Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/418083
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER DECEMBER 2014 61 Extension has committed to pay for the fi rst programmer, but DAS needs roughly $150,000 a year to cover the second programmer and manager/educator's salaries, site main- tenance, overheads, and other costs not met by WSU. Until now, DAS been funded mainly by grants from the Research Commission and elsewhere. Jones said it needs stable, long-term funding because granting agencies don't want to pay to maintain a system. They want to pay for new features and new technologies. The result has been that DAS has many new features in the works that it's not yet been able to implement on the website. "We can think them up faster than we can get them up and operating," Jones said. "User fees will allow us to add the new features that we're working on now and have been work- ing on for the last two years." New features A recent addition called OPENED (Orchard Pesticide Effects on Natural Enemies Database) allows users to select pesticides based not just on their effi cacy against pests, but on how they affect benefi cial insects, too. "So if you have a mite problem, for exam- ple, you don't want to apply anything that's going to affect predators of spider mites," Jones said. "Or if leafrollers is your key prob- lem, you want to choose pesticides that don't affect natural enemies of leafrollers." New degree-day models are being added for two mite species (European red mite and two-spotted spider mite) and two benefi cial lacewing species, Chrysoperla carnea and Chrysopa nigricornis. Several more models are in the pipeline. Mike Hodge, fi eld representative with G.S. Long in Yakima, said he fi nds the existing models for codling moth and fi re blight particularly useful and is looking forward to seeing a pollen-tube growth model on DAS to help time chemical thinning sprays. One feature under development is a cell phone/tablet app to allow users to enter trap count data in the fi eld then have it summarized and displayed on DAS or on the cell phone. Long-term forecasts The Research Commission and WSU Extension are funding a project that will enable DAS to provide lon- ger-term forecasts. The weather data is manipulated into degree-days and will provide a fairly accurate one-month forecast of heat unit accumulation, which is what drives insect development. In trials, the average error has been about three days. "These long-range forecasts aren't super accurate but it's a good warning of how things are starting to fi t together from a pest management perspective," Jones said. A grower or horticulturist will be able to get a sense of how sprays for the various pests interact. For exam- ple, if a grower applies a spray for codling moth that is combined with oil for greater effi cacy, it will also impact spider mites. Growers might not be aware that they're controlling multiple pests with one spray. By following DAS recommendations, growers can get maximum benefi t from their pesticide sprays and reduce the number they need to apply. "Timing is everything with management," Jones said. "We're giving you information which is time sensitive, and we're giving it to you before it actually happens, so you're not waking up and fi nding out there's a problem you didn't know about that needs to be dealt with today. You should have known a week ago, because our fore- cast's currently ten days into the future to show what the issues are that you'll be facing in the near future. "That's the whole purpose of DAS—to make sure people aren't caught unaware," he emphasized. "The long-term goal of DAS is to have a management plan, not a reaction plan." In surveys, users have said that by DAS recommenda- tions they saved an average of $75 per acre per year in spray costs, which adds up to about $16 million industry-wide. Jones said DAS today is similar to what he envi- sioned many years ago, but its impact has exceeded his expectations. "Scientifi cally, there are things I've done that are a lot more interesting, but to get that information out there and get it used is probably the most rewarding thing," he said. • ONLINE: Find the WSU-Decision Aid System at das.wsu.edu