Organic farming systems have few other options for fungal disease control in crops. Synthetic chemical alternatives are available which are much better for the environment. But organic farms don't use them, for ideological reasons. The story below shows this environmentally appalling practice continues today.
Valley farms cope with return of blight that hit tomatoes hard in 2009
By Rebecca Everett
Created 08/21/2012 - 5:00am
The late blight that devastated the Valley's tomato crops in 2009 has returned, but this year farmers are fighting back.
The fast-spreading disease, caused by an organism called Phytophthora infestans, has the potential to wipe out acres of tomatoes in weeks if it goes unchecked. It did just that in 2009, after being introduced to the area by infected seedlings sold at large garden centers.
The blight was absent from the area last summer, but this year it began showing up on plants in the Valley in mid-July. Bess Dicklow, Extension plant pathologist at the University of Massachusetts Disease and Diagnostic Laboratory, said the spores of the disease probably blew in from the South.
Dicklow said she was a little surprised to see the blight spores in the lab results she has been processing from area farms. "This year the conditions are not as favorable for the pathogen as in 2009," she said, explaining that late blight thrives in wet weather. "If this summer wasn't so dry, if it was more like a normal summer, it'd be much worse."
While some local farmers have spotted the blight in their fields, they said they still have plenty of healthy tomatoes and are ready to defend them against the disease. Both conventional and organic farmers are using fungicides, greenhouses and other means to protect ripening fruit, and are taking steps to keep the disease from spreading from already infected fruit.
Dicklow said farms that spray conventional fungicides on tomato plants have not been affected because the sprays are very effective. "Basically, it's the small organic farms that are dealing with it, and we haven't seen any big outbreaks," she said.
One farm's story
The Kitchen Garden farm, which operates in Sunderland and Hadley, had the dubious honor of being the first in western Massachusetts to be diagnosed with late blight this year, co-owner Timothy Wilcox said.
He said that in the second week of July, he got confirmation from the UMass disease laboratory that the farm's entire first planting, worth about $50,000, was infected.
Workers had to untie the tomato plants from their stakes and then plow the plants under the soil. "It took six people several days to do it," Wilcox said. "But it's important because of the threat the spores pose to other neighboring farms."
Wilcox said The Kitchen Garden still has plenty of tomatoes for its CSA members and farmers market customers, thanks partly to a 200-by-30-foot greenhouse built last year. Airborne spores can't reach fruit in the greenhouse.
"We invested in it partly to prevent against this type of thing and the risks of growing outdoors," he said. "We're still picking from the greenhouse, and we have plenty."
To protect the farm's second planting of tomatoes in the fields, workers have started to spray the plants with a copper-based organic fungicide. "That field will start being ready to pick next week, so we're hoping that will keep the spores at bay until we can get a few harvests," Wilcox said.
Dicklow said copper fungicides, which are certified organic, are the only practical option for organic farms that want to protect plants in the fields. The fungicide serves as a barrier on the fruit skin, preventing late blight spores from multiplying. Although it is a chemical, it is organic because it is made of naturally occurring compounds, Dicklow said.
She said copper fungicide is not as effective as conventional fungicides and has other limitations. Because it is a preventive measure, it has to be used before the infection starts and must be reapplied often so that it protects new tomato growth. Some farms spray it weekly.
Wilcox said that most organic farmers he knows are spraying with copper fungicides this year, an approach that he said is likely to continue if late blight becomes an ongoing problem. "I think it's going to be standard practice for any commercial producer of tomatoes," he said.
At Mountain View Farm in Easthampton, only the farm's half-acre of pick-your-own tomatoes has been hit by late blight. Mountain View's other 2 acres of tomatoes, which are sold at farmers markets or shared with CSA members, have been protected with copper fungicide.
"It's been very effective this year," said Ben Perrault, co-owner of the farm. He said Mountain View started spraying earlier than usual this year after being affected by late blight in the past. In 2009, he said, he didn't harvest a single tomato from 2 acres.
Perrault added that he does not spray the farm's pick-your-own tomatoes. "We have people on the farm constantly, and we just can't be sure people won't go in. We wouldn't want to spray and then have kids go through there."
Although copper fungicide is organic, tomatoes treated with it still need to be washed before they are eaten, he said. In addition, there are guidelines about how soon after spraying the fruit can be harvested.
Perrault said he has not yet had to destroy any plants in the pick-your-own tomato field. While the blight has affected foliage, the fruit is unblemished. "We're hoping to get a few off there before we have to do them in," he said. "A lot will depend on the weather."
Ryan Voiland, co-owner of Red Fire Farm in Granby and Montague, said he lost 2 acres, or about $80,000 worth of produce, to the blight in 2009.
Since then the farm has used copper fungicide on all its tomato crops. This year, only one half-acre field has been affected, and Voiland expects to have a plentiful harvest from the farm's other five tomato fields.
"It's kind of surprising that it happened this year, since it was so hot and dry in July, but sometimes just the dew at night can be enough for it to thrive," he said of late blight.
Red Fire Farm has not destroyed the affected field because it contains several tomato varieties, and some seem to be somewhat resistant to the blight, Voiland said.
Since late blight spores spread easily through the air and via clothing, Red Fire Farm's crew has to be careful not to infect other fields, Voiland said. "We've trained all our co-workers with the protocol: Do the harvest in the infected field last in the day, and then they go home and change."
Voiland said that while it is too early to tell how late blight will affect Red Fire Farm's remaining fields, he is optimistic.
"I will say, other than that one field that got the blight, it's been one of the best tomato plantings I've ever seen," he said.
Rebecca Everett can be reached at reverett@gazettenet.com [1].
The blight was absent from the area last summer, but this year it began showing up on plants in the Valley in mid-July. Bess Dicklow, Extension plant pathologist at the University of Massachusetts Disease and Diagnostic Laboratory, said the spores of the disease probably blew in from the South.
Dicklow said she was a little surprised to see the blight spores in the lab results she has been processing from area farms. "This year the conditions are not as favorable for the pathogen as in 2009," she said, explaining that late blight thrives in wet weather. "If this summer wasn't so dry, if it was more like a normal summer, it'd be much worse."
While some local farmers have spotted the blight in their fields, they said they still have plenty of healthy tomatoes and are ready to defend them against the disease. Both conventional and organic farmers are using fungicides, greenhouses and other means to protect ripening fruit, and are taking steps to keep the disease from spreading from already infected fruit.
Dicklow said farms that spray conventional fungicides on tomato plants have not been affected because the sprays are very effective. "Basically, it's the small organic farms that are dealing with it, and we haven't seen any big outbreaks," she said.
One farm's story
The Kitchen Garden farm, which operates in Sunderland and Hadley, had the dubious honor of being the first in western Massachusetts to be diagnosed with late blight this year, co-owner Timothy Wilcox said.
He said that in the second week of July, he got confirmation from the UMass disease laboratory that the farm's entire first planting, worth about $50,000, was infected.
Workers had to untie the tomato plants from their stakes and then plow the plants under the soil. "It took six people several days to do it," Wilcox said. "But it's important because of the threat the spores pose to other neighboring farms."
Wilcox said The Kitchen Garden still has plenty of tomatoes for its CSA members and farmers market customers, thanks partly to a 200-by-30-foot greenhouse built last year. Airborne spores can't reach fruit in the greenhouse.
"We invested in it partly to prevent against this type of thing and the risks of growing outdoors," he said. "We're still picking from the greenhouse, and we have plenty."
To protect the farm's second planting of tomatoes in the fields, workers have started to spray the plants with a copper-based organic fungicide. "That field will start being ready to pick next week, so we're hoping that will keep the spores at bay until we can get a few harvests," Wilcox said.
Dicklow said copper fungicides, which are certified organic, are the only practical option for organic farms that want to protect plants in the fields. The fungicide serves as a barrier on the fruit skin, preventing late blight spores from multiplying. Although it is a chemical, it is organic because it is made of naturally occurring compounds, Dicklow said.
She said copper fungicide is not as effective as conventional fungicides and has other limitations. Because it is a preventive measure, it has to be used before the infection starts and must be reapplied often so that it protects new tomato growth. Some farms spray it weekly.
Wilcox said that most organic farmers he knows are spraying with copper fungicides this year, an approach that he said is likely to continue if late blight becomes an ongoing problem. "I think it's going to be standard practice for any commercial producer of tomatoes," he said.
At Mountain View Farm in Easthampton, only the farm's half-acre of pick-your-own tomatoes has been hit by late blight. Mountain View's other 2 acres of tomatoes, which are sold at farmers markets or shared with CSA members, have been protected with copper fungicide.
"It's been very effective this year," said Ben Perrault, co-owner of the farm. He said Mountain View started spraying earlier than usual this year after being affected by late blight in the past. In 2009, he said, he didn't harvest a single tomato from 2 acres.
Perrault added that he does not spray the farm's pick-your-own tomatoes. "We have people on the farm constantly, and we just can't be sure people won't go in. We wouldn't want to spray and then have kids go through there."
Although copper fungicide is organic, tomatoes treated with it still need to be washed before they are eaten, he said. In addition, there are guidelines about how soon after spraying the fruit can be harvested.
Perrault said he has not yet had to destroy any plants in the pick-your-own tomato field. While the blight has affected foliage, the fruit is unblemished. "We're hoping to get a few off there before we have to do them in," he said. "A lot will depend on the weather."
Ryan Voiland, co-owner of Red Fire Farm in Granby and Montague, said he lost 2 acres, or about $80,000 worth of produce, to the blight in 2009.
Since then the farm has used copper fungicide on all its tomato crops. This year, only one half-acre field has been affected, and Voiland expects to have a plentiful harvest from the farm's other five tomato fields.
"It's kind of surprising that it happened this year, since it was so hot and dry in July, but sometimes just the dew at night can be enough for it to thrive," he said of late blight.
Red Fire Farm has not destroyed the affected field because it contains several tomato varieties, and some seem to be somewhat resistant to the blight, Voiland said.
Since late blight spores spread easily through the air and via clothing, Red Fire Farm's crew has to be careful not to infect other fields, Voiland said. "We've trained all our co-workers with the protocol: Do the harvest in the infected field last in the day, and then they go home and change."
Voiland said that while it is too early to tell how late blight will affect Red Fire Farm's remaining fields, he is optimistic.
"I will say, other than that one field that got the blight, it's been one of the best tomato plantings I've ever seen," he said.
Rebecca Everett can be reached at reverett@gazettenet.com [1].
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