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Funded Project |
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Funding Program:
IPM Partnership Grants |
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Project Title:
Impact of Cover Crops on Beneficial and Pest Insects in Hops |
Project Director (PD):
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Lead State: VT Lead Organization: University of Vermont and State Agricultural College |
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Cooperating State(s):
Vermont |
| Undesignated Funding: $25,947 |
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Start Date: Apr-01-2012 End Date: Feb-28-2013 |
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No-Cost Extension Date: May-24-2013 |
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Pests Involved: potato leaf hopper, hop aphid, two spotted spider mite, Japanese Beetle |
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Site/Commodity: hops, organic |
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Area of Emphasis: organic, biological control |
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Summary:
Public interest in sourcing local foods extends into beverages, and the demand for local and organic brewing ingredients is on the rise. Although hops are not a new crop in the Northeast, they have not been grown on a commercial scale for almost 100 years. Today, 99% of hop production takes place in the arid regions of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) on hop farms averaging 450 acres. Pest management information developed for the PNW is generally not applicable to the humid Northeast leaving growers bereft of research-based information for sustainable pest management in hops. Additionally, pest pressures seen in the Northeast are different that those normally observed in the PNW, namely potato leafhoppers (Empoasca fabae), Eastern comma butterfly (Polygonia comma), and Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica). It is well documented that cover crops can provide a habitat to both beneficial and harmful insects, while maintaining a ground cover that can compete with weeds, but no research has been conducted on cover crops in hops in the Northeast. The objective of this project is to work collaboratively with growers to identify beneficial and harmful insects attracted to hop plants in the Northeast and create outreach materials to help farmers adopt IPM practices. We will also work with a partner farm to evaluate the impact of cover cropping on beneficial and harmful insects in hop production. Research that improves the economic and environmental sustainability of hops production will help growers produce a high-quality product that meets the demands of local brewers.
Objectives: With a growing number of hopyards, biological control research must take place to support viable hop production and meet consumer demand for local and sustainable produced beer. The aims of this proposed effort are to
Our overarching goal through this project is to help hop growers in the Northeast understand hop pests and predator pests, and to be able to implement IPM practices that are environmentally and economically sustainable. Through the research and outreach outlined in this proposal, we expect to have the following outcomes and impacts:
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Final Report: |
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Impacts Impacts 1. Safeguarding human health and the environment: Implementing cover crops in a hopyard may help reduce insect pest pressure by increasing the natural enemy population in the hops. Through this research natural enemies were higher with cover crops when compared to the hops alone. Although further research needs to be conducted it is likely that this practice broadly implemented would reduce the number of insecticide and miticide applications per season in a hopyard. 2. Economic benefits: Attendees of the 2013 Hops Conference were surveyed to document impact of the UVM Hops Program. This project provided funded for pest management work for the UVM Hops Program. Results of the survey are reported below. 95% of respondents stated that the UVM Extension Hops Program has helped them start or expand their hopyard. 68% of respondents stated that the research and outreach performed by UVM Extension has helped them improve their yields. 58% stated that the research and outreach has helped them improve hop quality. 69% stated that the work done by UVM Extension has helped them implement sustainable production practices in their hopyard. 30% stated the work done has helped them find markets and improve sales. 3.Implementation of IPM: The cover crop research trial validated that natural enemies were increased by using cover crops. This preliminary data suggests that growing cover crops in the hopyard will increase beneficial arthropods above just having a monocrop of hop plants. Presence of natural enemies was not linked to improved yields and hence further work needs to be conducted to provide further validation of this practice. IPM information developed under this grant in 2012 extended north to Ontario and south to Pennsylvania and Maryland. The Northwest Crops and Soils Team held three field days. The first was located at a growers hopyard in western Massachusetts where our newly compiled resources on pest control and cultural management conducted in Vermont served as valuable tools. There were 40 attendees at this workshop. The second field day was located at Borderview Farm where our research hopyard is located. More than 300 people attended this field day and the majority lingered for IPM discussion after our research report presentations in the hopyard. Hand lenses were distributed to attendees and . A third field day was held at a growers farm in Vermont. There were 89 attendees present at the field day. Information was delivered on pest identification and scouting. In addition, a presentation on insect scouting and identification was given at the 2013 UVM Extension Winter Hops Conference held in Essex, VT. The conference had over 200 attendees from VT, NY, CT, MA, RI, NH, ME, VA, and PA. There were also many attendees from Quebec, Ontario, and the Maritimes Provinces. Proceedings can be found at www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/hops/. Attendees were surveyed at the conference and 70% responded that the UVM hops program has helped them improve scouting and insect identification knowledge. Through the field days and conferences information was delivered to 629 stakeholders. Information delivered included research reports, scouting guidelines, and pest/natural enemy identification information. A YouTube video was developed to on how to properly scout a hopyard and posted on the UVM Extension Crops and Soils website, on the UVM Extension Crops and Soils YouTube channel. The video Scouting a Hopyard for Insects and Diseases : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ2FbHPSCBI&list=UU7sh59UG2pKqfmPMfaVxpbA&index=4&feature=plcp has had 766 views as of April. 8, 2012. Several pest bulletins were published over the course of the 2012 growing season and posted on the UVM Extension hops blog Whats Hoppening . There are currently 177 people subscribed to the UVM Extension hops blog, and the hops page on the UVM Extension Crops and Soils website has been visited over 8,000 times. " Scouting report from June 2012: http://www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/wp-content/uploads/VT_Hops_Scouting_Report_June_2012.pdf " Factsheet, Japanese beetles in hops in the Northeast (includes a resource list of approved insecticides for Japanese beetles in hops in Vermont): http://www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/wp-content/uploads/Japanese_beetle_in_hops.pdf " Factsheet, Potato Leafhopper Damage in Hopyards - http://www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/wp-content/uploads/Leaf_Hopper_Article.pdf " Factsheet, Managing Downy Mildew in Hops in the Northeast (includes a resource list of approved fungicides for hops in Vermont): http://www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/wp-content/uploads/DownyMildew.pdf A Field Guide to Hop Pests and Agronomic Management for Hops in the Northeast was developed in April of 2013. The guide includes beneficial and harmful insect pest identification tools, scouting protocols, and appropriate controls methods. The guide can be accessed through the UVM Extension Crops and Soils website (www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/hops). The guide can also be viewed in Appendix D. |
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Outcomes Outcomes Cover Crop Trial As this grant funded the first season of formal arthropod pest and natural enemy collection in addition to cover crop trials a single year of preliminary results is presented here. The following results provide insight into the arthropod groups within the functional groups of pests and natural enemies present in Northeastern hopyards. These results also provide insight into the locations within our research hopyard where these functional groups are most abundant. There were a total of 16,191 pest individuals (Figure 1 see full report) and 3,342 natural enemy individuals (Figure 2 see full report) collected from hop plants through suction sampling in the cover crop trial. The most abundant pest arthropods on hop plants were two spotted spider mites (42.0%), potato leafhoppers (32.0%), thrips (8.7%), and aphids (4.0%). The most abundant natural enemy groups were parasitoid wasps (53.0%), spiders (19.8%) spider mite destroyers (9.0%), and minute pirate bugs (6.4%). Percentages are among functional group (natural enemy or pest) and depicted in Figure 1 and 2. In 2012 eastern comma butterfly larvae were less pervasive than expected and were not an economically damaging pest this year. On hop plants there was an average ratio of pests to natural enemies of 42:8. It is important to note that figures 1 and 2 are not measures of damage (see full report). Different sized arthropods have different impacts on the crop. Feeding method is also a difficult variable to compare between arthropods. The most abundant arthropods are not necessarily the most destructive per individual. This being said, two spotted spider mite and potato leafhopper supported by data here in addition to downy mildew were the most economically damaging to our yield in 2012. When cover crop trial Nugget and Cascade varieties were compared, no significant difference was seen between the number of arthropod pests or natural enemies by variety. There was also no significant difference between the number of major pests or natural enemy groups by variety. Separately the number of two spotted spider mite, potato leafhopper, thrips, aphid, parasitoid, spider mite destroyer, minute pirate bug, and lady beetle individuals were compared by variety using analysis of variance. No difference by variety was found and therefore further analysis was conducted on pooled Cascade and Nugget samples. As expected the cover cropped drive rows exhibited a higher abundance of all arthropods than hop plants per 60 second vacuum suction sample. It has been shown that with additional diversity, both pest and natural enemy arthropod groups increase (Tooker et al. 2012). We found there to be remarkably consistent numbers of natural enemy and pest individuals across treatments and replicates. It has been shown by Grasswitz et al. 2009 that a flowering cover crop in hops can take 3 years to mature. The cover crop arthropod community is continually changing given plant development and other arthropod presence. Although second year perennials were planted, the youth of our cover crop treatments may explain the even distribution of arthropods within cover crops and on hop plants between cover crop treatments. There is no significant difference between the number of pests or natural enemies across cover crop treatments. The average number of pest individuals far exceeds the number of natural enemy individuals per plant (Figure 3 & 4, see full report). A one way analysis of variance indicated a significantly higher number of total pest and natural enemy average individuals (P < .0001) (Figure 5, see full report). This indicates that there is a significant difference between arthropod functional groups when compared by location (hop plant or within cover crop). Hop plants within cover crop treatments were pooled. Cover crop treatments were also pooled. Analysis with pooled groups was possible because there is no significant difference between treatments. Hop yield and quality within the cover crop trial was not affected by cover crop treatment or variety. This indicates that our first year cover crop did not interfere with product yield or quality. Alpha, beta, and HIS quality results did not indicate any significant difference between treatments or variety. As noted earlier in this report, hop plants within the cover crop trail were not sprayed with insecticide yet maintained yield and quality. The natural enemies and pests present kept pest populations in check preventing outbreak of any one pest species. We conclude from visual damage comparisons between variety trial and cover crop harvested cones that two spotted spider mite was more injurious to hops in the sprayed variety trial. Additionally, browning severity of Nugget was collected for bines in both the variety and cover crop trials based on a 1-10 scale with 1 being no browning and 10 being severely brown. The average browning severity for variety trial Nugget was 3.5 while cover crop Nugget was 2.5. Both % dry matter and browning severity are measures of damage caused to cones. As a cone is damaged it turns brown and dries up. This is a preliminary observation, yet may indicate higher pest damage to cones in the variety trial. Additional years of research will be required to fully understand if cover crops influence hop pest populations. In addition to the replicated research trial insect pest information gathered from this project was delivered to the farming community through several outreach venues. In August of 2012, UVM Extension held three field days, one at the site of the research yard in Alburgh, VT, and one at a cooperating farm in Addison, VT and in Northfield, MA. Each of these field days had numerous contacts totaling information delivery to over 400 people. At these field days attendees were shown beneficial and harmful insects that can be found in Northeast hopyards and they were also trained on how to properly scout their hopyards. In addition, a presentation on insect scouting and identification was given at the 2013 UVM Extension Winter Hops Conference held in Essex, VT. The conference had over 200 attendees from VT, NY, CT, MA, RI, NH, ME, VA, and PA. There were also many attendees from Quebec, Ontario, and the Maritimes Provinces. Proceedings can be found at www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/hops/. A YouTube video was developed to on how to properly scout a hopyard and posted on the UVM Extension Crops and Soils website, on the UVM Extension Crops and Soils YouTube channel. Scouting a Hopyard for Insects and Diseases: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ2FbHPSCBI&list=UU7sh59UG2pKqfmPMfaVxpbA&index=4&feature=plcp (Posted July 23, 2012 766 views as of April. 8, 2012). Several pest bulletins were published over the course of the 2012 growing season and posted on the UVM Extension hops blog Whats Hoppening . There are currently 177 people subscribed to the UVM Extension hops blog, and the hops page on the UVM Extension Crops and Soils website has been visited over 8,000 times. " Scouting report from June 2012: http://www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/wp-content/uploads/VT_Hops_Scouting_Report_June_2012.pdf " Factsheet, Japanese beetles in hops in the Northeast (includes a resource list of approved insecticides for Japanese beetles in hops in Vermont): http://www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/wp-content/uploads/Japanese_beetle_in_hops.pdf " Factsheet, Potato Leafhopper Damage in Hopyards - http://www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/wp-content/uploads/Leaf_Hopper_Article.pdf " Factsheet, Managing Downy Mildew in Hops in the Northeast (includes a resource list of approved fungicides for hops in Vermont): http://www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/wp-content/uploads/DownyMildew.pdf A Field Guide to Hop Pests and Agronomic Management for Hops in the Northeast was developed in April of 2013. The guide includes beneficial and harmful insect pest identification tools, scouting protocols, and appropriate controls methods. The guide can be accessed through the UVM Extension Crops and Soils website (www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/hops). The guide can also be viewed in Appendix D. Further funding has been obtained through a SARE graduate student grant to continue the cover crop research as well as further development of the Field Guide . |
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