On behalf of the Palumbo family, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who made Dr. John Palumbo’s Celebration of Life such a meaningful and memorable event. 

A heartfelt thank you to every amazing individual at the farm for your incredible dedication and hard work in planning and executing the celebration with such care and compassion.  We are honored that you allowed us to use the farm as the venue to gather, laugh, cry, and share memories and stories of our loved one.  We are truly grateful for the time and love that you put into honoring John.  

To the generous donors and thoughtful planning committee, we thank you for your kindness, dedication, and outpouring of support. Your generosity has helped create a beautiful space for remembrance, healing, and connection. Your heartfelt speeches touched us deeply, making us both laugh and cry as we remembered and celebrated.

We understand that the loss of John was not only that of a colleague,  but a friend and a constant presence in your daily lives.  Some absences echo louder than words can express and this is one of them.   Even in our sorrow we hold on to the memories, the love, and the moments that will forever be etched into our lives.

It meant so much for all of us to gather and celebrate a life so dearly loved. John would have been honored, and deeply moved, to know his life inspired such a beautiful tribute filled with laughter, stories, and connection.

With love,
The Palumbo Family ♥️

I am seeking samples of downy mildew on lettuce from around Yuma County to support the Michelmore Lab and their ongoing efforts to help characterize the downy mildew populations of the United States. The Michelmore Lab has led the charge on a survey of Bremia variants since 1980 and has been instrumental in demystifying the gene-for-gene nature of lettuce resistance to downy mildew.

Their group invites growers across the United States to submit downy mildew infected plant samples, which are then used to culture the Bremia on live host plants. The team then inoculates a panel of lettuce varieties carrying known resistance genes to determine the race of each isolate they receive. Identifying which races occur in which specific fields is essential to guiding the breeding of new resistant cultivars and maximizing the effectiveness of host-based genetic disease management. The data obtained from these tests are also used to designate new Bremia races through the International Bremia Evaluation Board.

Your contribution will help breed better lettuce for Yuma. This means less breakdown of resistance in the field, and better yields for Yuma growers. To facilitate these submissions the Yuma Plant Health Clinic will be setting up a separate drop-off point and submission sheet for downy mildew sample submissions in the same hallway we use for standard plant diagnostic submissions. The drop-off point will be clearly labelled and consist of a chest-style refrigerator and printed copies of the submission form. It is vital to keep these samples cool so they remain viable for future inoculations, so please place your samples inside of the refrigerator before you leave.

Shipping will be handled by the clinic. All we ask is that you fill out the submission form as completely as you can. An example of the questions that are asked in that form so you can prepare ahead of time can be found HERE . 

In previous articles (Vol. 11 (13), Vol. 11 (20), Vol. 11(24)), I’ve discussed using band-steam to control  plant diseases and weeds. Band-steaming is where steam is used to heat narrow strips of soil to temperature levels sufficient to kill soilborne pathogens and weed seed (>140 °F for > 20 minutes). The concept is showing good promise. This past season, three trials were conducted examining the efficacy of using steam for disease and weed control in Yuma, AZ. In the studies, steam was applied in a 4-inch-wide by 2-inch-deep band of soil centered on the seedline using a prototype band-steam applicator (Fig.1). The band-steam applicator is principally comprised of a 35 BHP steam generator mounted on top of an elongated bed shaper. The apparatus applies steam via shank injection and from cone shaped ports on top of the bed shaper. 
Trial results were very encouraging as the prototype applicator was able to raise soil temperatures to target levels (140°F for >20 minutes) at viable travels speeds of 0.75 mph. Steam provided better than 80% weed control and significantly lowered hand weeding time by more than 2 hours per acre (Table 1). Results also showed that Fusarium colony forming units (CFU) were reduced from 2,600 in the control to 155 in the 0.75 mph and 53 in the 0.5 mph treatments, respectively (a more than 15-fold reduction). A significant difference in Fusarium wilt of lettuce disease incidence was not found, however disease infection at the field site was low (< 2%) and differences were not expected. At 0.5 mph, fuel costs were calculated to be $238/acre which was considered reasonable and consistent with the values reported by Fennimore et al. (2014).

An unexpected finding was that plants in steam treated plots appeared to be healthier and more vigorous than untreated plots (Fig. 2). This trial is still in progress and it will be interesting to see if this improved early growth translates into increases in crop yield.
In summary, early trial results are showing good promise for use of band-steam as a non-herbicidal method of pest control. We plan on conducting further trials in this multi-year study. If you are interested in evaluating the device on your farm and being part of the study please contact me. We are particularly interested in fields with a known history of Fusarium wilt of lettuce and/or Sclerotinia lettuce drop that will be planted to iceberg or romaine lettuce.
As always, if you are interested in seeing the machine operate or would like more information, please feel free to contact me.

Acknowledgements
This work is supported by Crop Protection and Pest Management grant no. 2017-70006-27273/project accession no. 1014065 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Arizona Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and the Arizona Iceberg Lettuce Research Council. We greatly appreciate their support. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
A special thank you is extended to Mellon Farms for allowing us to conduct this research on their farm.

References
Fennimore, S.A., Martin, F.N., Miller, T.C., Broome, J.C., Dorn, N. and Greene, I. 2014. Evaluation of a mobile steam applicator for soil disinfestation in California strawberry. HortScience 49(12):1542-1549.

Click link below or picture to see the band-steam and co-product applicator in action! 

 

Weeds are one of the most visible of all agricultural pests. They can’t move or hide and once established often stick up over the crop. Just one weed in a 10 acre field is annoying to look at. With insects and diseases, the damage is often more visible than the pest. That is not the case with weeds. A moderate weed infestation is approximately 10 weeds per square foot. If a herbicide produces 90% control, that leaves 1 weed per square foot or 43 weeds per acre. Without an untreated check, this can look like the herbicide failed!  It is easy to leave an untreated spot in a field and it is well worth doing. Many applicators do so unintentionally because of skips, powerlines and other causes. They help determine crop injury and weed control. Here are some examples of what various levels of control looked like from one of our cole crop trials:

Results of pheromone and sticky trap catches can be viewed here.

 

Corn earworm: CEW moth beginning to incresase in some areas, particularly in Wellton and Tacna in the past week; Above average for this time of season.

Beet armyworm: Moth trap counts increased in most areas, above average for this time of the year.

Cabbage looper: Moths continue to increase in all traps in the past 2 weeks, and average for this time of the season.

Diamondback moth: Adults remain the same, but very active in in Wellton and the N. Yuma Valley.  Overall, average for February.

Whitefly: Adult movement remains low in all areas, consistent with previous years.

Thrips: Thrips adults movement increase slightly in past 2 weeks, most notably in Roll. Overall activity average for February.

Aphids:  Winged aphids are still actively moving and reached seasonal highs in the past two weeks.  Well above average for February.

Leafminers: Adult activity down in most locations, below average for this time of season.