Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/108963
"Although some cultivars are less susceptible than others, no cultivar is immune to infection." ���Tim Smith change the annotation to the use of oxytetracycline by adding another chemical form of it. This triggered a review independent of the sunset process (slated for 2011) and would have reset the sunset clock for another five years. On November 19, 2008, the NOSB changed the annotation to include calcium oxytetracycline as well as oxytetracycline hydrochloride, but also added the expiration date of October 21, 2012, thus removing it from the normal sunset process. The U.S. Department of Agriculture accepted this recommendation as a final rule in 2010. The majority of NOSB members appeared to support phaseout as soon as possible. Streptomycin was slated for sunset review in 2011 and a similar phase-out date was envisioned. Survey Washington State organic orchardists were surveyed in February 2010, regarding their likely response to this regulatory change. Eighty-two percent of the respondents said they would not be able to control fireblight without antibiotics in a high infection risk year (when the risk level exceeded 700-800 on the CougarBlight model), given the available alternatives. Many growers anticipated reducing their organic apple and pear production based on the loss of tetracycline. Organic growers in the Upper Midwest and Pennsylvania were also polled and generally said that antibiotics were a crucial tool of last resort for fireblight control. Since Washington State produces the vast majority of organic fresh-market apples and pears in the United States, the loss of tetracycline would likely diminish the supply of these products at the same time that demand is still growing in domestic and international markets. And since the disease is not present in South America, a decrease in domestic supply would likely be replaced with imported fruit. In response, the Washington State Horticultural Association submitted a petition to the NOSB to remove the annotation regarding the phase-out date for oxytetracycline. The petition was put on the docket for the NOSB���s April 2011 meeting in Seattle, which also included the sunset review of streptomycin. The meeting location was fortuitous, as many affected growers were able to testify in person. The testimony and discussions at the Seattle meeting were lengthy and illustrated the complexity of the fireblight disease. Most NOSB members had little understanding of the nature of the fireblight disease, the effective control options available, and the levels of risk and loss growers face with the disease. A significant part of the justification for the phaseout was based on presumed availability of alternative controls and resistant varieties and rootstocks. Alternative controls are registered for use, but have not performed consistently or with the same efficacy as antibiotics, as stated above. All susceptibile According to Tim Smith, Washington State University Extension specialist and a world expert on fireblight, all pear cultivars, even those that are said to be resistant, are more or less susceptible to fireblight, especially when they are young. Apples have a wider range of susceptibility, but none are truly resistant. Red Delicious is one of the less susceptible apple varieties, but it is also one of the least desired by organic consumers. Gala and Fuji are produced on the most organic acres in Washington, and Gala 14 FEBRUARY 15, 2013 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com