Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/108963
T he Organic Tree Fruit Industry Working Group has developed series of fact sheets, which are posted at www.tfrec.wsu.edu/pages/organic/fireblight. Information about the NOSB and its recommendations can be accessed through the National Organic Program Web site at www.ams.usda.gov/ AMSv1.0/nop. David Granatstein is more susceptible. So, do growers choose a variety principally on the basis of consumer demand or a disease trait? An extension bulletin from Colorado State University states that ���Cultivars of apple, crab apple, and pear differ in their degree of susceptibility to the bacterium.��� Although some cultivars are less susceptible than others, no cultivar is immune to infection when the pathogen is abundant and conditions are favorable for infection.��� Thus, full resistance, or immunity, is not currently available for growers to utilize. A new project using marker-assisted breeding to find sources of resistance from Malus sieversii, a wild apple relative, could lead to National Organics Program-compliant resistant varieties in the future. The NOSB repeatedly referred to resistant rootstocks, especially the Geneva series from New York, as a reason to phase out antibiotics. These look very promising, but are not yet commercially available due to propagation problems. Interviewed The major tree fruit nurseries were interviewed during December 2011, and asked which resistant varieties they would recommend for commercial growers. They could not suggest a resistant variety for commercial growers, as none were known or accepted in the marketplace. And they could not provide any trees with Geneva rootstock before 2014 due to propagation challenges. Additionally, a resistant rootstock does not confer resistance to the scion (top) of the tree, which is where infections occur (primarily through the blossoms). And, you don���t switch a rootstock in an orchard like you change a wheat variety in a seed drill. Replanting an orchard involves an expense of $15,000 to $20,000 per acre. Introducing a new variety into commercial channels is a multimillion-dollar proposal that can take years. The discussion around resistant germ plasm pointed out how complex this entire issue is and the challenge posed to members of the NOSB who typically do not have the technical background to understand it. This leaves organic growers quite vulnerable to the particular expertise and biases of the board members whose decisions can have a dramatic impact down on the farm. It suggests that growers need a better mechanism to ensure that their voices and concerns are heard by NOSB. www.goodfruit.com After much debate and numerous revisions to the committee recommendations, the NOSB voted to extend the expiration date for oxytetracycline to October 21, 2014. The same expiration was voted for streptomycin under the sunset review. The board asked the industry to set up a task force to monitor progress towards alternatives, which has been initiated by Washington State University and Michigan State University, with support from the Organic Trade Association. The Organic Tree Fruit Industry Working Group has provided updates to the NOSB to help them objectively assess whether suitable alternatives to antibiotics are ready by October 2014, and developed a series of fact sheets. New petitions for oxytetracycline and streptomycin have been submitted to NOP to initiate further consideration of the NOSB decisions. The story of fireblight, antibiotics, and the NOSB illustrates some of the challenges of the organic standards process. The board members, all volunteer, are confronted with huge workloads that seem to continually grow larger. They generally do not have the technical expertise to evaluate many of the issues they are deciding on and must rely on expert input, stakeholder testimony, and fellow board member recommendations. They are trying to balance often conflicting interests of different stakeholders and not do harm to the organic sector. However, it is apparent that the biases of an individual or two on the board can shape recommendations to the board without there being adequate checks and balances from potentially affected parties. Given the recent fireblight experience, the interests of growers need to be better represented in the process, and the board should be more proactive in soliciting representative grower input regarding decisions that could have large negative consequences. The realities of production and the market must be considered by the NOSB, and their decisions should allow for growers to make an orderly change of practice without undue disruption of their efforts to provide organic foods. Several board members themselves described how their own children will not eat the organic Red Delicious apples that they bring home, while the Galas are quickly devoured, confirming that less disease-susceptible varieties that no one wants to buy are not a solution to the fireblight problem. Field to Fork Solutions soi Powerful Disease Control FOLIAR BROAD SPECTRUM BACTERICIDE/FUNGICIDE Treat your crops with OxiDate 2.0 and kill disease on contact. Use alone or tank mix with residual chemistries for added power. Antibiotic expiration NOSB members will take up the antibiotic expiration when they discuss the oxytetracycline petition at their next meeting in Portland, Oregon, on April 8 to 12. Again, this location allows for growers from the Pacific Northwest to testify in person, something that carries a lot of impact for the board. In addition, there will be a comment period beginning this month when written comments can be submitted. Certain advocacy groups are likely to gather comments from thousands of constituents and submit them. Growers will likely never be able to match the numbers of comments from such groups, but need to have a substantial presence (hundreds of comments) for their perspectives to be given similar consideration, something that seldom happens. Getting organized as an ���organic tree fruit constituency��� now for the fireblight issue will pay dividends in the future as issues such as continued use of pheromone dispensers are likely to be debated by NOSB. While getting involved in the NOSB process can be quite time consuming, greater input by the organic community will definitely help improve the process over time. �� SOIL BROAD SPECTRUM BACTERICIDE/FUNGICIDE TerraClean 5.0 quickly penetrates soil to control plant pathogens. University trials consistently show improved yields in TerraClean treated crops. LLC ��2013 Copyright BioSafe Systems LLC. OxiDate�� 2.0 and TerraClean�� 5.0 are registered trademarks of BioSafe Systems, LLC. Always read and follow label directions. ��� GOOD FRUIT GROWER FEBRUARY 15, 2013 15