The Yuma agriculture community lost a legend with the passing of our friend and colleague, Vicki-Lynne Scott. Vicki was a friend to everyone she met and a mentor to countless people across our agricultural community, leaving a lasting impact on Yuma agriculture and University of Arizona Extension.

I was especially fortunate to work closely with Vicki these past few months as she brought me into conversations surrounding the diamondback moth challenges facing our vegetable systems. She believed in me as an entomologist and had confidence in my abilities before I fully recognized them myself. She cared deeply about helping growers and making sure the right people were at the table to move our industry forward. Vicki also loved the Veg IPM Newsletter and often referenced Dr. Jeff Silvertooth’s work and the value of University of Arizona Extension programs.

As our community moves forward, it is difficult to imagine facing these agricultural challenges without Vicki’s guidance. Her legacy will live on in the countless people she mentored and supported throughout her life.

Vicki never left any of us wondering how deeply she cared about the people and community around her. Thank you, Vicki, for believing in people, bringing us together, and leaving our agricultural community better than you found it.

As part of the SW Ag Summit that is taking place in Yuma this week, we are conducting a breakout session on Thursday, 22 February 2024 titled “Colorado River Water Shortage: Agricultural Perspectives”.  This session will start at 9:30 a.m. in MAC 106 at the Arizona Western College campus.
This session will provide a brief review of the background, the current situation on the Colorado River and very importantly it will include an outlook on the current discussions among the basin states to negotiate a new compromise for the guidelines of use under conditions of water shortage.  These new guidelines will go into place at the end of 2026.  The immediate goal is to draft proposals by March 2024.
This breakout session at the Southwest Ag Summit will provide up to date information and firsthand insight into the process.  The participants are uniquely qualified to offer valuable perspectives on these issues.  This will be a very good session.
The program outline is as follows:


2024 Southwest Ag Summit
Educational Program
Thursday – February 22, 2024
 
COLORADO RIVER WATER UPDATE AND PROJECTIONS
Location: MAC106
 
9:30-10:00a.m. Colorado River Background and Introduction 
Elston Grubaugh, Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District
 
10:00–10:30a.m. Colorado River Situation and Future Projections
Bart Fisher, Palo Verder Irrigation District and State of California Colorado River Water Board member, Fisher Ranch, Blythe CA
 
10:30–11:00a.m. Colorado River Situation and Future Projections
Hank Auza, Yuma County Water User’s Association President and Yuma Ag Water 
Coalition representative, Barkley Co. of Arizona, Yuma AZ
 
11:00–11:30a.m. Question & Answer / Discussion
 
Moderator: Elston Grubaugh, Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District

On April 30th of this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published document EPA-HQ-OPP-2026-2973-0002 entitled the “Draft Fungicide Strategy to Reduce Exposure of Federally Listed Endangered and Threatened Species and Designated Critical Habitats from the Use of Conventional Agricultural Fungicides”. This strategy is officially open for public comment through July 20th, and the Arizona Pest Management Center and the University of Arizona are working on formulating a cohesive response.  

This latest draft strategy includes a sizable focus on potential off-site movement of fungicides through runoff associated with treated seed. The following excerpt is taken directly from the document:

“As part of the next steps, EPA is requesting stakeholder input on several aspects of the strategy including… Considerations regarding seed treatments, including seed treatment usage data, information and data on the availability of pesticides on the seed coat to runoff, prevalence of non-commercial (e.g., on-farm, on-site) seed treatments, effects of handling (e.g., loading, planting) on the quality of the pesticide coat and its availability for runoff, and relevant agronomic practices that might reduce the potential for runoff from treated seeds (e.g., seeding depths, disposal)”

Accessible as of June 2026 at https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPP-2026-29730002

While the potential route of contaminated off-site runoff from treated seed has been a minor discussion in the scientific literature, it has not been enough of a focus to warrant surveying or regulatory decisions at the federal level thus far. This request for information suggests that this may potentially change going forward. The public comment period presents the best opportunity to bring up practical considerations during early stages before regulatory decisions are made. Regulatory decisions are less likely to present unintended consequences when they are informed by real-world operational perspectives which are ultimately guided by region- and crop-specific experience.

To better inform our response, we are seeking information from across Yuma County to help identify use patterns and current stewardship practices related to fungicide-treated seed. A brief, anonymous, five-minute survey can be found at the following link:

https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bQpJQzNodI3c5x4

We invite growers, PCAs, seed industry professionals, and distributors to fill it out. If you do not work with treated seed as a grower or PCA, answering the first question will accordingly finish the survey. The response will still provide valuable insight into usage patterns. Thank you in advance for your time and participation. 

VegIPM Update Vol. 17, Num. 12
June 10, 2026

Results of sticky trap catches below!!

 

Whitefly: Adult activity has increased significantly across locations; above average for this time of the year. Historically, whitefly numbers peak in July.  

Thrips: Adult thrips activity remained steady over the last two weeks. About average for this  time of the year. Historically, thrips numbers remain low until Sept-Oct.