Hawaii in the 19th century to controlNorwegian rats in sugarcane plantations. Unfortu-nately, the mongoose is diurnal, whereas the rat

ventures forth only at night. They happily coex-isted, unaware of each other. But the mongoosedid come close to decimating lots of tasty flight-less birds and small ground-dwelling mammals.

Biocontrol, as several of the writers in this issueattest, is not primarily practiced by organic farm-ers – at least at the commercial scale. It makesgood sense on a practical basis in any farmingsystem. If you can find a natural enemy with ahigh reproductive rate, a good search ability,which is specific to and synchronized with thepest, and yet is adaptable to new environments,you have a killer working for you which is moreeffective than any pesticide you can buy. Theadvantage that organic farmers have withbiocontrol, of course, is that they can get much ofit for free. Predators like pollen, second only tohosts. Hedgerows, insectary strips, and patches ofwildflowers are all abundant repositories ofbiodiversity when left unsprayed. A Canadianapple study found that parasitism of orchard pestswas from 4 to 18 times as active on farms wherewildflowers were present. Farmers who leave suchareas uncultivated, or actively plant flowers withblooming periods which overlap and thus cansustain predators throughout a growing season, areessentially giving their farm a healthy “immune”system.

This issue of The Natural Farmer discussesbeneficial insects and their role in biocontrol. Wehope it gives you ideas for how to farm better, andwhy farming with nature will always be moresatisfying than trying to fight it.

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NOFAExchange

Blow YourOwn Horn!

Needed – Organic Farmer/Educator. The NatickCommunity Organic Farm is a 25 acre diversifiedoperation with vegetable production, livestock,solar greenhouses, syruping and many educationalprograms. We are looking for a dynamic person,committed to organic farming, with a 2 or 4 yeardegree in the field and/or equivalent experience inorganic agriculture, with carpentry and mechanicskills, who loves teaching and working withpeople. Computer skills, interest in developingprograms a plus. This Town of Natick position willbe opening around July 20. Salary: mid 20s, fulltown employee status. Send letters of inquiry/resume to Lynda Simkins, NCOF, 117 Eliot St.,Natick, MA 01760

Suffolk work horses: We knew nothing of farm-ing or working horses when we started, so wedecided to start with horses bred to do the work athand. We made the right decision, choosingSuffolk horses. They are moderately sized, calm intemperament, and easy to keep. We have trainedteams, green teams, breeding and young stockavailable. Baldur Farm, N7659 950th Street (CadyLane), River Falls, WI 54022. (715) 425-0040

Garlic – Organically grown in VT. More than adozen gourmet strains to choose among – hard and

softneck, mild to WOW hot, braiders, easy-to-peel, or high medicinal content. Great for farmersmarket, CSA, gardens. Detailed growing instruc-tions available. Our garlics are acclimatized toNew England winters! For catalog, call Rebecca.Northern Prize Garlic, (802) 827-6555.

Heath, MA Lowbush blueberry farm in transi-tion. If interested in a connection to the process,call Dave Gott or Ted Watt at 413-625-8357. Orwrite to 336 Patten Rd., Shelburne, MA 01370

Lovers of Wild Apples: Interested in talking withothers who grow, process, and enjoy apples andother tree fruits without sprays of any kind?Contact Dave Gott or Ted Watt at 413-625-8357.Or write to 336 Patten Rd., Shelburne, MA 01370

Looking for Living Space on an organic farm. Ihave 2 children in college who’d come to stayoccasionally. I am also seeking to work at thefarm. Particular arrangements are open to discus-sion. Contact Rita (413) 549-3521

Job Wanted – Experienced farming technicianfrom Senegal, studied in Morocco and France,looking for job in RI on a farm or in the naturalfoods industry. Also has lots of bookkeeping andmanagerial experience. Still studying English.Happy to learn the ropes from scratch in the US.For resume and more info, contact Mike Merner at(401) 364-9930

Wanted: Apprentice for Jersey Dairy – makingcheese, yogurt, and other products. Milkingexperience helpful, along with a strong interest indairy processing. Please contact Town Farm Dairy,73 Wolcott Rd., Simsbury, CT 06070, (860) 658-5362, Email: [email protected]

Summer internship available with GreenSpaceCollaborative and Sidehill Farm. Opportunity towork on two straw bale buildings, one house andone studio, in different stages of construction.Position includes 35 hours per week constructionwork, 5 hours office work, and 20 hours home-stead-scale farm work. Meals, campsite andstipend. June through August. For more informa-

tion contact Paul Lacinski, PO Box 107, Ashfield,MA 10330, (413) 628-3800

Part-Time Position: The New Entry SustainableFarming Project is developing opportunities fordisadvantaged persons to practice agriculture inMassachusetts and adjacent areas. You would helpsurvey farmable open space in northern WorcesterCounty and gather details such as location, access,size, crop suitability, water access, lease potential,costs, etc. for a data base. You would also solicitinterest and help negotiate with landowners leaseterms and other conditions. You would alsoidentify new entry farmers and help determinetheir resource needs, working with the FarmService Agency and others to provide technicalassistance. Skills in outreach/organizing, computerskills, writing, agriculture all helpful. Vehiclenecessary. Begin as soon as possible, for summeror longer. Minimum 20 hrs. per week, funding for6 months available with additional funds expected.Home office is Farm Service Agency in Holden orTufts University in Medford. Salary is $12 - $15/hr. To apply send letter and resume to HughJoseph, School of Nutrition and Policy, TuftsUniversity, 126 Curtis St., Medford, MA 02155 oremail [email protected] (617) 627-5442.

Peace Corps is looking to fill over 100 two-yearAgriculture Science Assignments overseas. Postsinclude El Salvador, Guatemala, Paraguay,Suriname, Tanzania, Gabon, and Uganda. Volun-teers would encourage sustainable crop productionthrough promotion of organic farm techniques andbetter farm management. Requirements includeU.S. citizenship and a degree in an agriculturalscience. Some applicants may qualify with nodegree and three years’ full-time farm experience.Volunteers receive a monthly living stipend,housing, medical/dental care, transportation totheir host country and a $6,000 readjustmentallowance. For more info. call Peace Corps at(800) 424-8580, press 1, or www.peacecorps.gov.

Help The Natural Farmer get advertising andsponsorships from organic industry. Looking forad representative to work on commission. CallJack at 978-355-2853 or write: TNF, 411 SheldonRd, Barre, MA 01005, [email protected].

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compiled by Jack Kittredge

Ladybug Habitat Preferences Listed – TheNorthwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticideshas published a list of plants attractive to Lady-bugs. Not all are suitable for all areas of thecountry, but among them are: Alfalfa, AlpineCinquefoil, Alyssum, Angelica, Beans, BlackLocust, Carpet Bugleweed, Clover Bur, Coriander,Cosmos (White Sensation), Crimson Clover,Dandelion, Dill, Evergreen Eunomymus, FloweringBuckwheat, Four-wing Saltbrush, Golden Marguer-ite, Hairy Vetch, Mexican Tea, Morning Glory,Peas, Rocky Mountain Penstemon, Rye, Sesbania,Sowthistle, Spike Speedwell, Sulfur Cinquefoil,Sweet Fennel, Tansy, Wild Carrot, Yarrow (Com-mon), Yarrow (Fern-leaf). source: Journal ofPesticide Reform, Fall, 1998

NOP Rears Its Head, Again – Rumors aboundthat the second proposed organic rule may beissued for public comment as early as late Augustor early September, 1999. Provisions are said toinclude a number of victories for hard-line organicadvocates: no use of genetically modified organ-isms, irradiation, or sludge; for animals: 100%organic, a ban on antibiotic use, and requiredaccess to outdoors as well as pasture for ruminants;NOSB authorization for all approved synthetics,and no restrictions on label claims other thanorganic itself. The USDA will seek a one-timeauthorization to cover the costs of first-roundcertifier accreditation and a compromise is rumoredallowing certifiers, after certain internal proceduresand appeals, to revoke use of their seals pending anappeal to the Secretary of Agriculture. source:Organic Forum, April 25, 1999 and AlternativeAgriculture News, April, 1999

OCIA Faces Budget Shortfall, CentralizesCertification Decisions – The Organic CropImprovement Association International, one of themajor North American organic certification groups,lost $246,000 on its 1998 operations. Reasonsgiven include reduced sales of organic products inAsia due to the economic downturn there, and anexodus of members to less expensive certifiers. Tomake up the shortfall, OCIA voted at their Februarymeeting in Lincoln, NE to increase fees by .25%.They also voted to remove the right of localchapters to grant certification, requiring all suchdecisions to be made at the international level.Although many members questioned whether thegroup has the capacity to process these some 3000 -4000 files at the central level, chapter inconsis-tency has been a problem for OCIA in gainingIFOAM and RvA accreditation. source: OrganicBroadcaster, March-April, 1999

FVO to Offer Genetically Natural ™Certifica-tion – Farm Verified Organic, one of the earliestorganic certification programs, has joined up withGenetic ID, a company which has developedtechnology to detect genetically modified organ-isms. The new company will offer 4 certificationprograms:

1) traditional organic certification to interna-tional standards

2) non-GMO certification of farm processbacked up by DNA testing to assure GMOsare excluded from certified products to atolerance of 0.1%

3) Below Detectable Level (BDL) certificationfor residue-free assurance, and

4) Dual certification as organic and non-GMO.The company expects increasing demand for non-GMO certification as more and more GMO prod-ucts enter the marketplace. source: FVO PressRelease, January 27, 1999

Cabbage and Cattails Detoxify Chromium –Plant biologists at the University of California,Berkeley are finding that these plants, as well asother brassicas, lettuce, spinach, cucumber, canta-loupe, radish, tomato, water hyacinth and saltmarshbulrush take up chromium from the soil but trans-mit it to the shoots and leaves in a non-toxic form.The exact mechanism is not yet understood, but theresults are of interest to California industries whichare having difficulty meeting regulatory chromiumdischarge levels. source: Acres, USA, March, 1999

Drill-Powered Poultry Plucker on Market –JAKO, Inc. at 6003 E. Eales Rd., Hutchinson, KA67501 (316) 663-1470 http://www.jakoinc.comoffers a small plucker powered by a hand drill, forhome use. The unit is designed to be mounted on atable and chucked to a hand drill. (ed: Let us knowhow you like it if you buy one!) source: OEFFANews, Winter, 1999

Bette Midler Saves NYC Community Gardens –Folks worried by the effort of New York City tosell off 112 city-owned vacant lots which had beenused for community gardens can rest easy now.Bette Midler told her private conservation organi-zation to buy a number of them and organizedother groups to save the rest. Plans to turn owner-ship over to the community groups using them areunderway. source: New York Times, May 12, 1999

Canada Rejects rBGH – After a 9-year review ofMonsanto’s synthetic bovine growth hormone,Health Canada has prohibited use of the produc-tion-enhancing drug in Canadian dairy operationsbecause it poses an “unacceptable threat to thesafety of the cows.” The US thus remains the onlycountry where use of this bio-engineered drug isallowed. source: Food & Water Journal, Winter,1999

Clay Particles Suppress Curculio – A newproduct, Kaolin clay, released under the trade nameSurround, is said to create a barrier to plumcurculio in apple trees. ATTRA reports impressiveresults when the particles are mixed with water andsprayed into the trees every 5 to 10 days. It is alsosaid to work against leafrollers, leafhoppers, pearpsylla, and Japanese beetles! There is no effect onbeneficials other than making the tree undesirablefor them. The clay is currently used as an anti-caking ingredient in food and has to known effecton humans. Guy Ames of ATTRA has offeredfurther information at 800-442-9842 [email protected]. source: private communi-cation

Organic Tobacco Prices Attract Farmers –Organic tobacco sells for about twice what theconventional crop does, and many farmers in theNorth Carolina tobacco belt are becoming inter-ested in it. On a scale of several acres, the extramanagement necessary to replace chemicals isreasonable, and extra fertility costs for organicinputs is not excessive given today’s market prices.Will this be the debate topic at a future NOFAConference? source: Stewardship News, March -April, 1999

EPA Raises Roundup Limit – The EnvironmentalProtection Agency has given approval to aMonsanto petition to raise the acceptable levels ofglyphosate (Roundup) herbicide residues on sugarbeets and grain crops. The company won a similarconcession from the agency during development ofit’s “Roundup Ready” soybean variety, lifting theacceptable level from 6 ppm to 20 ppm. source:Greenpeace Email, April 15, 1999

Bt Crops Threat to Beneficials – Entomologistsmeeting in Basel, Switzerland, in March warnedthat crops containing genetically engineered Btexude 10 to 20 times the amount of toxins con-tained in traditional Bt sprays. As a result, they say,beneficials such as ladybugs, lacewings, and soilmicroorganisms are being harmed. They called fora moratorium on Bt plantings. source: CFS News,April 16, 1999

USDA Approves Irradiation of Meat – Raw meatand raw meat products can now be irradiated,announced Dan Glickman, Secretary of Agricul-ture. The procedure has been touted as reducing thenumber of dangerous microorganisms on meat andpoultry, allowing for a “safer” carcass. Expensiverecent recalls of meat and poultry products causedthe meat industry to become concerned aboutproduct quality, forcing either a reevaluation of theindustrial scale on which meat products are pro-duced, or a search for a high-tech “fix”. source:Acres, USA, May, 1999

Soy Food Allergies on Rise – Researchers at theYork Nutritional Laboratory announced on March12 that soy food allergies among the British publicrose a staggering 50% in 1998, coinciding with alarge increase in US genetically engineered soyimports. Foreign proteins, produced by genesspliced into soy to carry such traits as resistance toRoundup, are under suspicion for triggering theallergies. source: CFS News, April 16, 1999

GE-free Demand Fuels Markets – Intenseconsumer opposition to genetically engineered(GE) foods in Europe and Japan has caused grainexport giant Archer Daniels Midland to create aprogram for GE-free “identity preserved” soy-beans. The company is hoping to preserve aportion of the $4.5 billion in US annual soyexports which is threatened by the current policyof “co-mingling” GE and traditional grains.source: CFS News, April 16, 1999

Monsanto Satirized in Song – The British folkband “Seize the Day” has E-published a songcalled “Food ‘n’ Health ‘n’ Hope” satirizingMonsanto. Hear, copy, and distribute it atwww.seizetheday.org source: CFS News, April16, 1999

GE-Vandals Set Free – In a precedent-settingvictory for the anti-genetic engineering (GE)movement, all charges were dropped against twodefendants on trial for destroying a test plot of GEcorn last year. The prosecution feared that thecampaigners, who claimed they were acting in thepublic interest, would be set free by the jury andthis would encourage further direct action. source:CFS News, April 16, 1999

GE Crops Increase as Market Shrinks – Askany farmer what happens when more of a crop isproduced at the same time as the market for thatcrop is shrinking. This, apparently, is what ishappening to GE crops in Europe. McDonalds,Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken all areeliminating GE soy and corn ingredients fromtheir menus, according to the British newspaperThe Daily Mail. At the same time, however, worldfarmers planted 69.5 acres of GE crops world-wide in 1998. source: Acres, USA, May, 1999

News Notes 5


By Sara Weil

The first annual Pioneer Valley Seed Savers’Conference and seed swap convened 13 March1999 at the Hampshire College Red Barn inAmherst, Massachusetts. About sixty peopleattended.

To answer the need for a local seed saving organi-zation, David Fisher, farmer, homesteader andseed activist from Conway, organized the confer-ence. This gathering represents the beginning of ahopefully long-standing tradition of grassrootsseed saving in the valley. David aims to establish anetwork of farmers and gardeners to provide fortheir own seed needs and to gain independencefrom the corporate stranglehold on the seedindustry. He envisions collaboration amongfarmers in which each farmer grows one crop forseed thus making easy the otherwise onerous taskof saving seeds from all the crops on any onefarm. David particularly hopes to include farmersas well as gardeners in the Connecticut ValleySeed Savers Cooperative. The expense and thesmall seed quantities available through organiza-tions specializing in open pollinated cultivarsdiscourage farmers from growing open-pollinatedvarieties. A regionally based seed collective couldovercome this barrier. David seeks to grow openpollinated crops at his farm, Natural Roots. Onecrop that David particularly appreciates growingthis year, the Clear Dawn Onion, he obtained fromTom Stearns of High Mowing Organic Seed Farm.Clear Dawn is the dehybridized form of the widelypopular Copra onion. For a taste of this interestingallium look for David at the Amherst and Spring-field, Massachusetts Farmer’s Markets this sum-mer.

At the seed saving conference tables arrangedaround Hampshire’s Red Barn provided space forlocal seed savers to lay out their treasures. EricToensmeier offered some of his unique perennialvegetable seeds representing some of the varietiesavailable through his first year seed business, The

Perennial Vegetable Seed Company. The idea forthe business arose when Eric had difficultysourcing the cultivars he needed for his perennialpolycultures and forest gardens. His catalogueoffers a unique selection of perennial vegetables,one of the only catalogues of its type. He offerstwenty cultivars for sale this year and intends toexpand the catalogue to include new and interest-ing perennial vegetables as they become available.Two plants of special interest offered this yearinclude the wild leek or ramps, and the Good KingHenry Spinach. Next year’s catalogue will includea perennial kale that Eric brought over fromEngland. To find out more, contact EricToensmeier at The Perennial Vegetable Seed Co.,Box 608, Belchertown, MA 01007; phone: (413)552-4167. For more information about new andinteresting permaculture garden ideas keep youreyes peeled for Eric’s and Dave Jacke’s upcomingbook release: Edible Forest Gardens - A Deliciousand Practical Ecology. Printing will commenceearly next year.

Also attending the conference, Tom Weldon of thehistoric Bidwell House in Monterrey, Massachu-setts brought a fascinating collection of heirloomseeds. Tom started saving seeds in 1991 whilehead gardener at the Hancock Shaker Village. Togrow an authentically Shaker garden Tom hunteddown heirloom varieties that Shakers grew. TodayTom runs the historic Bidwell House and modestlyclaims to preside over “one of the best historicalgardens in New England.” The garden, about onefifth acre in size and divided into four quadrants,presents a walk through the history of Americanvegetable gardens. One section presents NativeAmerican plants up to the year 1917. Features ofthis area include beans, corn and squash. Onanother quadrant grow plants common to the early19th century. Among the plants in this section Tomfavors the Caribe potato so named because itshipped well on ocean journeys. From the late19th - early 20th century quadrant Tom named thewell-recognized Nantes carrot and the rare andunusual Vine Peach pickling melon as particularlynoteworthy. The last quadrant represents themodern garden from which Tom chose the Rose deBerne tomato as a favorite and which he acquiredfrom Lawrence Hollander of the Eastern NativeSeed Conservancy. Visitors are welcome atBidwell House. A tour of the gardens is free whilea fee is charged for house tours. Tom may becontacted by phone at (413) 528-6888, or by mailat P.O. Box 653, Monterrey, MA 01245.

Attendees at the conference milled among thesetables and others sharing and trading seeds.

Another presenter at the conference, NeddaJastremski, a recent graduate of HampshireCollege, wrote her thesis on the topic: Seeds ofSustainability: Cultivating Our AgriculturalHeritage. In the thesis Nedda looked at seedsaving from the historical perspective researchingthe development of crop varieties from pilgrimtimes and interviewing seed savers. She sent me

this quote from that work: “Our work is profound.When we participate in the cycle of plant regen-eration we are renewing much more than an actualplant; we are renewing the humble tradition ofagriculture as an art. When we replant the seedsfrom our ancestors we carry on their stories, theirfamilies, their labor and love grown in backyardgardens, small farms, and fertile river valleys. Ourcultural and biological diversity converge withinthe seed. With seed saving we draw upon thecollected wisdom of people of all cultures, alllands who have nurtured renewing relationshipsthat sustain and continue to feed their communi-ties. This is our agricultural heritage.”

The thesis can be found at the Hampshire Collegelibrary. Last year Nedda grew 55 heirloom tomatovarieties at the Hampshire College Farm. Sheparticularly remarked on the cultivar Indian Moonas a favorite with its rich yellow glow and atexture “that melts in your mouth.” Also while atHampshire Nedda helped revive a red popcorncultivar developed by Richard Werner, the originalowner of the college property. Richard Werner was83 years old when Nedda met him. He describedhow he had grown a white popcorn and discovereda red ear amongst the white at harvest. He grewout the seed from the red corn every year till hehad a nearly pure strain. Every now and then awhite ear appears. He had not grown out hispopcorn for several years when Nedda met him.Nedda pointed to the experience of reviving thisheirloom popcorn as a profound experience for herand expressed the hope that Mr. Werner’s Redpopcorn will continue its life on the HampshireCollege farm.

Other discussion at the conference emphasized thethreat to our seed supply with the influx of bio-technology. Speakers presented seed saving asactive resistance against the biotech problem andseed saving as the most positive response acces-sible to us as farmers and gardeners. The idea ofstarting a backyard breeding project to developand preserve locally adapted varieties particularlyappealed to people. Sara Weil and NeddaJastremski presented informational talks regardingbiotechnology in our food supply today andtouched on some of the more outrageous andinsidious developments - such as the “Terminator”technology which makes seed saving impossibleby rendering second generation seeds sterile. Mostdisturbing of all, US taxpayer dollars bankrolledthis research when the USDA collaborated withDelta and Pine Land Company. RecentlyMonsanto bought Delta Pine Land which thereforenow gives them control of the patent. Farmers indeveloping countries and others who rely on seedsaving in their farming practices suddenly willlose this essential autonomy. Under the dominatinginfluence of the new seed company giants (likeMonsanto and Dupont which have recently shedtheir chemical divisions and emerged in newclothing as the largest “life-science” companies)many genetically engineered seeds and productssoon will be virtually unavoidable. Over 45million acres of genetically engineered crops weregrown last year in the US alone. Speakers im-pressed upon the audience the risks of releasingthese poorly tested and poorly understood geneti-cally modified organisms into the environment.Attention also focused on the “revolving door”between the EPA, the USDA and the “life-science”companies leading to unacceptable conflicts ofinterest in the regulatory agencies.

Finally the audience divided into two groups andconcentrated energies for the remainder of the timeon workshops illuminating the fundamentals ofseed saving. Nedda Jastremski and Tom Weldonled the two workshops designed for the inexperi-enced and more experienced seed savers.

The seed saving conference is just the beginning!People are invited to join the Pioneer Valley SeedSavers. The newly formed group will offer threeworkshops this year, the first scheduled for 16June to take place at the home of Dvora Cohen inAshfield. Look for our table at the NOFA summerconference. For more information, call DavidFisher at (413) 369-2469.

N.B.: The name, Pioneer Valley Seed Savers, ispending review by the group and may be changed

Pioneer Valley Seed Saver’s Conference Report 6


Special Supplement onBeneficial InsectsBeneficialInsects:The BigPicture

By Kimberly A. Stoner, Ph.D.Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station and

NOFA/CT

Insects are everywhere, except in the oceans. Onland and in fresh water, they feed on nearly everykind of plant and animal, play a role in the decom-position of all sorts of organic matter, and graze onfungi, algae, and bacterial slime.

Into this world of insects, humankind has emerged.Humans look at a world of buzzing, flying,crawling diversity, and we make value judge-ments. We don’t want insects feeding on us, livingin our houses, reducing the yield of our foodplants, transmitting disease to us or our animals orplants, damaging the ornamental plants we grow inour yards, or even just annoying us excessivelywith their presence. Those insects we call pests.

So, what are beneficial insects? Because there isso much diversity among insects and their roles inthe ecosystem, there are different ways insects arebeneficial to humans. One group beneficial topeople worldwide, but seldom considered in ourculture, are insects eaten by humans. I workedbriefly for the Africa bureau of the U.S. Agencyfor International Development. Everywhere Itraveled in Africa, as soon as I mentioned that Iwas an entomologist, people would tell me whatkinds of insects they ate. One of the insect prob-lems in Africa at that time was a series of out-breaks of locusts around the continent. USAIDwas sending huge planes to spray the locustswarms with malathion. At the same time, anexpert on insects as food wrote to ask us: “Whyaren’t you harvesting the locusts instead? Peopleall over Africa and the Middle East have tradition-ally eaten locusts. If you aren’t going to harvestthem as human food, at least you could use themas feed for chickens!”

In our culture, the most directly beneficial insectsare those that produce a product or service usefulto us, such as the honey bee. In addition to produc-ing honey and wax, honey bees provide a criticalservice — pollination of crop plants. Honey beesare subject to their own pests, especially tracheal

and varroa mites, which have been responsible fora drastic reduction in their free-living populations.The decline of these domesticated, introduced beeshas stimulated interest in other pollinators.

There are about 700 species of bees in the easternUnited States, some of which are excellent pollina-tors of certain crops. If you grow squash, forexample, you have probably seen or heard squashbees, the native pollinators adapted to theseAmerican plants. Both the males and females workthe flowers in the morning, and when the flowersclose up at mid-day, the males often stay insideand will buzz energetically when the tightly closedflower is disturbed. A different group of nativebees, the bumblebees, are better pollinators thanhoney bees for certain plants, including tomatoesand peppers. Wild bees in agricultural environ-ments are limited by the use of insecticides, butalso by the destruction of nesting sites as brushand woods are cleared and soil is plowed. Manyother groups of insects — flies, wasps, butterflies,and moths — are also important pollinators ofboth cultivated and wild, native plant species.

Other insects beneficial to humans belong to thecomplex biological communities that break downorganic matter and incorporate it into soil. Whileyou probably recognize the importance of the big,obvious soil animals (earthworms) in building soil,how often do you think about the hundreds ofthousands of springtails in a cubic meter of soil?The truth is, scientists haven’t given them muchthought or attention either. The soil biota, rightunder our feet and crucial to our survival, is one ofthe least understood biological communities on

earth. It is clear, however, that the insects andother soil animals begin the process of digestionand decomposition of organic matter and do muchof the physical work of breaking big chunks of itinto tiny pieces more accessible to microbes. Avigorous soil fauna helps to sustain a vigorous soilmicroflora.

But, when you mention the phrase “beneficialinsects,” a few people will think of honey bees andother pollinators, almost no one will think ofinsects as food or as builders of soil, but everyonewill think of the natural enemies of our pests. Asthe saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is myfriend.

In the Absence of Enemies

A key factor in making a particular organism animportant pest is an “enemy-free space.” Theclassic example is an insect or a plant introducedinto this country from some other part of theworld. It has been estimated that 40% of the insectpests on crops and 73% of the weeds of cultivatedcrops in the U.S. are species that originatedsomewhere else. Often these insects and plantsarrived here without the natural enemies adaptedto them in their original homes. In the absence ofthese enemies, the imported cabbageworm, theEuropean corn borer, the Japanese beetle, andnumerous other foreign insects and plants burstonto the scene as major pests soon after theyarrived, and multiplied and spread rapidly.

There are other ways for potential pests to findenemy-free space. We humans frequently create anenvironment empty of biological diversity, and any

picture by ARS, USDA

The parasitoid wasp, Pediobius attacking a Mexican bean beetle larva.This wasp does not overwinter and is re-introduced each year.

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T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r S u m m e r , 1 9 9 9insect or plant which can adapt to that environ-ment has a fantastic opportunity to multiplybeyond natural bounds. One example is a green-house. Plants started in a clean, empty greenhousethrive until the first pests (whiteflies, for example)arrive. Then, the whiteflies multiply uncheckeduntil their enemies arrive naturally or are intro-duced.

Annual crops grown on a large scale using pesti-cides are full of enemy-free spaces. Bare, freshlytilled soil provides the weeds adapted to thatenvironment a chance to grow without competitorsor herbivores in place. Tillage and crop rotationcan help to disrupt the life cycles of insect pests,but they may also disrupt the natural enemies ofthose pests. Large scale monoculture of a singlecrop variety interferes with the many species ofinsect natural enemies that need nectar or pollen atsome stage in their life cycle. The plants in amonoculture will all flower at the same time, anduntil then, the natural enemies will have to spendmuch of their time looking for flowers elsewhere.And, of course, the use of broad-spectrum insecti-cides kills nearly all insect natural enemies andcreates an enemy-free space for the hundreds ofspecies of insect pests resistant to insecticides.

Classical Biological Control — IntroducingNatural Enemies to a New Home

Although natural enemies of insect pests had beendescribed and studied for hundreds of years, and afew attempts to move them to new places orincrease their numbers had been tried, biologicalcontrol had its first big, splashy success when alady beetle, called the vedalia beetle, was intro-duced to California citrus orchards to control aninsect pest of foreign origin, the cottony cushionscale, in 1888. Because Charles V. Riley knew thatthe cottony cushion scale was not a major pest inAustralia, its home country, he sent Albert Kobelethere to search for natural enemies to bring toCalifornia. This is an example of what is called“classical biological control,” the introduction ofnew natural enemies to an environment where theydo not exist. In classical biological control, thegoals are 1.) to select an effective, appropriatenatural enemy of the pest, 2.) to establish the newnatural enemy permanently, and 3.) to determinewhat effect the new natural enemy has on pestpopulations.

There has been debate for many years aboutwhether it is possible to determine which naturalenemies will establish, be effective, and be limitedin their effects to the target pests. Critics ofclassical biological control have pointed out that itmakes a permanent change in the ecosystem, sowe have to use extreme caution. There have beenproblems, particularly with generalist predatorsintroduced as biological control agents. Predatorysnails, for example, have often been introduced onislands to control a pest snail, but then go on todecimate the rare, native snail species. Or verte-

brate predators, like ferrets, snakes, or evenhousecats are introduced to kill rats and mice andgo on to kill a wide variety of other mammals andground-nesting (and even tree-nesting) birds.There are also some examples of parasitoids (aparasitoid is a parasite that kills its host) that werereleased against one pest, but that attack a widerange of other insects. Compsilura concinnata, aparasitoid released for control of the gypsy moth,also attacks hundreds of other species of forestcaterpillars.

On the other hand, there is a substantial, undeni-able record of successful, permanent biologicalcontrol of many pests. The vedalia beetle, togetherwith a fly parasitoid of the cottony cushion scale,has kept the scale population below economicallyimportant levels since the 1890’s, although DDTand other broad-spectrum insecticides haveinterfered with the natural enemies periodically.The alfalfa weevil, formerly a major pest of alfalfain the Northeast, now rarely causes economicdamage since the establishment of a series ofintroduced parasitoids. The casava mealybug wasa major threat to the most important food crop ofmillions of subsistence farmers in Africa until itwas brought under classical biological control inthe 1980’s.

Insect natural enemies have also been used suc-cessfully in the classical biological control ofweeds. In Australia, the prickly pear cactus hadtaken over millions of acres of land before theCactoblastis moth was introduced against it in the1920’s. Within six years, the cactus populationdramatically collapsed. In the U.S., the introduc-tion of plant-feeding beetles reduced the Klamathweed, which was a serious pest of rangeland inCalifornia, to an uncommon plant.

Natural enemies of pests in annual croppingsystems have been introduced and established, buthave not been as successful as in less frequentlydisturbed systems, like orchards, rangelands, orforest. An example is Cotesia glomerata, a parasi-toid wasp brought from Europe in 1883 to attackimported cabbageworm larvae. Probably everyorganic gardener or farmer has seen the mass oflittle yellow fuzzy pupal cases formed by thiswasp, next to the dead body of the caterpillar host.Each spring, the rate of parasitism of the importedcabbageworm starts out low, but by the fall, in theabsence of insecticides, it reaches 60-75%. Be-cause the imported cabbageworms get a head starton their natural enemies each year, many growersof brassica crops still need to use Bacillusthuringiensis or other methods to control importedcabbageworm.

Helping Natural Enemies Along — Conserva-tion, Inoculative Release, and Inundative

Release

Conservation - So, in situations where the naturalenemies of key pests are already present here,what can be done to make them work better?There are a few general principles of naturalenemy conservation: 1.) Avoid the use of broad-spectrum pesticides, including botanical insecti-cides, as much as possible, 2.) Make sure supple-mental foods (pollen, nectar, honeydew, or otherfood sources) are available through the season, 3.)Provide shelter for overwintering and inactiveperiods, and 4.) Plan crop placement and fieldactivities in order to allow the natural enemies totravel between crops or from crops to overwinter-ing sites.

In order to make the best use of these principles,you should know the specific needs of the naturalenemy throughout its life cycle. Unfortunately,

these needs are not known in detail for manycommon natural enemies of insect pests. Forexample, most insect natural enemies feed onpollen, nectar, or honeydew to some degree asadults. But the size, shape, and structure of theseinsects vary tremendously, and not all flowers areequally accessible to all natural enemies or pro-vide equally well for their needs. Another way toprovide supplementary food is by applying itdirectly onto the plants. Spraying a sugar solution,for example, can attract some species of ladybeetles and parasitoids of aphids. Adding a sourceof amino acids, such as protein hydrolysate, to asugar spray has been shown in some crops toattract lacewings. Applying pollen directly to theplants can increase the survival and rate of devel-opment of some predatory mites.

Similarly, in order to provide shelter or accommo-date the movement of natural enemies, you wouldneed to know the life cycle in detail. Some parasi-toids overwinter in the crop field in the soil or inplant residues, and tillage reduces their survival,while other natural enemies, many lady beetles,for example, need patches of forest or other non-crop habitat for overwintering.

Inoculative Release - In situations where thenatural enemies have not been conserved, (and insituations where they can not be conserved, suchas when a parasitoid does not overwinter here) aninoculative release could be made to re-introducethe natural enemy locally. An example is a parasi-toid, Pediobius foveolatus, of Mexican beanbeetles. This wasp overwintered in the larval stageof its host in the country it came from, but theMexican bean beetle always overwinters as anadult. Thus, in order to use this wasp for biologicalcontrol, it has to be released again each year.Fortunately there are private companies andgovernment laboratories that keep colonies of thiswasp going, so that it can be obtained from themand released.

In the case of Pediobius foveolatus, there issubstantial labor involved in keeping the beneficialinsects going, so there are only a few sources. Butfor many natural enemies, you might be able to doyour own inoculative releases locally, if you are akeen observer, and your friends and neighbors arewilling to have an exchange. For example, there isa ground beetle, Lebia grandis, which is both aparasitoid (as a larva) and a predator (as an adult)of the Colorado potato beetle. Because thesebeetles are so specialized, I think they occur onlyon farms that have been growing potatoes (orhorsenettle) for several years. In my travels toorganic farms, I saw these beetles, showed them tothe farmer, and asked if I could take a few. I tookthem home and put them among the potatoes inmy community garden. I saw them regularly afterthat for a few years (until the garden was moved).This is a beetle that is not commercially available,so the only way to get them is to find them, bringthem home, and try to provide a habitat they willlike.

Inundative Release - Inundative releases differfrom inoculative releases mostly as a matter ofstrategy. An inoculative release usually consists ofone or a few releases of relatively low numbers ofnatural enemies when the target pest population isstill fairly small. The goal is to establish thenatural enemy for the season, let it reproduce onits own, and have it continue to exert control onthe pest population. Inundative releases, as thename suggests, flood the area with natural en-emies. Although the natural enemies may multiplyon their own, an inundative release strategydoesn’t depend on it. It is very much like using thenatural enemies as a biological pesticide. Acommon example of inundative release is the use

drawing by Tracy LaProvidenza

Caterpillar of the imported cabbageworm. Although imported cabbageworms have manynatural enemies, these enemies may be disrupted by the annual cropping cycle.


The multicolored Asian lady beetle isbeneficial as a predator of aphids, but itis a nuisance pest when it overwinters

inside houses.

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T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rS u m m e r , 1 9 9 9of insect-attacking nematodes against variousinsects, like grubs in lawns. The use of microbialinsecticides is sometimes an inundative release ofliving organisms (the new products with thefungus Beauveria bassiana, for example) andsometimes the actual microbes are dead, and thechemicals they have produced are used to kill theinsects (products from Bacillus thuringiensis tokill caterpillars, for example).

The nematodes and microbes used inundativelyare generally relatively cheap. Living insects areusually much more expensive to produce, store,and ship, so there are few cases in which it makeseconomic sense to use insect natural enemiesinundatively.

One place in which insect natural enemies arereleased, as either inoculative or inundativereleases, is in greenhouses. Greenhouses are aspecial case because they are small areas that canbe enclosed to limit the escape of the naturalenemies, with relatively controlled environments,and, often, very high value crops. They are also aspecial case because the worldwide ornamentalgreenhouse trade has produced strains of severalinsect species very resistant to insecticides and hasmoved them on plant materials through green-houses all over the world. The greenhouse growersin the Netherlands in the 1970’s recognized that itwas increasingly difficult to control one of theirmajor pests, the greenhouse whitefly, and thatthere was an alternative to insecticides, a parasi-toid discovered in the 1920’s, Encarsia formosa.Once the system was set up for producing andusing one insect natural enemy, the growersrealized that using insecticides against other insectpests would interfere with this system, so they andtheir suppliers had to continue to find naturalenemies against each new pest as it appeared.

Biological Control: A Way to Step Off theInsecticide Treadmill

This experience of the greenhouses growersillustrates an effect of using biological control.Once you have established biological control of akey pest — whether by introduction of a newnatural enemy, by inoculatively releasing theenemy, or by recognizing the importance ofnaturally occuring enemies in a favorable environ-ment — you have an incentive to preserve andmaintain that biological control agent. Even whenreleasing an enemy inundatively, you need someawareness of whether pesticide residues or latersprays might interfere with the success of theexpensive purchased natural enemy.

Many entomologists, as well as many organicfarmers, realized long ago that there is a pesticidetreadmill or a pesticide addiction — using pesti-cides against one pest killed off the natural en-emies of other pests, while selecting pests forresistance to the pesticide. Thus, more applicationsof different pesticides with different active ingredi-ents are continually required by the system, oncethis treadmill begins to roll.

Stepping off the treadmill can be a tricky transi-tion. Biological control methods that have littleeffect on natural enemies — Bacillus thuringiensissubstituted for an insecticide against a caterpillarpest, for example — can help to re-establish adiverse fauna of natural enemies to assist thegrower in managing pest outbreaks.

An example of this in vegetables in the Northeastis the work of Ruth Hazzard of the University ofMassachusetts in substituting Bt for insecticidesagainst the European corn borer and a mixture ofBt and oil dropped into the ear for additionalinsecticide sprays against corn earworm. Control-ling these two key pests with non-toxic methodsopens the door to a diversity of naturally occurringnatural enemies to return to the sweet corn field —lady beetles, lacewings, predatory bugs, andparasitoids introduced years ago against the cornborer. This “biointensive Integrated Pest Manage-ment” system may be further improved by inocu-lative release of new natural enemies, such as theparasitoid of European corn borer eggs,Trichogramma ostriniae.

Another example from the Northeast is the classi-cal biological control of the alfalfa weevil. Theresulting reduction in insecticide use has madealfalfa a haven for a diversity of beneficial insects.

It has also made possible the current work of Dr.Bill Day of the USDA, introducing a new naturalenemy of the tarnished plant bug, a pest that feedsin alfalfa as well as in vegetable and berry fields,where it does serious economic damage.

Even though there has been biological controlresearch conducted here for over 100 years, we arestill at the beginning of a movement towardunderstanding and using biological control inagriculture in the Northeast. Practical methods toincrease the effectiveness of our naturally occur-ring biological control agents are needed. At thesame time, organic farmers and gardeners andentomologists need to work together to make surethat the tools for transition to a system based onbiological control remain available and effective.Those tools include Bacillus thuringiensis strainsfor use against caterpillars and Colorado potatobeetles, and several strains of insect-attackingnematodes. Other tools may become available andimportant as research and development progresses.

I have been trying to make scientists working inbiological control aware of the interests and needsof organic farmers and gardeners, and organicgrowers aware of the possibilities of learningabout and using biological control. These twogroups could be allies in creating non-toxicmethods of managing insect pests that helpbiological diversity and complexity to flourish inagriculture.


Natural enemies of the tarnished plant bug(pictured here as an adult) have beenintroduced to try to bring this species

under biological control.

Sources For More Information:

Books and Other Publications:

Buchmann, S.L. and G.P. Nabhan. 1996. TheForgotten Pollinators. Island Press, ShearwaterBooks. Washington, D.C.

Flint, M.L. and S.H. Dreistadt. 1998. NaturalEnemies Handbook: The Illustrated Guide toBiological Pest Control. Univ. of California,Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources,Communication Services, 6701 San Pablo Avenue,Oakland, CA 94608-1239. Pub. 3386.

Hazzard, R. Biointensive Insect Managment inSweet Corn. Agroecology Program.Vegetable andSmall Fruit Program. Pub # VegSF99-1. Availablefrom Ruth Hazzard, Dept. of Entomology - West,Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003

Hoffmann, M.P. and A.C. Frodsham. 1993. NaturalEnemies of Vegetable Insect Pests. Cornell Coop-erative Extension, Resource Center, 7 Business/Technology Park, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY14850.

Hunter, C.D. 1997. Suppliers of Beneficial Organ-isms in North America. PM 97-01. Available fromthe California Environmental Protection Agency,Dept. of Pesticide Regulation, EnvironmentalMonitoring and Pest Management Branch, 1020 NStreet, Room 161, Sacramento, CA 95814-5624.

Van Driesche, R.G. and T.S. Bellows. 1996.Biological Control. Chapman & Hall. New York.

Worldwide Web sites:

Biological Control: A Guide to Natural Enemies inNorth America

http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/biocontrol/

Suppliers of Beneficial Organisms in NorthAmerica

http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/dprdocs/goodbug/benefic.htm

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by Jack Kittredge

Half the way up into Vermont seems like anunlikely place to grow organic tomatoes - theseason is short, the soils are thin, and it’s a longway to urban markets. Even if you raise them in agreenhouse year-round, you fight heating bills andsnow loads which may not beset your competition.Yet raising the best tasting and highest qualitytomatoes is what Dave Chapman has devoted hislife to in Thetford, Vermont.

“We used to have a farmstand,” Dave recalls. “Wehad a reasonable location for it. This is an affluentarea - Dartmouth College is 10 miles away. Themania people had for our tomatoes was some-thing! They would come and line up before weopened. People got really mad at me when I closedit. We had great food and I loved it. But I person-ally was a husk. I was burned out. When I startedhaving kids I cut back from 80 hours a week to60.”

Chapman was looking for a way to stay in farmingbut manage a reasonable personal life. He hadbeen to Europe with Eliot Coleman and PaulHarlow to tour organic farms. They were sent bythe Working Land Fund to learn about compostand soil biology, but what they learned about wasequipment - better harvesting equipment, weedflamers, more energy efficient greenhouses. All thefarms the group visited in Holland were heavilycapitalized and pretty successful. They weren’tthat much larger scale than NOFA farms, but theirmanagement had been perfected, and they hadbeautiful crops which tasted delicious.

“I remember the first talk I gave back here,” Davecontinues. “There was a lot of anger. What we sawwas a lot of heavily capitalized, fairly specializedoperations. I gave the talk about Holland. Butwhen we showed the slides people were confusedand angry. They said: ‘This is what we went intofarming to get away from!’ They didn’t want torun a business, borrow money. I understand that. Ididn’t go into this to make money either! I realizedfarming was economically challenging. But it’shard to sustain losing money every year in yourbusiness.”

So Dave put in his first big greenhouse - 1/3 of anacre - 5 years ago. Then 2 years ago he put anotheracre under glass. It is all standard vegetablegreenhouse technology. The whole structure camefrom Holland. Chapman went through a competi-tive bidding process but the Dutch easily beat theAmericans because they have a specializedbusiness and came over with everything, eventheir own concrete posts. The house went up fastbut Dave is very happy with it.

Dave has always liked buffalo tomatoes, even inthe days when he was growing them in a tunnel.Now he grows the seedlings in a seperate green-house and transplants them into the big house inDecember. Harvest begins in March. Pickingcontinues throughout the year until the nextDecember. As fruit is taken from a vine it islowered and the new fruiting section allowed toclimb and grow. By the end of the year each plantis 13 months old and as much as 30 feet long.

His greenhouse is right along the ConnecticutRiver and Chapman feels the growing climatewould be a whole lot better if it were up on a hill.A lot of fog settles in the valley, which means lesslight. But even more importantly, it means diseaseslike botrytis. In his organic system such problemshave to be solved with prevention - with control-ling the climate, pruning and watering techniques.

The Long Wind Farm greenhouse environment isconstantly monitored and a computer programgoverns such management decisions as wateringtimes, opening of roof vents and controllingmixing valves for the different heating zones.Heating is important even in a month like Julybecause, surprisingly, it cools the place down. Ifyou apply heat in the morning it gets the plantsactive and growing. That means they transpire, andthe evaporation cools the greenhouse.

“If they just sat there in the morning,” Daveexplains, “you would get high temperatures, highhumidity, and botrytis. The plant would be stag-nant and not taking up nutrients and water. With

the advent of computers in greenhouses control-ling aspects of the growing situation, yields havedoubled. The strategies are elaborate and changethroughout the year given various factors. But theprinciple is you want the plant to grow. Not to sitthere, but to grow.

“We get from 5 to 8 pounds of tomatoes per squarefoot per year,” continues Dave. “I don’t thinkanyone organic is doing a whole lot better than us.The hydroponic guys, though, at 8 pounds wouldjust about be going out of business. The best onesin the world are getting 12 - double us.”

Since tomatoes are hungry feeders, such yieldsrequire healthy soil. In Long Wind’s case the soilis about 50% compost. New compost is added

constantly, throughout the year. It is bucket loadedinto boxes, which are put on carts that slide onrails between the rows. The compost is appliedfrom the boxes by hand each time, an inch deep.Chapman makes his own compost. He buys in alot of local cow manure and sometimes a semiload of Canadian straw. Last year he tried somehen manure. After building the piles, Dave hassomeone come in with a scarab to turn them.

“A year ago,” he relates, “I was favoring theAustrian compost guru, Lubke. In that system theyturn it a lot, monitor it incessantly for CO2,oxygen, moisture, all the nitrates and ammonia.They make good compost, but there’s a lot ofquestion whether all that turning is necessary.They’ll turn it daily for the first 2 weeks. Their

Beneficials in theOrganic Greenhouse:

Long Wind Farm


Chapman shows off a box of his finest! Note the strings supporting the tomatoes hangingfrom the greenhouse superstructure.

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rS u m m e r , 1 9 9 9 11concept is that you want to create certain microbialpopulations there. You can never let it go anerobic,never let the CO2 build up to too high a level.They use an innoculant which they say don’tbother to use unless you manage it by their system,because it won’t survive. Their stuff is finished in6 weeks.”

Currently, however, Chapman is working withWill Brinton for compost help. Will’s contention isthat Lubke is wrong. With all that turning you’relosing nitrogen, destroying crumb structure, andwasting energy. Will says go for the long, slowcook.

But good soil is not enough for Dave. “I’ve hadlettuce growing side by side,” he says. One lettucehad no tarnished plant bug while the one next to it,which was a week older, was covered with it.Why? I was always of the opinion before I startedgrowing in greenhouses that an insect problem justmanifested a soil problem. Now I think it may bemore complex. It could be a climatic problem or alight problem. Perhaps the right bacteria is absentfrom the skin of the plant.”

Dave can’t freeze insects out in his system, asmany organic growers can. He’d have to drain allthe pipes and even so wouldn’t get a hard freezebecause there is too much glass and solar heatcoming in every day. One benefit of nor freezing,of course, is that while he doesn’t freeze out thebad guys, he doesn’t freeze out the good guyseither.

In fact, Long Wind Farm relies heavily on ‘thegood guys’ to control ‘the bad guys’. “It’s easy tofind white fly problems,” Chapman sighs. “Thisgray moldy stuff is whitefly shit. They’ll suck thesap and kill the plants if we don’t control it. But ifyou look here you’ll see parasitized whiteflys.Everything that is black is good. The adultEncarsia are too small to see, but they find thewhiteflys and lay an egg inside them. If the eggturns black, that means it is parasitizing the whitefly. When it hatches, another Encarsia will emergeand find another white fly to parasitize.”

Dave figures you have to keep releasing Encarsiabecause the cost of failure is too high. He has lostentire greenhouses to white fly. He also hasproblems with aphids, spider mites, russet mitesand thrips. There is no biological predator forrusset mites, but spider mites have Phytosiuluspersimilis and Ambiyseius fallacis mites. Withthrips, the problem isn’t that bad. For aphids thereis Aphidius, different strains of it, and Aphidoletesaphidimyza. The Aphidius are what work well forhim. He tends to have problems with them in thewinter and early spring.

“Nothing is easy,” he agrees. “This is complicatedbiology. If you do one thing it may work, but if itdoesn’t - and you’re organic - you’re in a badposition. I couldn’t be in business without biologi-cal controls. Not unless people were willing to pay$8 a pound for tomatoes. You would have muchless yield. I can’t imagine it without the

biologicals. I probably wouldn’t have stoppedbeing a tunnel grower. There at least you have ashort growing season and you can freeze the houseout and kill a lot of things.”

Short of tunnel growing, in any kind of concen-trated greenhouse growing with heat, you’re goingto experience these problems, Chapman figures. Ifyou do concentrated production they find you. Ifyou don’t do concentrated growing, you’re out ofbusiness. He didn’t have any white flies for 3 or 4years, but they found him.

Dave spends a lot of money on biological controls,but thinks the prices are fair. He brings in Encarsiaevery week. It costs probably $8,000 a year. Hebrings in other controls if he has evident problems.Entomologists are capturing new bugs all the timeand reproducing them in captivity. This is abusiness where the hydroponic growers help theorganic ones. Organic growers aren’t big enoughto support bug producers. But the hydroponicgrowers create a market demand for biologicals.Nobody likes to spray poisons, plus biologicalsoften work better. The difference between thetypes of grower, Chapman feels, is that hydroponicfolks have a few things they can do if biologicalsfail. There are lots of reasons why that might be -maybe the batch wasn’t viable, maybe it’s too coolfor the Encarsia to fly. maybe the humidity is toohigh, maybe you’re a little too late.

“What we’re doing,” adds Dave, “is working withvery complex factors - which is true of mostorganic farming. The commodity we use tosucceed is information. In chemical agriculture,somebody else has taken the information and put itinto a product you can buy. This whole develop-ment of biologicals is an exciting thing. A hundredyears ago they nuked their greenhouses with reallynasty poisons. It was natural stuff like nicotine!Now they’re using a tiny tiny fraction of that -even the chemical and hydroponic growers. In theend a lot of the organic principles will be acceptedbecause they work! It’s the right way. So much ofthe alternative was cheap in the short run but notin the long run. A lot of things are moving in theright direction.”

Chapman’s move into greenhouse growing mayhave been necesitated by economics, but it did notcome cheap. He employs 10 people year roundand 20 during the growing season. After his laborcost, debt load comes second, then energy. Ver-mont has among the highest electrical rates in thecountry, he figures, probably three times what theyare in Pennsylvania. A number of local electriccompanies, worried about supply, made long termcontracts for Hydro Quebec power. But withenergy conservation rising and the price of oilfalling, the market has gone down since then.People like Dave are paying high rates as a result.

Most of Chapman’s tomatoes go to New Englandconsumers, primarily through supermarket chains.He finds that these are surprisingly reliable andcooperative customers. They also sell directly tosome grocery stores, but not to many health foodstores or natural food distributors.

Although Chapman is one of the largest organicgreenhouse tomato growers in the country, he isunder intense competitive pressure now. “Thenumbers looked good about 5 years ago,” herecalls. “I was optomistic. But so many peoplehave jumped into it... Now you can get goodorganic greenhouse tomatoes all over. I gave atalk at Sturbridge at the vegetable growers confer-ence a year ago. There were a hundred people inthe room. I asked how many grew greenhousetomatoes and they all put their hands up!

“Our biggest competition for organic is Canadiangreenhouses,” Dave continues, “but also Israel andsome California. There is also a lot of hydroponiccompetion from all over - British Columbia,Colorado, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania. Theyall have big greenhouses and they’re all pushingtomatoes into New England. There are tremendouseconomies of scale and those big places are goodat what they do. They have their systems down. Ijust had three growers visit me last week. One isdoing 24 acres of tomatoes under glass in BritishColumbia, one had 26 acres of peppers, and onehad 23 acres of tomatoes - and that was 2 green-houses. The larger was 18 acres!”

Chapman, moving from 5000 feet to 60,000 feet oftomatoes, found that the growing problems didn’tget worse. In a way, he says, they got easierbecause he learned more and perfected his meth-ods. But the stakes have gone up. In his firstgreenhouse he had terrible yields and lost money,but it was such a small amount of money!

There are different problems with scale, anddifferent pressures, he observes. “We do somethings that are not in accord with the principles oforganic agriculture. We’re growing a monocropand we’re not rotating. Sometimes we rotate oursoil out - take up all the piping, but it’s a lot ofwork. Everything we do is a lot of work.

“You watch people go into farming,” Chapmancontinues. “They love the work, but the economicsof it suck. They really do! The number of newfarms that are making it is miniscule. They’remaking it on the $3 an hour labor of the owners.Eliot [Coleman]’s philosophy is never to get so bigyou have to hire somebody. That’s great, but I’veseen people do that and not make a living either. Iknow that in the organic community we’re practi-cally bad guys because we’re considered so big.But I’m managing now, I get to see my kids.


David points to a whitefly. A better example can be seen on the leaf below and to the left ofthe one he is pointing at. A whitefly is the white speck to the right of the main vein. White-flies parasitized by Encarsia formosa are the gray specks on the same leaf. Although the

good guys have won, it will take maybe a month for this plant to be totally clean. By then theincarsia will have hatched and flown to other plants.


The ingenious carts which roll both on thecement floor and over the rails installed

between rows of tomatoes.


By William H. DayUSDA Beneficial Insects Research Laboratory,

Newark, DE

When an effective biological control system hasbeen developed for an insect pest of a crop, it isusually regarded as the ideal method. Biologicalcontrol doesn’t involve using chemicals, is safe forboth farmers and wildlife, does not add to cropproduction costs, permanently reduces insectnumbers and the resulting crop damage, anddoesn’t require special procedures by growers.

The roots of biological control in the United Statesgo back to the mid 1800’s — when entomology,the study of insects, was in its infancy. Severalearly entomologists recognized that about half ofthe important insect pests of our crops had arrivedhere from Europe along with the early colonistsand later immigrants. A few astute entomologistseven observed that the same insects were muchmore damaging here than in their native land, andcorrectly concluded that this happened becausetheir natural enemies had been left behind. Theneed for biological control here was greater than inmost other parts of the world, because our largenumber of immigrants had brought many non-native food and ornamental plants (and their insectpests) into North America during 200 years ofcolonization. However, the actual importation ofnatural enemies into the United States could notbegin at this time, because our country did not yethave an agriculture research system.

Fortunately, events soon were to change. In thelate 1880’s , the young citrus industry in California

Biological Control:An Alternative Way to Reduce Damage

by Many Insect Pests of Farm and Gardenwas being devastated by a recent immigrant insect,the cottony-cushion scale. Tree damage was sosevere that the USDA and the state of Californiawere encouraged to develop a new, cooperativeresearch and extension (information dissemina-tion) system, and to begin foreign explorations fornatural enemies. After the original home of thecottony-cushion scale was determined to be inAustralia, a ladybug predator and a fly parasitewere collected there, and were shipped to Califor-nia for release. Both beneficial insects quicklyestablished, and within a year they had nearlyeradicated the pestiferous scale. Shipments oforanges from the Los Angeles area reboundedfrom 700 railway cars to 2,000 per year, andbiological control was auspiciously born.

During the next 50 years, biological controls weredeveloped for a number of crop-damaging insects.As with any search for new and better solutions toimportant problems, there were some successesand some failures. The most common difficultywas the inability to permanently establish theneeded foreign natural enemies in the U.S.

When World War II started, the foreign explora-tions in Europe and Asia necessary to find thenatural enemies for our many immigrant insectpests had to be interrupted. This event, and thedevelopment of improved chemical insecticidesafter the war, reduced biological control researchto a low level for the next 20 years.

Fortunately, this situation gradually changed,starting in the 1960’s. Many insects had becomeresistant to one modern insecticide after another,some insecticides were discovered to causeenvironmental problems, and several of the “new”insect control methods (sterile males, attractanttraps, repellants, etc.) were found to be effectivesolutions for only a small number of pest insects.Other methods, such as releasing large numbers oflaboratory-raised insect parasites or predators,proved to be too expensive for use against mostmajor insect pests, especially those attackingmoderate to large acreage crops. At the same time,a few small biological control research teams,especially at the USDA Beneficial Insect ResearchLaboratory in the northeast, and the University of

credit: USDA-ARS, Newark, DE

Young tarnished plant bug. Both the nymph (shown here) and the adult plant bug suckfluids from buds, flowers, and fruits. This damage causes bud and fruit drop, misshapen

fruit (“catfacing”) and new leaves, and reduced crop yields.

credit: New York Agric. Exp. Sta., Geneva.

Normal (left) vs. damaged by tarnished plant bug (right) yields of blackberries.The normal blackberries were produced by plants protected from plant bug feeding with an

insecticide, to demonstrate the amount of insect damage on unprotected plants.

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rS u m m e r , 1 9 9 9 13California in the southwest, began to solveimportant insect problems using the long-neglected biological control methods.Parasites introduced from Europe and Asiatransformed the alfalfa weevil, pea aphid,cereal leaf beetle, spotted alfalfa aphid,and other pests from major problems tominor or occasional pests.

The resulting savings to agriculture totalover $200 million per year, many timesthe cost of the taxpayer-supported researchthat produced these advances. The clearfinancial and environmental benefits ofthese recent biological control exampleshave renewed interest in this methodamong farmers, university and USDAadministrators, legislators, and the generalpublic. Because biological control re-searchers strive to permanently establishnew natural enemies to obtain permanentcontrol of the target pest insect, there is noproduct that can be sold over many futureyears to pay for the initial research costs.Thus, industry cannot afford to pursue thisapproach, which is the reason that federaland state governments must supportbiological control.

The revived support for biological controlhas recently increased research on addi-tional insect pests by universities and theUSDA, and increased the number ofcolleges where this approach is taught.These advances should produce moreuseful biological controls in the future,and a greater acceptance of this method inthe agricultural sector. There are still manyintroduced insect pests that need attention,and the number is growing as foreigntrade increases. The Russian wheat aphidin the western states, and the Asian long-horned beetle now in Chicago and NewYork City, are just two recent examples ofserious foreign pests that have accidentlybecome established through our growingintercontinental commerce.

Biological control can sometimes also beemployed against native insect pests. Thetarnished plant bug (TPB) damages a widevariety of crops, such as berries, peaches,apples, lettuce, and beans. However, it hasno effective natural enemies on thesecrops in the U.S., probably because thesefood plants are not native to NorthAmerica. In contrast, a close relative, theEuropean tarnished plant bug, is parasit-ized heavily on crops in western Europe.After we established one of these smallEuropean parasitic wasps, Peristenusdigoneutis, in New Jersey alfalfa, itgreatly reduced the TPB in this crop. This benefi-cial insect has subsequently flown into six addi-tional northeastern states, and is still spreading.

Recently, our cooperators in New Hampshire (Dr.Allen Eaton - see accompanying story, on page 14)and New York (Kelley Tilmon) have found P.digoneutis attacking the TPB in strawberry fields.We hope that future research will demonstrate thatthis wasp can suppress TPB numbers belowdamage thresholds on strawberries, and also onfruit and vegetable crops. If this occurs, it will be amajor breakthrough for fruit and vegetable grow-ers, especially organic farmers and home garden-ers.

Although biological control is not a “new” insectcontrol method, it is as effective and appropriatenow as it was 110 years ago. If public and legisla-tive support continue, researchers should findpermanent, natural solutions to many more of ourproblems with crop-feeding insects.

credit: USDA-ARS, Newark, DE

An introduced parasite, Peristenus digoneutis, attacking tarnished plant bug. The femaleparasite, a small wasp, injects an egg into a young plant bug. After it hatches, it will kill the

plant bug, preventing it from further feeding on crop plants, and from reproducing.


Alan T. EatonUniversity of New Hampshire Cooperative

Extensionand William H. Day

U.S.D.A Beneficial Insects Research Laboratory,Newark DE

Tarnished plant bug is a serious pest of strawber-ries in the northeast. It also attacks tree fruit,flowers, alfalfa, and many other crops. The factthat it is a significant pest of alfalfa, and nativeparasites do not effectively control it in alfalfa, ledUSDA workers in forage crop biocontrol to searchfor foreign parasites. At the time that work on thisspecies was begun (1970’s) The USDA’s Europeanparasite laboratory was in a suburb of Paris.Workers there searched alfalfa fields and noticed aBraconid wasp, Peristenus digoneutis Loan. Itattacked the European tarnished plant bug, whichis a close relative of our pest. The braconid wascollected from Northern France and NorthernGermany. Before importing the insect to the US,USDA required that it first be determined that theparasite did not attack valuable insects here, andthat imported parasites be free of pathogens andhyperparasites. (Hyperparasites are parasites thatattack parasites), These hurdles were crossed, andpermission was granted to import the braconids.Bill Day successfully established the wasp inNorthern New Jersey in 1984. After demonstrat-ing that it was surviving well and showing highparasitism rates in the release sites (fields ofalfalfa), Bill began working on expanding its rangeand establishing colonies in other states. In 1990,Roy Van Driesche began working with Dr. Day, tointroduce the parasite to western Massachusetts.He and Jesse McCool released it in Amherst andDeerfield.

In 1991 R. Marcel Reeves and Alan Eaton beganworking with Bill, to introduce the parasite to NewHampshire. The procedures for these releases inNew England were basically the same. For TheNH releases, they contacted the State Entomolo-gist in the NH Department of Agriculture, andobtained forms to request bringing in the parasit-ized nymphs. After approval in Concord, USDAofficials reviewed and approved the permit. (Asbefore, officials want to screen applications forbringing in new species. They want to preventimportation of potential pests!) Marcel and Alanthen visited Bill Day’s New Jersey alfalfa plotsand used sweep nets to collect thousands ofparasitized tarnished plant bug nymphs. Withofficial permits in hand, they transported theparasitized TPB nymphs to New England andreleased them in alfalfa fields. The three NHreleases were on the Merrimack County farm, inBoscawen. Alfalfa fields were selected becausethe parasite was known to search alfalfa well, andTPB populations can be quite high in the crop.Thousands were released in Boscawen, but thewinter of 1991-2 was so severe that most of thealfalfa died. Presumably the parasites did poorly,too. The third NH release was made in 1992 andwe hoped for the best. Meanwhile, the parasitesurvived the Massachusetts introductions and wasconfirmed there in 1993. At the same time, Billand his co-workers found that the parasite hadspread from northern New Jersey into adjacentNew York and Pennsylvania.

Collecting the insects was quite challenging. Alanand Marcel waited until Bill indicated that condi-tions of TPB population, parasitism rate, andweather were favorable. Then they drove to NewJersey. In hot, dry weather they marched throughthe waist-high alfalfa, sweeping back and forthwith insect nets. Then they sat down and carefullyopened up the nets to transfer the fast moving (butdelicate) insects. It was crazy — insects werecrawling all over arms, legs and necks, trying toget away. Have you ever tried to work with alfalfaplant bugs walking up your neck? You had tocollect the correct species as quickly as possible,without harming them, or getting stung by bumblebees you happened to sweep up. You also had tokeep track of approximately how many youcollected. Then the insects had to be quicklytransferred to a cool, shady cooler with freshalfalfa. The entomologists swept until dark, thendrove to a motel. The next day they made the longdrive back to New England and carefully releasedthe insects.

Now, eight and nine years after our New Englandreleases, and 15 years after original establishmentin the U.S., the parasite is known from parts of 7states, and has reached the Canadian border in thevicinity of Lake Champlain. The probable rangeextends from the northern 1/3 of New Jersey andthe northeast corner of Pennsylvania, throughsoutheast New York and the Hudson andChamplain Valleys to Quebec. In New England itprobably occurs in most of Connecticut, most ofMassachusetts (we haven’t checked southeast orthe Cape Cod counties), and south of the WhiteMountains in New Hampshire, as well as southernVermont. We have not sampled much in otherparts of Vermont, nor in Maine, so we are unsure ifit is present there. Results of last summer’ssampling in northern New Hampshire will beknown about the time this issue of The NaturalFarmer appears in mailboxes.

In New Hampshire, the percentage of tarnishedplant bug nymphs that were parasitized by thewasp was much higher than we expected this earlyin its establishment. One (Strafford) alfalfa fieldhad over 35% parasitism! Three others had over15% parasitism. We are confident this parasitewill spread further north. Some of the spread upto now has been natural (helped by prevailingwinds), but doubtless some has been helped by thereleases in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

With the encouraging results from alfalfa in hand,Alan decided to begin checking strawberries in1998. No one had ever reported this speciessearching in strawberries, and significant parasit-ism of TPB nymphs in strawberries would be goodnews for strawberry growers. (It is common forparasitic insects to search well in certain plants,and not search at all in other plant species.) In1998 Alan and his student collected hundreds ofTPB nymphs from 6 NH strawberry fields. Sweepnets would have ruined the fruit, so instead ofusing sweep nets, they used white UNH frisbees.By tapping the clusters of immature fruit into thefrisbees, the TPB nymphs were dislodged. Thenthey could be quickly picked up with an aspirator,without harm. Shipped in coolers via overnightmail to Dr. Day’s lab, they were held for emer-gence of the parasites.

Preliminary data are encouraging. With some ofthe data still not in, we have found the parasite in 4of the 6 strawberry beds where we collected TPBnymphs. Parasitism was 55% in one site, and wefound the parasite in strawberry fields that were

Biological Control of TarnishedPlant Bug in the Northeast

photo by Alan EatonDr. Reeves collecting parasitized TPB nymphs in New Jersey.

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rS u m m e r , 1 9 9 9 15

well removed from the nearest alfalfa. We evenrecovered some in strawberry beds that had beentreated with chemical insecticides. We are nowplanning our summer activities for 1999, to allowus to learn more. Meanwhile, researchers KellyTilmon and Michael Hoffmann of Cornell Univer-sity are looking at a new way of detecting parasit-ism by this braconid, using molecular biologytechniques.

While the work continued on determining therange and effectiveness of the parasite, Alan beganmeasuring how much TPB damage occurred inNH strawberries. The average incidence for 1997& 8 was slightly over 7% of the fruits showinginjury (some fields showed nearly half of the fruitdamaged). Losses were projected to be about$300/Acre. Most of these plantings (16 of the 17measured in 1998 for example) were not onorganic farms. We will see if TPB injury begins togo down in future seasons.

It is our hope that the parasite will become abun-dant enough to significantly reduce TPB popula-tions here, just as has occurred in northern NJalfalfa fields. Recent years’ data in apple orchardssuggest that TPB damage has been a bit lower inNew England, but it is too soon to be sure if thetrend is real, or what the cause(s) may be. Unfor-tunately, we haven’t been measuring damage instrawberries long enough to see if this is happen-ing there. Eventually we may see less damage toour strawberries, apples, peaches, flowers andother crops. Perhaps tarnished plant bugs won’t beas significant a threat to strawberry growers in thefuture. Then we could all enjoy the fruits of ourlabors, so to speak.

photo by Alan Eaton

Dr. Reeves using an aspirator to collect TPB nymphs from his sweep net.

Known and possible spread of Peristenus digoneutis, as of June 1997. The circled dateshows the location and year when this parasite was first found to be established in NorthAmerica. Uncircled dates show when the parasite was first collected in the county. Years

within the range line depict the probable dispersion by that year.


by Mike Cherim

The Starting Point

I had never even heard of biological pest control -at least not in the sense it is known today - until Igot into this industry back in 1992. In fact I knewvery little about pest control; any pest control.Back then my company was known as The GreenSpot Greenhouse & Nursery and we specialized inthe propagation, development and retail marketingof culinary herb plants. Not surprisingly (as herbsare very popular), we were doing pretty well. Afterall, I had had years of experience growing herbsfor my family’s own use in our vast herb andvegetable gardens. When I started the herb busi-ness, I simply erected a greenhouse and grew morethan usual.

Now you’re probably wondering how on earth Iwas able to grow herbs successfully without agood, working knowledge of pest control. (Justlucky, I guess.) Well, I can think of two validreasons for this: many culinary herbs are not proneto pests; and Mother Nature did the dirty work forme. You know what they say - ignorance is bliss. Iused the same techniques I had always used:manure for fertilizer, flick bugs off of plants, fightweeds by hand (always), etc. Not very scientific orprofessional, but effective all the same. Ah,ignorance was my savior. However, I didn’t evenknow that at the time. So, trying to be a smart,proactive businessman, I contacted the experts tosolicit their pest control wisdom. (To protect the“experts” from some degree of embarrassment, I’llrefrain from using their names.)

Collectively they said, and I quote, “Whatchagrowin’?”“Herbs,” I replied.Their sage advice: “Herbs, ayuh. Not much ya canspray with herbs ya know.”“Thanks guys. Thanks a lot. I’m outa here.”And so my quest began.

I started poring through books, magazine articles,pamphlets and catalogs. Ironically, they all seemedto say the same thing: “Not much ya can spraywith herbs ya know.” Until one day when I saw anad that said that you could “fight bugs with bugs.”Well, I thought, that’s different; I called thenumber and asked for more information.

About a week later I received a vaguely descrip-tive price sheet in the mail. The information waslacking, but the timing was right. I was starting toget some fungus gnats (because I started usingsoilless media on the advice of another expert -which, of course, as we know but cannot prove, isthe main source of fungus gnats in greenhouses). Idecided to order some bugs which were supposedto eat fungus gnat larvae.

Two days later they came. It was an extremelycold winter day and the UPS guy came to the doorwith a cardboard box. In the box was a bottle offrozen vermiculite, a crumpled sheet of newspaperand an invoice for over fifty dollars. I was prettysure the bugs were dead. I called the supplier andsaid so. Their reply: “No they’re not.” I let it go. Ifigured it was time to see what other suppliers hadto offer.

It took a while - it was pre-world wide web - but Ifound another bug supplier. I asked for a catalog,price list or whatever other information they mightbe able to provide. To my surprise an entirepackage of materials arrived in my mailbox. Itdidn’t contain much in the way of technicalinformation, but I now had marketing materialsgalore and a dealer price list. It was an opportu-nity, I saw, to start selling biological pest controlsto the local market. And all it took was a nice ad ina local newspaper to realize the potential of thisnew product line. The response was a bit over-whelming.

After one year of selling bugs locally to mygreenhouse clientele - and watching my wife andkids go to the beach on hot summer weekendswhile I was stuck at the greenhouse waiting forcustomers - I decided enough was enough. Thebug business became a full-time (Monday throughFriday) avocation. The greenhouse we kept. Mywife wanted to use it for starting plants in thespring; I felt it was an ideal test-bed for develop-ing my practical knowledge of my company’s newline. The Green Spot, Ltd.’s Department of Bio-Ingenuity was born.

Continuing Growth

Upon entering this unique industry I knew I had toidentify its various peculiarities. My first, andprobably most important, observation was thedifficulty of obtaining decent, nonconflictinginformation from the various manufactures of thebiocontrol products I was going to offer. Not justfor my customers, but for myself as well (theworst kind of salesman is an ignorant one). Icontacted producer after producer, distributor afterdistributor, dealer after dealer, and, as I’m fond ofsaying, the price sheets flowed in with the regular-ity of the Bay of Fundy’s tide. Solid information,however, was eluding me. Finally I hit pay-dirtand found a really informed producer that gave mea disassembled skeleton of facts, strategies andprotocols. I assembled the pieces and joined themwith the data I had already found. Moreover, inconcert with the practical knowledge and customerfeedback I gained, I was ready to produce a decentcatalog of information - mostly for my company’suse while on the telephone with the inquiringminds that called (and call) our office on a regularbasis.

Other industry oddities included the fact that wewere shipping a product which was potentiallydifficult to obtain and get to the user in goodshape. Unlike other products, biocontrol agentscouldn’t be simply taken out of inventory andshipped by the Pony Express in a corrugated box -with or without a crumpled sheet of newspaper.However, as I developed close ties to some of theindustry’s finest producers and biocontrol minds -which, unfortunately for them, did not include theoriginal producer who sold me fifty dollars offrozen bugs, or the distributor which sent us themarketing kit which started it all - I learned how todeal with these problems in an effective andrealistic manner.

The catalog of information became very popular(it was also a catalog of products) as most folkswho called had questions, not answers. So popular,in fact, that giants such as Amazon.com andBarnes and Noble book stores still sell our 1998edition of the Green Methods Manual, which isour current apex of effort. It’s not a money-makerfor anyone - including The Green Spot - but itscontent fills the industry’s information void nicely.

The Way It Works

Other peculiarities had to do with the use of theproducts and not so much with the marketing ofthe wares. Unlike conventional, chemical means ofcontrolling pests, biocontrols were (and still are)best applied before the pests rear their ugly heads.This takes a real discipline: a preemptive mind set,not a reactive one. Old dogs, new tricks. You getthe picture. And then there’s the Latin names.Whew!

Biocontrol isn’t just something you up and do. Itactually requires some pre-planning. As I guess itshould, even before you go out there and spraysome unpronounceable chemicals, too. You shoulddevise a strategy or game plan of sorts - nothingscientific, but functional and understandable to theuser. And, one of the most important things, youhave to scout. No. Not just scout. You have toknow your crop. (When I first started writing thisparagraph I thought I was describing biocontrol;now, however, I realize I’m talking about all pestcontrol practices.)

It is for these reasons that I felt our marketingmaterials should be of the informative variety. Notinformative as in Infomercial, but in the truersense of the word. My frustration, at the onset, wasdue largely to the lack of information. Here I hadpeople [read: vendors] real keen [read: rubbingtheir hands together] on the idea of my greenhouseand nursery operation [read: customer] trying outthis stuff [read: spending money], without provid-ing me with the knowhow to make it all be worth-while [read: cost-effective and willing to be arepeat customer]. It’s not really fair. For chemicalsthe data was undeniably available for the asking,yet for biocontrol a single datum could be asdifficult to extract as a bum tooth. Fortunately, thebug industry seems to be gaining respectability asanswers are finally being dispensed to the peoplewith the questions. I hope my company had,through the spirit of competition, a little something

The Metamorphosis of aBiocontrol Business

photo courtesy Mike Cherim

I spend a lot of time looking at people’s pests to help them identiufy them.


to do with the turn around. I’d like to think we seta good example, anyway.

I felt that it made good marketing sense to uncoveras much dirt on biocontrol as I could... bad dirt aswell as good. To be honest and to employ as muchintuitive common-sense as possible, as well as thenecessary science. Moreover, I felt obligated to mycustomers. I felt it was [and feel it is] my responsi-bility to do my very best. From a sales standpointit was a given. Treat the customer right, andempower him or her with everything necessary tosucceed at biocontrol, and they’ll come back andtell us of their triumph. They can become repeatcustomers and reap the bounty of the practice.And, at The Green Spot: we can create jobs, enjoya prosperous future, and help other customers withour ever-expanding base of knowledge.

Who’s Doing It?

I thought the certified organic set would be thebulk of our customer base when I first started TheGreen Spot’s Department of Bio-Ingenuity. That,however, proved to be in error. The largest follow-ing came from the conventional greenhousegrowers, initially. I thought it was ironic at first.Later I came to realize that nobody likes to spray.Basically it could be said that many of our custom-ers are nothing more than a bunch of hard-workingbusiness people who love their jobs in horticultureand are just trying to make ends meet with theleast possible hassles and expense.

Also ranking in high numbers in our database areinteriorscapers. It really isn’t surprising. Thesefolks install and maintain plants, shrubs and treesin buildings; and go figure, these buildings oftenhave people in them - many of which may not likethe idea of pesticides in the building (most don’tthink about it, though, unless they can smellthem). Interiorscapers are also limited to a certainextent in the selection of chemicals registered foruse in public buildings. It’s one of the EPA’s manyways of looking out for the masses. Biocontrolsare exempt.

Colleges and universities, public institutions,botanical gardens, zoos, amusement parks andmuseums make up another very large portion ofour database. For some pretty obvious reasons.The rest is brought together with the likes of vast-acreage farmers, certified organic growers andhome gardeners. About one-fifth of our customersare right here with us in New England. Andcontrary to what some folks may think, NewEngland growers embrace biocontrol and IPMwith the same zeal that I see around the country.

And How Are We Doing?

Our customer-retention rate is extremely high -I’m talkin’ as high as ninety-percent. It might bedue to our early positioning as a company in theknow - the one with the info. It might be due toother factors. Biocontrol and IPM being so heavilyin the news certainly must have a huge impact. Itcould be attributed to any number of things whichmake any company a good company. I alwayswant to treat my customers as I like to be treatedwhen I’m about to spend some of my hard-earnedmoney (even if I’m not spending it at the time, sayI’m just looking for help). You know, that GoldenRule thing. I must confess - and I can probablyspeak for others - I’m a frustrated consumer

nowadays. If I hear “...in an ongoing effort toimprove customer service we have created a brandnew menu from which you may choose... yah-da,yah-da, da,” on the telephone one more time Ithink I’ll scream. In an ongoing effort to improvethings? I wish they’d just pick up the phone!

Another strong possibility our customers keepcoming back for more is they have the success thatmakes sense without having to consider intangiblefactors such as “it’s good for the earth” or other“environmental and health stuff,” not that thesefactors don’t bear significance, but withouttangible successes, the latter means little to thebusiness person. I’m talking about the I-can-do-this-and-still-pay-the-help type success. Laborsavings has always been a big plus for biocontrol.The act of spraying can be very expensive. Releas-ing biological agents is much less demanding onthe clock; it can turn hours into minutes.

I figure eighty-some-odd percent of our customersreport generally positive results. Not all the time.They all seem to have their ups and downs. Andremember the remaining twenty-some-odd per-cent. Are they complete and dismal failures? No.Many, actually most, keep pluggin’ right along.Some, right now, are coping with the failure of thechemicals they went back to when biocontrolssupposedly let them down. Some people shouldn’tbe growers - it’s not in the cards for them. Onlyabout thirty-some-odd percent of our customersreport consistently exceptional results. It’s likethey’re charmed or something. The rest are in themiddle-ground: successful enough to see the pointof it all.

The Biocontrol Future

As was said before: information is paramount andthe industry is rushing in to fill what’s left of thevoid. Bug people from coast-to-coast are reallystarting to meet the needs of their customers’. Andbecause of this, more and more people will be ableto enjoy the very-obvious and not-so-obviousbenefits of these biocontrol and IPM practices, orgreen methods as I’ve always liked to call them.The biocontrol industry didn’t create the market soit stands to reason that some sectors seem a littleslow to open up and make this practice a userfriendly one (or, perhaps, even take the time tounderstand it themselves), especially since somany people are screaming for it. Expect hugeindustry improvements in the next five to tenyears.

Consumers’ knowledge is building; which is aresult of the work of communication’s networks,and political and environmental organizationsaround the world - their urgent and pleadingmessages are being heard, slightly, but moreclearly than ever before. And in reaction to thisknowledge-building, the consumers are absorbedinto the very masses, however small in reality,which are in protest. Their numbers build, andforced into submission are powerful entities likethe Environmental Protection Agency. The EPAthen initiates and directs legislation responsive tothe outcries of said masses. In other words theybegin revoking the approved usage registrations ofmaterials currently in favor but which are sus-pected of causing irreparable damage to people,wildlife and the environment which allows ourexistence. For many folks this is not happeningquickly enough, but it is in the works. For those of

you who were lost at this paragraph and think it isnot factual, I understand your disbelief andfrustration, and I believe we do take a step backfor two steps forward but, nevertheless, it isprogress.

As pests become more resistant and chemicalsbecome more ineffectual, the list of grower-approved materials dwindles, the need for alterna-tives proportionally swells. Chemicals, pathogenicfungi and bacteria, some botanicals, as well asother things - including biological agents - becomenew and improved. I’m glad to see that manychemicals manufacturers, regardless of their truemotive(s) [read: money], are already embracingthe popularity of beneficials (perhaps even con-firming the need) as is exhibited in much of theiradvertising: “safe on beneficials,” etc., etc. Nowall we need are to have any resistant-to-changegrowers out there to either start learning the newtricks coming their way or get back to basics likesquashing bugs by hand. This is not just myopinion, though. They’re going to have to adapt asthe conventional knock’em dead chemicals arebecoming the disallowed alternative or last resortitems, and the alternatives become conventional.

A Bug Guy’s Thoughts

Change has been happening since mankind’sbeginning, especially so in the twentieth century.The reaction to the automobile was probablynegative in the minds of many, at first. They wereclumsy, dirty and noisy - “Durn them newfangledcontraptions. Whar’s muh hoss ‘n’ buggy?” Wouldyou have said that? I probably would have, at first,anyway. I easily slipped into biocontrol as agrower as I had no bad growing habits or precon-ceived notions - yet. Remember, I was blissfullyignorant to it all, and it’s a good thing ‘cause I’mfairly resistant to change. I know, because itbothers me that some rich guy named Bill hasdecided that I have to suffer through anothercomputer and software upgrade because theydidn’t make it good enough the first time... everythree years! I was perfectly content with VersionA, now I can’t live without Version B. But do Ireally have to spend another five grand on VersionC?! I’m too young to upgrade. Change, forgive mefor saying, sucks. But the new stuff is so cool.

Remember the rotary dial phone? Oops! I’m sorry,you still have one. I did not know. You will gowith a push-button phone someday. E-mail,computers, etc., etc., etc., you will, you all will.We have to, we all have to, eventually. Death,taxes and change - all are inevitable. WWWhat areyou waiting for? Biocontrol and integrated pestmanagement? Some day, perhaps, you will do thattoo. Upgrade today! Constantly having to learn.The benefit? Some of the new things are betterthan the old things. (More than likely, someoneprobably said this of chemical pesticides whenthey made their first appearance.) Even though thisthinking has taken us back a couple of times, thegeneral movement might just yet be forward.Though we should be careful not to repeat ourstupid mistakes of yesterday (the way some of thenew agri-technology seems to be doing).

Summary

Learn biocontrol and IPM today so you can teachyour kids tomorrow - empower them. Embrace thechange so it doesn’t run you over and leave youwith nothing you can spray when you need help.Rotate your crops. Learn the internet. Use covercrops. Learn words like biorational (it comes outof a sprayer). Someday you’ll put the chemicalsnext to the 8-track tapes and buggy whips.

The future of biocontrol looks pretty good. Thebeneficials have been tested and approved by theUSDA to prevent the occurrence of our good bugsbecoming bad bugs - so we don’t make stupidassumptions, again. The consumer wants this stuff,and so do many growers (with more wanting itevery day). The chemical companies are develop-ing new stuff all the time which is safer foreverything. Biocontrol companies are candidlymaking their products more approachable, andsuccessful because of it. The future looks realgood, and if we can survive the recent past andpresent, we may be a part of it.

Well. Gotta go water the computer, sonny.

photo courtesy Mike Cherim

Speaking with our customers is often like chatting with good friends.


By Bob Chianese

Since the 1930s, the New Jersey Department ofAgriculture (NJDA) has used beneficial insects tohelp control the state’s pest insect and weedproblems. Within NJDA’s Division of PlantIndustry, the Bureau of Biological Pest Controlworks toward several goals by raising and field-releasing beneficial insects. These goals include:* reducing plant pest damage to agricultural cropsand forests;* protecting natural and renewable resources;* testing new biological control technologies; and* developing and improving techniques used toraise large quantities of beneficial insects so thatbiological control programs can be implementedand expanded.

One obvious benefit of biological control is that itreduces pesticide applications, thereby reducingthe amount of chemicals accumulating in ground-water and soil and avoiding the development ofresistance to the pesticide by the targeted pest.

Other benefits that are not as obvious includelong-term or permanent control of a pest byestablishing a natural predator. Moreover, thebeneficial insects released by NJDA attack aspecific pest species, unlike many less selectivechemical controls which often affect a widevariety of insects, both friend and foe. Biologicalcontrols almost always save the landowner moneyby reducing the cost of insect and weed pestcontrols.

Many of New Jersey’s pest problems are the resultof the introduction of foreign pest species into theUnited States. Many of these species were notconsidered a problem in the country of originbecause they were kept under control by a com-plex of natural enemies. Free of predation by theirnatural foes, these imported pests can multiplyunhindered.

USDA’s Agriculture Research Service and otherresearchers have the challenging responsibility ofidentifying the pest’s natural enemies, determiningwhich species show the most promise for control-ling the pest in the United States and bringingthose beneficial insects to this country to bereleased against the pest.

These foreign beneficial insects are carefullyscreened before introduction into this country toensure that they themselves will not become pests.After the beneficial insects have been approved forrelease into the United States, NJDA can requestthose that are parasites and predators of specificpests found here in the Garden State. NJDA staffat the beneficial insect laboratory develop mass

rearing techniques to increase the population ofbeneficial insects and field-release them at theappropriate time against the pest population.

NJDA’s current biological control programsinclude a cooperative project with the New JerseyDepartment of Environmental Protection (NJDEP)raising two leaf-feeding beetles that eat purpleloosestrife, an exotic, aggressive, fresh waterwetland plant which is displacing the state’s nativeplants. The disruption of the wetlands ecosystem,in turn, affects the survival of many animalsdependent on that ecosystem. Under the NaturalResource Conservation Service’s Wildlife HabitatIncentive Program, coordinated with NJDEP,NJDA’s beneficial insect laboratory will releasethe beetles in threatened habitat that is home toendangered bog turtles.

Another NJDA beneficial insect program involvesthe laboratory production of a ladybug importedfrom Japan which is being released in the state’snatural hemlock stands to control an Asian insectpest, the hemlock woolly adelgid, that is killingthe hemlock trees. Biological control is the onlypractical way of controlling this pest in naturalstands.

Because NJDA’s beneficial insect laboratory hasdeveloped a successful mass rearing technique and

New Jersey Department of Agriculture’sBiological Pest Control Program

is the only laboratory mass producing the benefi-cial beetle, NJDA has entered into a cooperativeagreement with the USDA Forest Service tosupply the ladybug to other northeastern states. Inexchange, the Forest Service will supply fundingsupport to NJDA’s hemlock program.

Two other biological control programs includeproduction of two parasites and a small predatorbeetle that eat euonymus scale, a pest that feeds ona variety of ornamental euonymus plants, andproduction of a small wasp which kills Mexicanbean beetle (MBB), a pest of soybeans, snapbeans,and lima beans.

The MBB control program is so successful that ithas all but eliminated the need for chemicaltreatment of over 100,000 acres of soybeans. Ithas also considerably reduced the amount ofpesticides required for treatment of the pest insnap and lima beans. This program, partiallyfunded by the New Jersey Soybean Board, savessoybean growers over $300,000 a year in pesticideapplication costs and has eliminated the need forthe annual application of approximately 80,000pounds of pesticide. Unfortunately, the MBBparasite cannot survive New Jersey winters so itmust be maintained in the laboratory throughoutthe year and released each summer.

The laboratory has established the predatorybeetle, that eats euonymus scale, in the southernpart of New Jersey, but the parasites have not beenrecovered. Evaluation of the beetle release siteshas demonstrated the beetles’ ability to reduce thepest population to a tolerable level. Future releasesof both the predator and parasites will be made inCentral and North Jersey in an effort to establishthe species throughout the state.

NJDA is trying to assess public interest in purchas-ing the bean beetle parasite, euonymus scalepredator beetle and beetles that feed on purpleloosestrife, all of which will be available to thepublic in the future. For additional information,contact Robert Chianese at 609-530-4192. Fundsgenerated from the sale of these beneficial insectswill support NJDA programs.

photo courtesy NJDA

Pediobius foveolatus, larval parasite of Mexican Bean Beetle

photo courtesy NJDACollecting Cybocephalus


by Eric Toensmeier

Beneficial insects are an increasingly importantbiological pest control in organic and IntegratedPest Management (IPM) systems. Many large-scale commercial operations spend money to havebeneficials shipped in. It is possible to greatlyincrease the population of beneficial insects inyour farm or garden by planting certain kinds offlowers which are attractive to them. Many ofthese plants are either common wildflowers orpotential low-maintenance, perennial crops. Thesespecies are known as insectary plants.

“Benefical insects” here refers to two types ofinsects. Predatory Insects catch and eat pests.Syriphid flies, also known as hover flies, are anexample. Their larvae devour large numbers ofaphids. Parisitoid Insects lay their eggs in the eggs,larvae, or adults of pests. When the parisitoid’seggs hatch, the young devour the pest. One wellknown group of parisitoids are the tiny wasps ofthe genus Trichogramma, which lay their eggs incaterpillars.

Many beneficial insects need nectar from flowersto fuel their search for prey. Unlike bees andbutterflies, however, their mouthparts are not builtto get nectar from most flowers - instead, they arebuilt for eating other insects. They are only able tovisit certain kinds of flowers, which have adpoteda strategy of generalist pollination. In other words,these flowers are able to be pollinated by a widevariety of insects lacking specialized pollinatormouthparts.

Foremost among these flowers are those in theApiaceae, or carrot/parsley family. They used to beknown as the Umbelliferae, because they haveflowers in umbels, clusters of smaller flowers.Queen Anne’s Lace is a classic (biennial) exampleof this family. The Apiaceae are unsurpassed invalue to beneficial insects. This family alsofeatures many edible, medicial, and ornamentalplants, such common crops as dill, carrots, pars-nips, celery, parsley, cilantro, and many more.Unfortunately, there are also some species whichare deadly poisinous, and they all are very difficultto tell from one another.

The Asteraceae, or Composite family, are alsoimportant to beneficials. Many other plants are aswell, including many mints and flowering onions -this is an area in need of much research. We haveprepared a listing of species that through researchor personal observation are known to attractbeneficials.

You can use the chart below to make sure youalways have some insectary plants blooming. Thiswill ensure a steady population of predators andparasitoids. There are many more insectary species- in fact, the Asteraceae and Apiaceae are amongthe largest plant families in the world. Considerplanting strips or islands of low-maintenanceinsectary plants scattered throughout your yard,garden, or orchard. Many of the plants listedbelow also have commerical value, as food crops,medicinals, culinary herbs, or cut flowers. Existingpopulations of insectary plants like goldenrods orasters can be managed to provide food forbeneficials. The challenge lies in finding early-blooming insectary species (the chart lists anumber of these early-flowering species).

Insectary plants are an important strategy forperennial polycultures, (mixed plantings ofperennials and woody plants). Rows or clumps ofinsectary species in fruit and nut orchards couldsupport higher populations of benefical insects,while also providing a commercial crop them-selves. When also interplanted with nitrogen fixingperennials, mineral accumulating plants, andweed-suppressing groundcovers, fertilizer, weedcontrol, and pest control, a diverse and productiveagroecosystem can be created.

This article is adapted from the forthcomingEdible Forest Gardens; A Delicious and PracticalEcology, which goes into much greater detail ondesign for ecological pest management and lists

many more species.

Perennial, Cold-Hardy InsectaryPlants with Flowering Times

genus & species common flowering family other uses

Achillea millefolium Yarrow June-Sept Aster medicinalAllium tuberosum Garlic Chives July-Aug Onion edible, cut flowerAntennaria spp. Pussy Toes April-June Aster groundcoverAnthriscus sylvestris Woodland Chervil May-Aug Parsley edibleAster spp. Asters Aug-Oct Aster native wildflowersCeanothus americana New Jersey Tea June Buckthorn nitrogen fixerChrysogonum virginianum Green and Gold April-June Aster native groundcoverCoreopsis spp. Coreopsis, Tickseed June-Sept Aster groundcoverCornus stolonifera Red Osier Dogwood May-June Dogwood native ornamentalCryprotaenia canadensis Honewort June-Sept Parsley native wild edibleCryptotaenia japonica Mitsuba June-Sept Parsley culinaryEchinacea purpurea Purple Coneflower July-Oct Aster medicinalEupatorium perfoliatum Boneset July-Sept Aster medicinalEupatorium purpureum Joe Pye Weed July-Sept Aster medicinalFoeniculum vulgare Fennell July-Sept Parsley culinaryGaillardia spp. Blanket Flower June-Aug Aster ornamentalHelianthus spp. Perennial Sunflowers Aug-Oct Aster native wildflowersHelianthus tuberosum Jerusalem Artichoke Sept-Oct Aster edible tubers, cult.Inula helenium Elecampagne July-Sept Aster medicinalLevisticum officinale Lovage May-July Parsley culinary, medicinalMentha spp. Mints July-Sept Mint culinary, medicinalMyrrhis odorata Sweet Cicely June-Aug Parsley culinaryOriganum vulgare Oregano July-Sept Mint culinaryPanax quinquefolium American Ginseng April-July Ginseng medicinalPycnanthemum spp. Mountain Mint June-July Mint teaSambucus canadensis Elderberry June-July Honeysuckle cooked fruit, flower teaSenecio spp. Ragwort, Groundsel April-June Aster medicinalSolidago spp. Goldenrods Aug-Oct Aster wildflowerSolidago odora Sweet Goldenrod July-Oct Aster delicious teaTanacetum parthenium Feverfew July-Sept Aster medicinalThymus spp. Thyme June-July Mint culinaryTussilago farfara Coltsfoot April-May Aster medicinalViburnum trilobum Highbush Cranberry May-June Honeysuckle fruit (poor), ornamentalZizia aptera Heart Leaved Alexanders April-June Parsely native wildflower

Perennial Insectary Plants in Agroecosystems


by Jack Kittredge

The gentle climate of Boston, moderated bycloseness to the ocean, extends a few milesnorthwest to the historic town of Concord. There,practically in the shadow of Old North Bridgewhere the yeoman farmers of New England beganthe Revolutionary War, John and Gordon Bemisoperate Hutchins Farm. Yeoman are almost as rarehereabouts as redcoats now, but the Bemis broth-ers grew up with farming in their blood.

“My mother’s grandfather bought this place ahundred years ago”, says Gordon. “He was aminister who was getting ready to retire, so hebought this farm. My grandfather ran it as a dairyfarm. My father didn’t want to continue, so mygrandfather eventually quit when dairies had to goto cement floors.


Gordon Bemis shows the protective packag-ing in which the encarsia are shipped

“My brother and I got interested in farming afterwe were in college and headed toward othercareers. My brother was in architecture school. Iwas bound for civil engineering.”


Encarsia come in egg cases attached tosmall cards which are to be hung among

the tomatoes

Hutchins Farm raises and sells a full line oforganic vegetables and fruit at one of the bestknown farmstands in the area. As is true of mostfarmstand operations in the northeast, one of the

most important crops is tomatoes. Because of theirclimate, Hutchins gets early tomatoes, but Bemisneeds to assure a steady supply of ripe tomatoesthroughout the season to keep his customerscoming.

In order to harvest tomatoes from early June untilfield tomatoes ripen at the end of July, the brothersrely on their greenhouses. Ground heat runsbeneath the beds to warm the soil, and earlyvarieties like Buffalo and Cobra are planted.

But when you raise crops — especially tropicalones like tomatoes — in the same spot year afteryear, you tempt nature. Lots of critters are vyingfor those sweet, energy-rich juices besides homosapiens.

“We had a real disaster with white flies 3 or 4years ago”, recalls Bemis. “I sprayed some Saferssoap, but they just got worse. When we finishedwith them in July, it was just a disgusting graymess in here. So I went to Mike Cherim (owner ofThe Green Spot, a biocontrol distributorship).”

Mike got Gordon started on a regular program ofreleases of Encarsia formosa to parasitize thewhite fly eggs. Ever since, the problem has beenunder control.


Bruce Bickford mists the bedding plants sothe lady bugs will be drawn out to drink.

“After that one infestation”, Gordon says, “I gotthese and they just handle it all! Now we doreleases on a contract basis. Encarsia were re-leased here 2 weeks ago, in late June. I don’t needthis one, but its easier to arrange them ahead.”

Hutchins FarmThe insects come in a special package. There areeggs on each of several cards, which are separatedand hung among the leaves. They begin to hatchright away. An Encarsia release cysts about $18,and occurs 5 or 6 times a year – a small price,Bemis believes, for the peace of mind they pro-vide.

In addition to the summer vegetables, HutchinsFarm does a reasonable spring business in seed-lings and potted herbs, flowers and perennials.Aphids in the greenhouse is the big problem withthese. Safers soap has been an effective control foraphids, but Bruce Bickford, farm manager, alsoreleases lady bugs from February through April.


Bruce opens the refrigerated bagof lady bugs.

“We keep a really close eye on the greenhouse inFebruary and March,” he stresses, “for any kind ofproblems in the propagation house. We just buysome lady bugs in advance and hold them in therefrigerator. When a problem arises you stick themout and they go to work. They’re ready to lay eggsand they just devour! They spread out and go towork on green aphids - fantastic. We get the firstones in February, the last ones might be in April.”

Lady bugs come in a little cloth bag and are storedin the refrigerator. They can be released just byshaking the bag over the plants. Bruce mists theplants first and the lady bugs are so thirsty theycome right out to drink. One bag costs $15 and lasttwo months, starting in the beginning of Februaryand used as needed.

Bickford does his releases in the evening, since hefound that lady bugs tend to get distracted by thelight and could fly away, out the (unscreened)greenhouse vents. He has had some luck gettingthe creatures to breed. In that case the plants areprotected until May. He has to tell customers toignore the larvae on the plants, however. Whilethey don’t look as attractive as the adults, hereminds them, larvae are the ones who can reallyeat!

The Bemis brothers have used other speciesbesides lady bugs and encarsia. They use nema-todes to control fungus gnats and are pretty happywith them, although Gordon thinks culturalpractices – not leaving things damp and control-ling the time of day of watering – work the best.They have also used trichogramma in the field,with some success, for corn ear worm and Euro-pean corn borer. They are not happy with whatlacewings have been able to do for them, buthighly praise bumblebees for pollination.


Here Gordon separates the cards


“Before the bumblebees,” says Gordon, “I justshook the tomatoes for pollination. But we hadsome problems and with the bumblebees I’d saywe get a 50% increase in fruit quality. Poor


To release lady bugs, simply sprinkle them over the plants.pollination leads to poor quality. When bumble-bees pollinate a blossom they really tear it toshreds. You can see they really got it!”

Like a Bumpon a Log

By Mike Cherim

Scale insects can give woody ornamental growersand interiorscapers a real headache. Not only arethey difficult to control, they defy it by beingdifficult to initially diagnose. In fact certain plants,due to the characteristics of their bark, look likethey have certain scale insects even when they donot.

Scale insects cover a large grouping of insectsfrom the order Hemiptera and sub-orderHomoptera (just like aphids and whiteflies). Thescale sub-order is divided into three distinctfamilies: Coccidae, Diaspididae andPseudocoddidae, commonly known as soft-scales,armored scales and mealybugs, respectively.

Soft scales, in general, are large (up to 1/8 inch).The females are covered – in their adult stage –with a hard body covering (which leads manypeople to believe they are armored scales). Theyproduce honeydew - a sticky, sugary excrementwhich may attract ants. Ants will harvest thehoneydew and provide some protection to thescales from natural enemies. Although the adultmales are winged, they are rarely seen. Thefemales, on the other hand, are seen as “bumps”which often resemble bark features in color andshape. Individuals in the immature “crawler” stageare often hidden by the female’s cover, but areusually more mobile as they seek out their finalfeeding spot. The crawlers of many species aremostly yellowish in color and upon close inspec-tion have working legs. It is common to notice thesheen of the dried honeydew first – before the antsare even noticed.

Armored scales, in general, are very small (downto .2mm). They, too, like their soft cousins, arecovered by a tough cover. The males are wingedand rarely seen, and the crawlers are similar to thesoft scales, just a lot smaller. One big difference isthat armored scales produce no honeydew. Thismakes them even more difficult to detect.

Mealybugs are distinctly different from other scaleinsects in that they lack the hard covering. Theadult males are also winged and rarely seen, andthe crawlers are very similar to those of softscales. Mealybugs also produce a lot of honeydewand attract ants, but otherwise they are, to mostpeople, not even considered a scale insect. Mealy-bugs are covered with a waxy coat which, liketheir cousins’ hard coverings, provide protection.Like many other scales, the eggs of many mealy-bug species are protected – often by a waxy,cottony substance instead of a shell. Some givelive birth, like aphids.

Control of most scale insects can be very difficultbecause of all the protective features characteristicof scales. Chemicals must be formulated topenetrate the hard coverings or repellant wax.Some scales have toxins in their saliva which willcause leaves to curl around them, protecting themeven more. Parasitic biological controls can bedifficult to use for scales because many arespecies-specific (so you must know exactly whatyou’re dealing with.) Horticultural oils can be usedsuccessfully if thoroughly applied so as to coat andsmother the insects. Use caution, though, ashorticultural oils, especially when applied heavily,can cause phytotoxicity in many plants.

So what’s the best cure? Detect scales early byscouting properly; hand apply oils and such; locatethe more susceptible crawlers and use soap andother physical products on them; use predatorybiological controls which care less about speciesand are more opportunistic; keep your plants cleanand healthy; and put your plants outside wheneverpossible to allow Mother Nature to take care ofHer own.

The Grower’s Question: When should predatorsbe introduced? Is it too late after an insect popula-tion has appeared? – a New Hampshire green-house grower

The Green Spot’s Answer: Predators, as thename suggests, prey on smaller or less capable,tasty organisms. (For example, a ladybug is apredator that feeds on aphids.) Taking this intoaccount, it is in the predator’s best interest to haveprey available when released into a situation.Therefore it is not too late. It is, however, often inthe grower’s best interest to release very early onin the infestation. Don’t wait until the pest popula-tions are massive. It may be too late to effectivelyand economically turn the situation around. Thislogic applies not only to biological pest control,but to any form of control, including that obtainedby chemicals.

Parasitoids (parasitic mini-wasps, etc.), on theother hand, since they respond more favorably tosmaller infestations, are often best used just prior

to the expected onset of a pest population. Theyare used preventively and during periods of verylight infestation (or to supplement any predatorson site), and should not be used, or expected, toturn around high pest numbers. Their “too late”comes much sooner than that of predators.

Questions submitted for publication should beaddressed to:The Green Spot, Ltd.Published Q & A93 Priest Rd.Nottingham, NH 03290-6204

Or submit by Email (putting “Published Q & A” inthe subject line) to:[email protected]

All questions will be answered, if not in a column,then by phone, so put your name, company, andphone number in the submission. Call 603-942-8925 for details.

Ask the Green Spot…


by Caroline Robinson

In April of 1993, we planted four rows of fallraspberries, each row being 250 feet in length. Theplanting consisted of approximately 1000 canes,spaced about 18" apart, in a three-foot wide rowwith hard fescue grass in the aisles. The hardfescue is an excellent row grass for bramblesbecause it is allelopathic (repels sucking insects),is extremely competitive with weeds, and does notspread rhyzomes (does not travel).

During that summer the plants were wateredfaithfully and fed with blood meal. We mulchedthe entire bed with a layer of horse bedding andanother of wood chips, and went into the winterconfident that the root stock would spread belowground and send up plenty of new shoots thefollowing spring.

In March of 1994 we added a layer of seaweed tothe mulch, on a nurseryman’s theory that raspber-ries like “the more mulch the better”. In April theygot 4 ounces/plant of ProStart, and we enteredMay confident that they were ready to sprout scadsof healthy shoots.

But that year, according to Stan Swier, UNHCooperative Extension Entomologist, a massiveinflux of black cutworm moths flew in from theSouth on the warm April winds and deposited eggseither in the mulch or on the nearby fescue aisles.The eggs must have found perfect conditions inthese richly mulched rows because by early June,when the larvae were between 1 and 2 inches long,they devoured all of our new shoots before theshoots had even emerged from the ground. All thatdid emerge were stalks with no leaf buds.

Once the problem was identified, we were advisedto rake off all the mulch and destroy it. This initself was a massive, difficult and unpleasant job.The process further injured the shoots because theseaweed had hardened into a continuous crust. Butit did expose many white cutworm grubs andhelped to solidify our diagnosis of the problem.Stan, who has much experience with cutworms ingolf course settings, recommended that we try anapplication of beneficial nematodes to parasitizethe grubs. At that point we were ready to tryanything short of chemicals.

Beneficial nematodes are microscopic, translucentroundworms, about the size of dust mites, whichfeed on a variety of garden pests. The list of hostscovers some 250 species, among which are thelarvae or pupae of cutworms, sod webworms,mole crickets, citrus root weevils, strawberry rootweevils, black vine weevil, iris borers, cabbageroot maggots, billbugs, fly maggots, gnat larvae,termites, wireworms, Japanese and Orientalbeetles, and some species of thrips’ pupae, all ofwhich travel close to the lawn and garden surface.Beneficial nematodes do not harm plants orhealthy earthworms. They are extremely useful tothe organic grower because, being exempt fromEPA registration, they are classified as a beneficialorganism, not a pesticide. In addition, they areresistant to many chemicals and have the ability tosurvive in soil temperatures of 32-90½F. Growerstreating their soil chemically for root-knot nema-tode cannot use the beneficial nematodes, as theywill be killed along with the target population.

There are two varieties of beneficial nematodescommercially available, each of which has its own

strategy. Steinernema carpocapsae=feltiae (Sc)tends to stay closer to the surface of the soil,waiting to ambush. It stands on its “tail” sensingthe surrounding soil for slight variations in tem-perature, carbon dioxide and methane gas trailsleft by its host-to-be. Since it doesn’t movearound, it is best at ambushing mobile grubs. If itlocks on a scent, it can travel a short distance andlie in wait or actually leap to it. The Steinernemathen enters the host larva through an existingorifice such as the mouth, anus, wound or spiracles(little breathing holes on its sides.) Once inside, itsheds its encapsulating protective cuticle andbegins feeding, defecating and reproducing. In itsfecal material there lives a symbiotic bacteriumwhich poisons the host’s blood and kills it within16-24 hours. If several nematodes enter at onetime, they all begin feeding at the same time, andreproduce sexually for several generations beforetheir food supply is exhausted. At this time thegrub disintegrates and a whole cloud of nematodesexits the host into the soil, having multiplied to apopulation of some 200,000 within 7-10 days!

The second variety is Heterorhabditisheliothidis=bacteriophora (Hb). This species ishighly mobile and searches out its prey by trans-porting itself at the rate of about an inch per houron a film of moisture. When the Heterorhabditisfinds a larva or pupa, it penetrates its soft sidewalltissue, and proceeds in the same manner as theSteinernema, with only a few differences. TheHeterorhabditis is asexually reproductive, so onlyone member is required to reproduce. The lastgeneration to parasitize the host does the job inabout 10-21 days, and leaves with the samepopulation size as the Steinernema, roughly200,000 strong.

Gardens Alive (812-537-8650) sells their ownstrain of Heterorhabditis called Grub-Away. Theirprices range from $13.90 (for a package of 5million) to $86.75 (for a package of 50 million.)Gardens Alive recommends using 10 millionnematodes for 600 square feet.

Green Methods (603-942-8925) recommendsusing only 1 million per 2,000 square feet, whichis a “hugely “ lower concentration than recom-mended by most others, because Green Methods isvery confident that their nematodes will arrivealive. They sell both species of nematodes as wellas a combination of the two. Their price for theseparate species ranges from $11.88 per million to$95.55 for 25 million. For the combination, theycharge $11.88 per million to $358.02 for 250million and up.

In the case of the cutworm problem in our rasp-berry bed, we elected to use the Green Methodscombination approach, as our situation was direand we were not sure how many or which kinds ofgrubs were causing the damage. In consultationwith Mike Cherim at Green Methods, we decidedto treat our rows for eight weeks, with the follow-ing program: week 1: Hb, week 2: Sc, week 3:nothing, week 4: Hb, week 5: Sc, week 6: nothing,week 7: Hb, week 8: Sc. We ordered separatepackages of 1 million each to treat 2000 squarefeet. (The packages are kept in the refrigeratoruntil use.)

The nematodes arrive on a sponge, which getsthoroughly soaked in a gallon of room tempera-ture, non-chlorinated water. This produces a gallonof nematode concentrate. The application processis extremely specific. The soil must be very moistbefore application, because the nematodes travelinto the soil on a film of water. (It is thereforeideal to apply them after a good rain.) The easiestway to deliver them is to water them in with ahose-end sprayer from which all screens and filtershave been removed. Backpack application is finefor a smaller square footage. The nematodes willdie if left in solution more than two hours, so thereis an urgency to the whole process. Finally, it iscritical to do it in the evening because the nema-

todes are very sensitive to ultraviolet light. As faras temperature is concerned, if there is a suscep-tible living host, the nematodes can be released.

RESULTS! The exciting part about using nema-todes is the fast results. In our case, within 48hours we were seeing the emergence of raspberryshoots that had not been chewed. Also, we knewwhat was happening in the field because we had ajar full of cutworms in the kitchen and had appliedsome nematodes to them. Sure enough, they weredying and swelling up. It was working. We can saywith certainty that without the nematodes wewould have lost our entire investment in 1000mother canes and all their care during the first 12months.

The main lesson that we learned, aside from thebenefits of nematodes, is that it is risky to mulchfall raspberry canes before they have emergedfrom the soil in the spring. Now we typically waituntil the canes are 6" to 1' tall, and strong enoughto tolerate being knocked around a bit. At thatpoint we compost them and apply a good thickmulch of straw, which serves beautifully through-out the season to conserve moisture and deprivecompeting weeds of light.

Aside from the cutworm, the worst pest in ourraspberries is the Japanese beetle. During the pastthree years we have had very effective controlwith traps placed about 100 feet downwind, andmilky spore dust. While Japanese beetles areeffectively controlled with nematodes, we havechosen not to use them because of the expense andthe complicated application technique.

(With appreciation to Mike Cherim for his detaileddescriptions of the Hb and Sc life cycles.)

Using Parasitic Nematodes to fightCutworms at Berry Hill Farm


BookReviews

Passport to Gardening: A Sourcebook for the Twenty-First Century GardenerBy Katherine LaLiberté and Ben WatsonPublished by Chelsea Green Publishing Company, $24.95

Reviewed by Stan Ingram

Isn’t it good to know that for $25 you can purchase one book that will be theonly sourcebook you will need to buy on a particular subject for the next 100years? Ah, America, the deals just keep on coming. In all seriousness, not onlyhas Gardener’s Supply put out a book with a catchy title, they have put out abook full of information. To each of us, gardening means different things. Tosome, a garden is not a garden unless there are vegetables present. To others,it’s the beauty of flowers that make the garden. The authors realized thatgardens come in many varied types. They tried to include as many forms aspossible and they didn’t miss much.

Part one starts off with the basics common to most gardens. Chapters coverBuilding Healthy Soil, Composting, Water-Efficient Gardening, Starting Plantsfrom Seed, Seed Saving, Extending the Season, and end with Pest and DiseaseControl. Part two deals with edibles in chapters titled The Kitchen Garden,Vegetables, Herbs, and Fruits. Then next part goes into the world of ornamen-tals. Chapters here deal with Garden Design, Bulbs, Perennial Flowers, Grow-ing Roses, Annual Flowers, and Flowers for Cutting. Part four goes into theworld of broader gardening horizons with chapters on Container Gardening,Water Gardening, Gardening Indoors, Growing Under Lights, Growing Or-chids, Greenhouse Gardening, and Hydroponic Gardening. Onto part five witha look at Gardening in Harmony with Nature, Backyard Biodiversity, Wild-flowers and Native Plants, The Natural Lawn and The Edible Landscape arethe chapters covered here. Part six goes into Gardening Beyond Your OwnBackyard through Community Gardening, Garden Touring, and ThinkingRegionally. The book ends with a list of general resources.

As you can see, the authors tried to cover all the bases and they certainly cameup with topics I would have missed. One part of gardening I found absent wasthe raising of animals. Granted, the book may be geared toward the backyard/home garden, but it would have been nice to add something about animals. Thelack of reference to animals does not deter from the usefulness of this book,however. Each chapter has a small blurb from a guest expert which sets thetone for the chapter. Many of these guest experts were familiar faces to me.Their comments helped bring the trees back into view from the forest. Alsoincluded in each chapter is a short list of favorite books with a brief one-paragraph description. In acknowledgment to the 21st century, a list of websites is included. Garden gear helpful to each particular chapter is highlighted.What this book doesn’t try to be is an encyclopedia, to cover all information ona particular topic in one volume.

If you are a cut flower gardener and you have been doing it for years, then thereis probably nothing new for you in this chapter. If, however, you are a novice inthis area then the chart with the popular cut flowers listed along with theirgrowth requirements and bloom times would be helpful as well as the tips onheat treatment, conditioning, and flower arranging. For those of us to whomcontainer gardening is a foreign language, the charts on Optimum ContainerVolume and Depth along with the Suitability of Common Vegetables forContainer Gardening would surely be helpful.

As I said before, the chapters are not designed to answer all your questions on aparticular topic. What I found they did was to answer some of the basic ques-tions I had. They gave me a good basis for getting involved in that aspect ofgardening, and gave me enough information to get started. I was certainly notleft hanging looking for more information. The list of favorite books andreferences gives me as much in-depth information as I could want. The chap-ters, I felt, were neither skimpy in their coverage of a topic nor were they over-burdensome with information. They did a fine job of satisfying an initialcuriosity and pointing one in the right direction for more in-depth study.

Though I have seen some books put out by service or product supply compa-nies which have no qualms about touting their products, this book does not fallinto that category. Though many of the pictures under the Garden Gear head-ings will look familiar to anyone who has received a Gardener’s Supply cata-log, other suppliers are mentioned. I know I will find many an opportunity toturn to this book. I will also use it to answer questions so I will appear to be thegardener who knows so much about so many things. A well-done effort by theauthors.

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e r S u m m e r , 1 9 9 926Vegan Vegetarian Cookingby Pam RotellaPrinted by Jumbo Jack’s Cookbooks, AudubonMedia Corporation, 301 Broadway, Audubon, IA50025134 pages, $9.95

review by Roberta McQuaid

The inspiration behind this wonderful littlecookbook came from the author’s brother: heasked her for an example of a health consciouscookbook and so she wrote one. Although therecipes are vegan, vegetarians and meat-eatersalike will find healthy new twists on old, not-so-healthy favorite recipes. As the owner of variouscookbooks of this sort I found VEGAN VEG-ETARIAN COOKING to be particularly appealingbecause most ingredients are available at a localgrocery store. Nothing is more frustrating than tospend more time searching for specialty items thanto actually cook the meal. Also, some of the moretrendy vegetarian cookbooks forgo the meat butnot the fat or salt in their dishes. The recipesherein keep both to a minimum.

The author begins the book with a brief definitionof veganism, and provides examples of how herhealth has improved since dropping meat from herdiet. She is simple and to the point about it withoutmaking any arguments for conversion, argumentsthat may have clouded her real goal: to write agood cookbook. A discussion on fresh food,preparation and cooking techniques follows. Theauthor does mention utilizing organic producewhere available and searching out local marketsfor the freshest selections. She proceeds then tothe fun part, the recipes!

The recipes are grouped in chapters by categories.The sandwich chapter is packed with interestingideas for a healthy lunch, including six recipes forimitation hamburgers, one of the things newvegetarians seem to miss the most. The chapter onmain dishes includes several Mexican-Americanentrees without all of the sour cream and cheese— tasty nevertheless. In the holiday section suchfavorites as pumpkin, apple, pecan, and kiwi limepie are addressed along with the revered oldstandbys like mashed potatoes, roasted chestnuts,and stuffing. The salad chapter provides “a varietyof salads- leaf, fruit, vegetable, pasta, potato, andgreen.” Particularly appealing to me was theHorseradish Potato Salad, combining the potatoesand horseradish with tomatoes and beets. Yum!The longest chapter is devoted to soup, comfortfood in our northern clime. Recipes are providedfor legume, broth, tomato, potato, and onion basedsoups, all a bit easier to make than I ever thoughtpossible. The part of this charming little cookbook

that was indispensable for me, however, was thesection on spreads, dips, sauces, and dressings. Tothink, recipes for hummus, salsa, guacamole,‘steak’ and barbecue sauce all in one place!

The author has succeeded in her goal of writing ahealth conscious cookbook. She provides simplerecipes for interesting eating, however you eat.

Straight Ahead Organic- A step-by-step guide togrowing great vegetables in a less than perfectworldby Shepherd Ogdenpublished by Chelsea Green, PO Box 428, WhiteRiver Junction, VT 05001266 pages, $24.95

Review by Roberta McQuaid

Are you a novice gardener, or one with severalyears of experience under your belt? Perhaps youtend a postage-stamp size plot of vegetables ormanage a hundred acre operation. Whatever yourparticular situation, Straight Ahead Organic is aworthy read. Shep Ogden’s ties to the subject oforganic gardening run deep.

His grandfather Sam Ogden was a pioneer in theorganic movement, one of a group of authorssounding the alarm that nature’s ties to farmingand gardening would soon be destroyed by adependency on chemical fertilizers. His contribu-tions to Organic Gardening magazine and anupdated version of an earlier book Step by StepOrganic Vegetable Growing made him an inspira-tion to beginning gardeners. Shep does a terrificjob of putting into print 50 years of their combinedexperience in a manner that expresses his enthusi-asm for the subject as it teaches us its basicprinciples.

Nearly every imaginable topic related to organicvegetable growing is covered, from where tolocate the garden, to which tools and equipment touse to cultivate it. Chapter 4, “Caring for the Soil”is especially helpful, giving gardeners a basicunderstanding of “feed the soil, let the soil feed theplant, and the plant will feed the human”. Ifgardeners grasp the concept that indeed the soil isalive and must be nourished, choices they willmake as organic gardeners will make sense.

Short sidebars in each chapter provide wonderfulbackground information on such hot topics asgenetic engineering, global warming, and use ofpressure treated wood, giving gardeners a broadersense of their mission. These passages mix theauthor’s own opinion and experience with docu-mented research. Part of the reason I believe thisbook to be such a success is that it doesn’t justteach you how to grow vegetables, it affirms yourbelief in the cause or may inspire you to take upthe cause and go organic.

The last chapter is devoted to vegetable profiles,from asparagus to turnips and everything inbetween. Here again the information presented isinvaluable. Each profile begins with roughly whenand how to sow the seeds, continues with adviceon cultivation, common pests and diseases. Tipsfor timely harvesting and choosing the varietiesthat best suit your needs is also included- thecarrot Kuroda will surely earn a blue ribbon at theharvest festival, but Nutri-red is high in beta-carotene and best eaten cooked. It is in this sectionthat the reader can take advantage of all theexperience Shep has acquired as seedsman (he andhis wife Ellen founded Cook’s Garden Catalog.)

Straight-Ahead Organic is a wonderful resource, awealth of information in print. Read it yourselfand pass it on to a less experienced friend. They’llthank you for it.

NOFAContactPeople

ConnecticutNOFA/CT Office: P O Box 386, Northford, CT06472, phone (203) 484-2445, FAX (203) 484-7621, Email: [email protected],website: http://www.connix.com/~NOFACT/President: Dudley R. Warren, 34 Schnoor Rd.,Killingworth, CT 06419, (860) 663-3126 (home),Vice President: Peter Rothenberg, 53 Lanes PondRd., Northford, CT 06472 (203) 484-9570 (home)Treasurer/Membership: Johan van Achterberg, 359Silver Hill Rd., Easton, CT 06612-1134, (203)261-2156 (home), Email: [email protected]: Kimberly A. Stoner, 498 Oak Ave. #27,Cheshire, CT 06410, (203) 271-1732 (home),Email: [email protected]: Rob Durgy, P O Box 17, Chaplin, CT06235-0017, (860) 870-6935, Email: [email protected]: Jennifer Barricklow, 586 Skiff St., NorthHaven, CT 06473, (203) 288-7554,[email protected]; Marcia Brown, 333Middletown Ave., North Haven, CT 06473 (203)239-1944

MassachusettsPresident: Lynda Simkins, 117 Eliot, Natick, MA01760 (508) 655-2204Vice President: Russell Van Hazinga, BrooksideFarm, RFD 1, Rt 12, Fitchbug, MA 01420 (978)874-2695Secretary: Jen Mix, 6 Rowland St., Marblehead,MA 01945 (781) 631-2328, [email protected] and Staff: Julie Rawson, 411 SheldonRd., Barre, MA 01005 (978) 355-2853, Fax: (978)355-4046, Email: [email protected],website: http://ma.nofa.orgNewsletter: Beth Henson, P. O. Box 603, Cam-bridge, MA 02140 (617) 628-8019Certification Administrator: Ed McGlew, 140Chestnut Street, West Hatfield, MA 01088 (413)247-9264website: http://ma.nofa.org

New HampshirePresident: Dan Holmes, The Meeting School, 56Thomas Rd., Rindge, NH 03461, (603) 899-2033Vice President: Charlie Reid, 97 McCrillis Rd.,Nottingham, NH 03290, (603) 679-8101Secretary: Susanne Clements: 179 Sanborn HillRd., Epsom, NH 03234, (603) 736-8075, 736-5858, [email protected]: Susan MacLeod, RR1 Box 78, Deering,NH 03244-9313, (603) 529-1632Membership and Staff: NOFA/NH Office, WhiteFarm, 150 Clinton St., Concord, NH 03301,[email protected]: Craig Federhen, 50 Little River Rd.,Kingston, NH 03848-3118, (603) 642-5497,[email protected] Certification: Vickie Smith, NHDABureau of Markets, Caller Box 2042, Concord,NH 03301 (603) 271-3685


New JerseyPresident: Leonard Pollara, Upper Meadows Farm,RD 5, Box 554, Montague, NJ 07927, (201) 293-7350, [email protected] President: George McNulty, Stone HollowFarm, 136 Rt 72, Barnegat, NJ 08005, (609) 698-2405Newsletter Editor: Amy Hansen, 33 Titus MillRoad, Pennington, NJ 08534, (609) 737-6848,Email: [email protected]: Mike Rassweiler, North Slope Farm,1701 Linvale-Harbourton Rd., Lambertville, NJ08530 (609) 466-4191, fax: 466-5974,[email protected] Director: Karen Anderson, 33 Titus MillRoad, Pennington, NJ 08534, (609) 737-6848, fax:(609) 737-2366, Email: [email protected] Administrator: , 33 Titus Mill Road,Pennington, NJ 08534, (609) 737-6848Technical Resources Director: Emily BrownRosen, 33 Titus Mill Road, Pennington, NJ 08534,(609) 737-6848, Email: [email protected]

New YorkPresident: Judith Roylance, 17 Dogwood St., SagHarbor, NY 11963 (516) 725-1009Vice President: Richard de Graff, GrindstoneFarm, 780 County Route 28, Pulaski, NY 13142(315) 298-4139, fax: (315) 298-2119,[email protected]: Cathy Popp-McKenna, RR 1, Box 226,Stamford, NY 12167 (607) 538-9778Treasurer: Kay Magilavy, 212 18th St., UnionCity, NJ 07087, (201) 863-1741Newsletter Editor: Tina Nilsen-Hodges, 1325Glenwood Rd., Vestal, NY 13850, (607) 748-9367,[email protected] Director: Sarah Johnston, 597 Route 9J,Stuyvesant, NY 12173, (518) 828-2511, fax: (518)828-6514 [email protected] Secretary: Ammie Chickering,NOFA-NY, P. O. Box 21, South Butler, NY 13154-0021, (315) 365-2299Certification Administrator: Patricia Kane, NOFA-NY Certification Program, 26 Towpath Rd.,Binghamton, NY 13904 (607) 724-9851website: http://ny.nofa.org

Rhode IslandPresident: Julia Cartabiano, 60 Beach Rd.,Cumberland, RI 02864 (401) 333-1069Vice-President: Jeanne Chapman, 17 Station St.,Apt. #4, Coventry, RI 02816 (401) 828-3229Secretary: Kurt Van Dexter, 1740 Stony Lane, No.Kingstown, RI 02852 (401) 294-7994Treasurer: Gayle Anderson, 9 Diamond St., No.Attleboro, MA 02760 (508) 643-3500Membership: Lee Gross, 64 Harrison St. #11,Providence, RI 02909 (401) 831-9779Newsletter: Susan Samotey, 105 Bartlett Ave.,Cranston, RI 02905 (401) 467-3699NOFA/RI : P. O. Box 29174, Providence, RI02909-9998 [288 Dudley St., Providence 02907](401) 274-4547, fax: (401) 273-5712 Email:[email protected], website: http://users.ids.net/~nofari/

VermontNOFA-VT Office, P. O. Box 697, Bridge St.,Richmond, VT 05477 (802) 434-4122, Fax: 434-4154, website: www.nofavt.orgExecutive Director and VOF Administrator: EnidWonnacott, 1561 Sherman Hollow Rd., Hunting-ton, VT 05462 (802) [email protected] Office Manager: Kirsten Novak Bower, 65Wortheim Rd., Richmond, VT 05477 (802) 434-5420, [email protected] Editor & Bulk Order Coordinator:Heidi Racht, Main Road, Huntington Center, VT05462 (802) 434-2690Farm Share Coordinator: Dairy Tech Coordinator:Lisa McCrory, RR1 Box 169, Randolph Center,VT 05601 (802) 728-4416People Grow Coordinator & Agriculture Educa-tion Coordinator: Joshua Brown, 32 Catherine St.,Burlington, VT 05401 (802) 864-3329VOF Admin. Asst.: Jessie Schmidt, PO Box 427,Plainfield, VT 05667, (802) 454-1264

NOFA InterstateCouncil

Tom Kemble, 581 Thompson St., Glastonbury, CT06033 (860) 633-4503, [email protected] Gilman, 130 Ruckytucks Road, Stillwater,NY 12170 (518) 583-4613Charlie Reid, Stonewall Farm. 97 McCrillis Rd.,Nottingham, NH 03290 (603) 679-8101Ed McGlew, 140 Chestnut St, West Hatfield, MA01088 (413) 247-9264Bill Duesing, 153 Bowers Hill Road, Oxford, CT06478, (203) 888-9280, [email protected] Wonnacott, 1561 Sherman Hollow Rd.,Huntington, VT 05462 (802) 434-4122Russell Van Hazinga, Brookside Farm, RFD 1, Rt12, Fitchbug, MA 01420 (978) 874-2695Kay Magilavy, 212 18th St., Union City, NJ07087, (201) 863-1741Leonard Pollara, RD5 Box 554, Montague, NJ07827, (201) 293-7350Mike Hutchison, 2325 Boston Neck Road,Saunderstown, RI 02874 (401) 295-1030David Baldwin, 26 Edgewood, Barrington, RI02806 (401) 246-0275Joe White, 140 Deerhill Road, Brentwood, NH03833, (603) 679-5718, [email protected] Kittredge and Julie Rawson, The NaturalFarmer , NOFA Summer Conference, 411 SheldonRd., Barre, MA 01005 (978) 355-2853

Northeast InterstateOrganic Certification

Committee* indicates co-chair

Bill Hill, 51 John Read Road, West Redding, CT06896 (203) 938-9403

Eric Sideman*, MOFGA, PO Box 2176, Augusta,ME 04330 (207) 622-3118

Judy Gillan, P O Box 31, Belchertown, MA 01007(413) 323-4531Ed McGlew, 140 Chestnut St, West Hatfield, MA01088 (413) 247-9264

Vickie Smith*, NHDA, Bureau of Markets, CallerBox 2042, Concord, NH 03301 (603) 271-3685Rick Estes, 145 Mountain Rd., Concord, NH03301 (603) 224-4469

Emily Brown Rosen, 33 Titus Mill Road,Pennington, NJ 08534 (609) 737-6848

Elizabeth Henderson, 2218 Welcher Rd., Newark,NY 14513 (315) [email protected] Banner, 1863 Preble Road, Preble, NY13141 (607) 749-4614Pat Kane, 26 Towpath Rd., Binghamton, NY13904 (607) 724-9851

CalendarThursday, June 10: Choosing the Right Hay,evening workshop, Keene, NH for more info:603-357-7278

Thursday, June 24: Greenhouse and HighTunnel Tomatoes “twilight meeting”, Post Mills,VT for more info: (802) 257-7967 [email protected]

Tuesday, July 13: Integrated Pest Management“twilight meeting”, Starksboro, VT for moreinfo: (802) 257-7967 or [email protected]

Sunday, June 27 – Wednesday, June 30: Keysto the Secrets of Nature, workshop by DennisKlocek & Gunther Hauk, Spring Valley, NY formore info: 914-352-5020 ext. 20

Wednesday, July 28: Organic Raspberries andBlueberries “twilight meeting”, Marlboro, VT formore info: (802) 257-7967 or [email protected]

Monday, Aug. 2 – Friday, Aug. 6: Gardeningwith Children, workshop with Gunther Hauk,Spring Valley, NY for more info: 914-352-5020ext. 20

Monday, Aug. 2 – Sunday, Aug. 9: KushiInstitute Summer Conference, Westfield, MA formore info: 888-547-2663

Friday, Aug. 13 – Sunday, Aug. 15: 25th NOFASummer Conference, Hampshire College,Amherst, MA for more info: 978-355-2853

Saturday, Sep. 4: Southern Vermont Garlic &Herb Festival, Wilmington, VT for more info:802-368-7147

Tuesday, Sep. 14: Small-Scale DiversifiedHorticulture “twilight meeting”, WestBrattleboro, VT for more info: (802) 257-7967 [email protected]

Saturday, Sep. 25: First Annual North QuabbinGarlic & Arts Festival, Orange, MA for moreinfo: 978-544-7564

Thursday, Nov. 11 – Saturday, Nov. 13: North-east CSA Conference, Tamiment, PA for moreinfo: 212-677-1602

You may join NOFA by joining one of the seven statechapters. Contact the person listed below for your state.Dues, which help pay for the important work of theorganization, vary from chapter to chapter. Unlessnoted, membership includes a subscription to TheNatural Farmer.

Give a NOFA Membership! Send dues for a friend orrelative to his or her state chapter and give a member-ship in one of the most active grassroots organizationsin the state.

Connecticut: Individual or Household: $35, Business/Institution: $50, Supporting: $100, Low income: $20Johan van Achterberg, 359 Silver Hill Rd., Easton,CT 06612-1134, (203) 261-2156 (home),[email protected]

Massachusetts: Individual: $30, Family: $40, Lowincome: $20, Supporting: $100Julie Rawson, 411 Sheldon Road, Barre, MA 01005,(978) 355-2853

New Hampshire: Individual: $25, Family: $35,Supporting: $100c/o White Farm, 150 Clinton St., Concord, NH 03301

Dan Lawton, RI Division of Agriculture, 22 HayesSt., Providence, RI 02908Polly Hutchison, Casey Farm, 2325 Boston NeckRd., Saunderstown, RI 02874 (401) 295-1030

Enid Wonnacott, 1561 Sherman Hollow Rd.,Huntington, VT 05462 (802) 434-4435Tim Sanford, RR1, Box 224A South Royalton, VT(802) 763-7981

NOFA MembershipNew Jersey: Individual: $35, family/organizational:$50, Business/Organization: $100, Low Income: $15**does not include a subscription to The Natural Farmer33 Titus Mill Road, Pennington, NJ 08534, (609) 737-6848

New York: Student and Senior (over 65): $15, Studentand Senior Family (2 adults): $20, Individual: $25,Farm Listing: $30, 2 adult family: $30 (each additionaladult, $5), Business: $35, Patron: $100, CorporateSponsor: $500, Lifetime: $1000Ammie Chickering, P O Box 21, South Butler, NY13154, (315) 365-2299

Rhode Island: Student/Senior: $15, Individual: $25,Family: $35, Business: $55Lee Gross, P. O. Box 29174, Providence, RI 02909-9998 [288 Dudley St., Providence 02907] (401) 274-4547, fax: (401) 273-5712

Vermont: Individual $25, Family/Business: $35,Sponsor: $75Kirsten Novak Bower, NOFA/VT, PO Box 697,Richmond, VT 05477, (802) 434-4122


By Brian Spencer, Applied Bio-nomics, Ltd.

Biological pest control using “beneficial insectsand mites” has been around for thousands of years.The ancient Chinese used parasitic wasps as abiocontrol in their fruit orchards. It is an ancientart, intimately linked to agriculture itself. There isnothing “hi-tech” about it. The business does notneed to involve genetic engineering or othercontroversial procedures. Biological pest control isjust another name for “bug farming”.

In the beginning of the twentieth century, biologi-cal pest control was a thriving business. (I wasrecently talking with an older vegetable growerfrom the Fraser Valley, outside of Vancouver. Heremembers waiting at the train station in NewWestminster, B.C. with his father, in the 1920’s,for a shipment of parasitic wasps from EasternCanada.) The development of organophosphatepesticides such as DDT around mid-century,however, lead to a virtual, overnight destruction ofthe industry. In the 1970’s, due to the developmentof resistant pests, pesticide overuse and growingpublic concerns over pesticides and their effects onthe environment and humans, the ancient art ofbiological pest control, rose again, like the Phoe-nix, out of the ashes.

In 1978, Don Elliott became the first of manyentomologists in Canada to advocate the use ofbiological pest control as an alternative to the useof toxic chemicals. Don, a school teacher bytraining, and then a forestry entomologist, wasoriginally hired by Agriculture Canada to instructthe B.C. hothouse industry on the use of biologicalpest control. After a few years, it was apparent thatthere was a need for someone to produce thebiocontrol agents. Ag Canada then offered Donand Marion, his wife and partner, some vacantgreenhouses and sheds at their Saanichton site,and, in 1980, Applied Bio-nomics Ltd. was born.Today, 19 years later and armed with our missionstatement: “To improve the quality and safety ofagricultural products, for humans and the environ-ment, through bio-logical solutions to pest con-trol”, we are a world leader in biological pestcontrol and have been the first to introduce manyNorth American native biocontrols.

In 1989, Don and Marion sold shares of AppliedBio-nomics Ltd. to Plant Products Co. Ltd. andWestgro Sales. The resulting influx of capitalallowed Don and Marion to expand the businesson our current 5 acre site in North Saanich. Today,we have a staff of 13 full time employees and 8part time students working in 23 separate green-houses and numerous outbuildings.

The growth of the new biocontrol industry can belinked to many events. As a true believer in theimportance of biological pest control, I would liketo believe that the growth started with “SilentSpring” and grew as more concerns about pesti-cides were realized. But, sadly, that is not the case.In almost every situation, growth in our industrycan be directly linked to either the banning ofcertain chemicals, the publicized poisoning ofpeople or animals, or government regulationsdesigned to protect the environment or workers.The most recent quantum leap in usage cameimmediately after the worker protection laws werepassed a few years ago. Few farmers can afford tobe proactive in this economic climate.

Today, in North America, the bulk of thebiocontrol industry is made up of numerous, small,family-sized businesses. The constant threat ofnew and better chemicals with the potentialeffectiveness of DDT has restricted expansion.The largest insectories are all either Europeanowned, or subsidiaries of European multinationalswho produce agricultural chemicals. Recently, theterm, “Bio-technology”, has been in vogue withinthe agricultural community. The biocontrolindustry was immediately thrown into this cat-egory. Initially, it was exciting to be consideredpart of the bio-technology field — our bankssuddenly showed some interest in us, politiciansbegan to return our phone calls, and we were thelife of the party, instead of just the farmers whogrow bugs. As the “bio-technology” bandwagongot bigger and bigger, large multinationals em-

braced the concept, genetic engineering jumpedon, and away we went.

About two years ago, however, Applied Bio-nomics Ltd. jumped off the “bio-technology”bandwagon. The decision was made when we hadto decide whether or not to support research into agenetic marker for one of our licensed insects. Weat Applied Bio-nomics Ltd. are very concernedabout genetic engineering, and believe that it maylead to unprecedented hardships for our planet.

Jumping off the bandwagon was a lot harder thanwe thought. It was moving at quite a speed. Icannot begin to tell you how many databases wehave attempted to get out of, usually with less thansatisfying results. We are now trying to get faraway from this new “Pandora’s Box”, before ourfears are realized. While most of our business iscurrently with the large, commercial greenhouseranges, we are always aware that new chemicalswill be embraced as they arrive on the marketplace. Over the past 10 years, we have seen oursales of specific biocontrols fluctuate in directcorrelation with the introduction of new pesticides.The good news, for us at least, is that the incidenceof insect resistance to pesticides is high, and fewchemicals can make it through 5 years beforeresistance is common. We believe that eventuallyour core business will come from the “sustainableagriculture” movement. Our biggest challengewith many of the practitioners of the “organic”movement is to convince them that we neverenjoyed our ride on the “Bio-technology” band-wagon. Our presence on numerous “Bio-technol-ogy” databases has many of them very concerned.

Producing biological controls is a rewarding, butfrustrating, business. No one is in it for only themoney. In fact, very few biocontrols would bedeveloped at all if it weren’t for direct or indirectgovernment assistance, through tax relief, directgrants, fundamental research (eg. Ag Canada andthe USDA), and grower-directed research support.

The development of a typical biocontrol is a slow,expensive task. Usually, government researchers inthe U.S., Canada, Holland, or England identify anatural enemy of a specific pest or general class ofpest. In most cases, with the cooperation of at leastone commercial insectory, the government re-searchers go to the next stage, rearing smallquantities of the predator or parasite in order toprove its effectiveness. Successful early trials arewhat start the ball rolling. Commercial insectoriesusually pick it up at this point by either reading thepublication, entering into a licensing arrangementwith the government or university, or by hiring theresearcher.

Once the natural enemy is identified and a rearingconcept is in place, typically a five year researchand commercial development process begins. We

have never been able to take a researcher’s rearingprocess and expand it into a commercial system.The needs of the researcher are considerablydifferent from ours. In small, cage type cultures,the cost of each organism actually produced (astrue surplus) is seldom under $1.00 each. Labouris always the most significant cost, although theoverhead costs of building, maintaining, andheating a greenhouse cannot be ignored.

As our knowledge and experience increases withthe product, we sometimes find that a somewhatregular supply is the result. At this point, fieldtrials must begin. Our field trials are both researchand marketing oriented — we need to be able totell our customers the quantity needed, what thetiming and strategies are for introductions, and,ultimately, whether it works well, somewhat, ornot at all, and what pesticides can and cannot beused with it.

Application rates and introduction strategies arealways a compromise. If insectories had unlimitedproduction and were able to sell the products atextremely low prices, you would buy biocontrolsmuch the same way you can now buy chemicalpesticides, that is, in large quantities, as a cure.The reality is, however, that biocontrols areexpensive to produce and therefore purchase, andlarge quantities of surplus biocontrols are rare dueto extremely short shelf lives and the typicalpatterns of demand.As a general rule, the higher lifeforms (from ourperspective) cost more to produce. Beetles requiremore space and food than mites do. A lot ofcurrent research is into artificial diets. As artificialdiets are developed, the cost, and availability ofmany biocontrols will be improved.

Currently, commercial insectories need to rear andmaintain large, pure cultures of the target pest.Many growers have found that it can be easy torear their own beneficials and effectively applythem to their crops, but the real challenge for thecommercial insectory is in providing continuous,large quantities of the target pest.

A few years ago, a government researcher inOntario, Canada published an article that veryclearly and efficiently described how anyone couldrear cucumeris, a predatory mite used mostlyagainst thrips. The article immediately caused agreat amount of discussion, with the growersholding it up as proof that the biocontrol producerswere charging too much, and the biocontrolproducers upset that a government researcherwould take such an approach. Our response was toproduce a kit, exactly as described in the article.We priced it at the current rate for cucumeris plusthe cost of the “Rubbermaid” bin, the mixingspoons, and the other equipment. The “kit” hit themarket at the beginning of the cucumeris season,December, and we sold five of them. The five

Confessions of a Bio-Control Producer

photo courtesy Brian Spencer

Aphidoletes larvae feeding on aphids

T h e N a t u r a l F a r m e rS u m m e r , 1 9 9 9 23growers all had immediate success and quicklydoubled their culture, but two weeks later thegrowers suddenly realized that they needed morefood for the culture. They were shocked to findthat the cost of the grain mites, which is an alter-nate food for cucumeris, was actually more thanthe cucumeris themselves. By the end of themonth we had received back all five of the rearing“kits” and given the customers back their money.None of these local growers complain much aboutthe price of cucumeris anymore.

Few farmers are sympathetic to us when welament about how hard it is to produce largequantities of Whitefly during the winter months, orwhen the Aphids decide not to reproduce atlogarithmic rates in the fall. Most large scale,commercial crashes are due to the pest failing insome way. On our site, we have specific areas ofexclusion. Some of our staff cannot have coffee orlunch together in order to prevent contamination.In some sensitive systems, staff have to freezetheir clothes during the day as an added defense.Under no circumstance do we allow our spidermite staff to get close to our P. persimilis staff, andno one has seen our A. fallacis rearer for the pastsix months.

Many of our products are native to our region. Asa result, they tend to have a winter survival skillcalled diapause. Diapause is different for allorganisms, but it can be generally described as ahibernation at one particular stage in the lifecycleduring low temperatures, low light intensity andduration, or, as is usual, a combination of all three.In order to maintain or commercially producediapausing organisms during the winter, highlevels of heat and light are required which signifi-cantly adds to the cost of production and alsoincreases the chance of system crashes if poweroutages occur.

Perhaps the greatest challenge to our industry isthe need for consistency. Producing 50 weeks of abiocontrol just doesn’t cut it! The two weeks thatyou are out are usually when someone, if noteveryone, desperately needs them. Additionally,when there is high demand for a product, everyoneproducing it is usually at, or near, full capacity. Ifone of the producers has a crash, the addeddemand placed on the others usually causessubsequent production difficulties, if not completecrashes.

Biological pest control is an eloquent system.Growers who have had experience with it quicklybecome at ease with its concepts and practices.There are times when I feel like a confidencetrickster or a faith healer. In some cases the bugsthat we sell may have little effect. But even inthose cases, positive effects and cures are seen.This is because the act of accepting biocontrol haspositive effects. When growers decide to switch tobiocontrol, the first thing that happens is they stopspraying. In many cases, this first step is all that isneeded. Almost immediately, natural predators andparasites will re-enter the garden or farm. Lady-bugs and lacewings will be easily seen within oneweek of the change (unless you used somethingreally bad). Being nomads, they will movethroughout your site, laying eggs whenever theystop to feed. They will move on when they havehad their fill, always leaving some pests behind, sotheir offspring will not starve.

This brings us to a fundamental point that must beembraced if you are going to be successful withbiocontrols; the presence of the pest is essential.Predators and parasites only work if there is preyavailable. What we are really trying to achieve is abalance. This balance is not hard to reach, it is infact, “nature’s default”. The important question,for you, is; how can you stay in balance andeconomically farm? If you have healthy plants,you will find that the balance point is within yourgrasp. The act of stopping the chemicals also stopsthe chemical injury to the plants.

Ongoing research in Holland is showing thatplants in an IPM program (an integration ofbiological controls with “friendlier chemicals” andimproved monitoring) are 15% larger than aver-age. In Alberta, research on cucumbers showed a20% increase in yield. Healthier plants can fightoff pests better. There is growing evidence thatpests can actually sense weak plants. In ourscheme of things, this is where the biocontrol

supplier comes into the picture. If the pendulum istoo far in favour of the pest, a commercialbiocontrol will supplement the natural controls. Inmost cases, we recommend a control that is nativeto your area. These controls are proven performersand will establish in your area, usually perma-nently. Exotic imports sometimes work faster, butusually don’t give you the long-term, cost effectivecontrol that you need.

When a grower comes to us with a pest problem,we usually have a completely different reaction tothe problem. When we see Aphids completelycovering the tips of young plants, our first reactionis: wow, there sure is a lot of food here for ourAphidoletes, this customer will have so manyAphidoletes in his greenhouse that he may start tosell them on his own. Typically, there is about atwo week lag from the introduction of a predatorand the expected control. If you can’t afford to bepatient, you have a number of options. First; youcan spend more time scouting for pests. This isbest done with a regular wander throughout thecrop. Your experience as a grower will tell youwhen the pests usually start to show up, but hereare a few “rules of thumb”.

Spider mites like it hot and dry, if they were a pestlast fall, they will have overwintered in, on, orunder your structures and will surely return. Thebigger the numbers, the longer the period of re-introduction. Hibernating Spider Mites develop a“red phase”. The “red phase” typically occursimmediately prior to their hibernation. When thespider mites are red phased, P. persimilis does notlike to eat them, they are extremely resistant tochemical controls, and many people mistake themfor P. persimilis. In the spring, the red phasedmites come out of the woodwork, to reinfest yourcrop. Look for spider mites first around theperimeter of your crop, or close to support posts,or any other object that would serve as an over-wintering site or a channel for them to move on.All things being equal, look for spider mites todevelop in an area where there is a wind ordirected fan. The low humidity created by the airmovement creates a perfect microclimate.

Aphids can occur at any time. During non-idealconditions, aphids will develop wings. When theconditions are to the aphids’ liking, they loosetheir wings and multiply asexually, as clones. Inthis state they can reproduce at incredible rates,and are typically seen in clusters. The presence ofants is a reliable indicator that aphids are active.Ants “farm” the aphids for their sweet excrementknown as “honeydew”. If you want to get rid ofthe aphids, you will have to deal with the ants first.We have been witness to ants actively defendingaphids by attacking the parasitic wasp, Aphidius,and we have seen ants carrying away Aphidoleteslarvae.

Perhaps the best tool that you can use for earlyidentification of pests such as aphids, whitefly, andthrips is the yellow, sticky card. Regular monitor-ing of the yellow cards will tell you when the pestfirst arrives, and give you an indication of thequantity you can expect.

The second thing that you can do, if you can’t

afford to be patient, is to shift the balance awayfrom the pest. As we have discussed, spider miteslike it hot and dry. If you want to make it hard onthe spider mites, shift the conditions. Turn off thatfan, or redirect it away from the plants. Raise yourhumidity by misting or flooding the floor. Makesure that the plants are well fed and growingactively. At the plant level, carefully remove thedripping spider mites with a moist paper towel andthen burn it! Soap sprays can have a very positiveeffect at this stage. Make sure that your employeeswork in the known infested areas at the end oftheir shift and exit directly in the shortest possibleroute. Do your clean-up early in the fall, BEFOREyou drop the temperature. This will prevent the redphase from developing and not allow the mitestime to prepare for your assault. Carefully removethe old plants and use physical barriers such astanglefoot on posts, or introduce soil level preda-tors such as Hypoaspis mites to feed on theescaping spider mites. Aphids love lush, softgrowth. A well-balanced feeding program willreduce the conditions for aphid explosions.

Biocontrols work best after you have completedthe above steps. As a general rule, predators workfaster than parasites. Usually parasites are used asa preventive step. In the case of whitefly, theparasite Encarsia formosa is a proven performer. Itworks best when regularly released on a continualbasis. Every year, at the end of the season, we goout and do a survey of some of our growers. In allof the years that we have been doing this, werarely find a situation where the regular releaseprogram does not result in excellent controlthroughout the growing season. Invariably, theproblems that did occur were due to a delay in theimplementation of the program, or a cessation ofthe program because the pest level appeared toolow. Outbreaks of whitefly can be dealt with bythe use of predators such as the beetle Delphastus.Delphastus are tiny black beetles that prefer tofeed on whitefly eggs, but also feed on all stagesand do not feed on Encarsia parasitized scale.Obvious reductions in whitefly numbers will occuronly as the adults die off, which is usually in aboutfour weeks.

Thrips are a real challenge. These tiny, fast insects,can cause incredible damage to crops at very lowlevels. One bite on an orchid bud can translateright through to the flower, with devastatingresults. To make matters worse, many thrips havecomplicated lifecycles which make it very hard tofocus on a single cure. The western flower thriplays its’ eggs into the leaf tissue, therefore, hidingit from foraging predators. The larvae are quickmoving and typically wedge themselves deep intoflowers or open buds. In their final pupation, theyleave the plant (and the predators) and burythemselves in the soil. Preventative physicalcontrols are all but useless on thrips. A screen tightenough to contain thrips will not allow enough airthrough it to be useful. There is evidence thatscreens of any size may have some positive effect,perhaps they visually form a barrier. Fortunately,there are numerous thrips predators that canprovide most of you with economical and effectivecontrol. A. cucumeris is a very inexpensive buteffective predator. Regular applications of A.cucumeris will usually prevent thrips from gettingout of hand. The predatory bug, Orius is native toall of North America and also performs wellagainst thrips. A new predator called I.Degenerans provides good thrips control on cropsthat produce pollen, which it consumes as analternate food source.

Large pests such as caterpillars and lygus bugs areusually controlled by parasites and birds. Whileparasites do exist for these larger pests, they areusually too slow to act to prevent significantdamage. In Holland, there is research currentlybeing conducted using small insect feeding birdsin the greenhouses. The results to date are verypositive. Fortunately, moths and lygus bugs arelarge and easily controlled by inexpensive, widemesh netting or screens.

There is no doubt that the hardest part of usingbiocontrols is in the beginning. Just like being toldto steer into a skid, or swim with the current, itgoes against our basic instincts to embrace a pestinfestation. For some crops, biological controlsmay be impractical. For most crops however,beneficial insect predators and parasites are verylogical, bio-logical, in fact.

photo courtesy Brian Spencer

Distributing Thrips control - N. cucumeris



Gordon Bemis, of Hutchins Farm, hangs cards containing Encarsia formosa eggcases among the tomatoesin his greenhouse in Concord, MA. The encarsia will hatch and parasitize whiteflies in the greenhouse.

News, features & articles about organic growing in the Northeast, plus a Special Supplement on

Beneficial Insects

Summer 1999

summer, 1999 vol. 2, no. 41 publication of the northeast organic … · 2013-10-10 · summer, 1999...

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