VegNet

This year, we commemorate 20 years of OSU’s VegNet (1996-2016). VegNet has become a well-known and utilized resource for processed vegetable growers, researchers, and Ag professionals throughout Oregon. This regional program provides weekly activity reports for common broccoli, cauliflower, sweet corn, and snap bean pests. The main goal of the program is to serve as an early warning and detection network, to inform growers of potential pest outbreaks that may warrant increased field scouting and action. Notable trends from 2016 include extensive Cabbage Looper pressure, a continued increase of Cucumber Beetle species (12-spot and striped), and new Armyworms to be aware of. It is becoming apparent that pest activity can vary widely between field sites. Although the regional average is useful, it should not be the only metric used when considering if and how to treat for pests.

Oregon State University’s VegNet is a regional pest monitoring program that provides activity reports for 10 common insect pests that affect broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, sweet corn, and snap beans. Crop pests are sampled weekly and raw data is compared to activity trends from previous years. Regional pest monitoring helps growers and agricultural field representatives adjust their scouting effort when an outbreak is detected, and the combination of area-wide monitoring plus field-specific scouting reduces risk of crop loss. Reports are available on www.oregonvegetables.com, and sent via an email newsletter that currently serves over 400 subscribers. In 2015, increases in pest pressure were noted for black cutworm, spotted cucumber beetle, cabbage white butterfly, bertha armyworm, and diamondback moth.

For the past 18 years, processed vegetable growers in the Willamette Valley, OR have had a vital partner in crop pest monitoring – Oregon State University’s VegNet. This regional pest monitoring program provides weekly activity reports for common broccoli, cauliflower, sweet corn, and snap bean pests. Data is published on www.oregonvegetables.com and is available as an email subscription newsletter. The main goal of the program is to provide an early warning to growers of potential outbreaks that may warrant increased field scouting and action.

Cabbage maggot is a root-boring pest affecting brassica crops. It can cause wilting and increased risk for plant pathogens.

Principle investigator: Jessica Green (OSU Horticulture)

VegNet is a regional pest monitoring and reporting network serving the Oregon processed vegetable industry, managed by the OSU Extension Service, and funded by the Oregon Processed Vegetable Commission. In the early spring of 2012, thirty six insect monitoring stations were established on cooperating farms located strategically throughout the Willamette Basin and maintained during the growing season.

The goals of the VegNet Regional Pest Monitoring and Reporting System are:

A number of growers and agricultural professionals have asked me whether we are seeing resistance to mold in snap beans to our currently registered fungicides. The short answer is, not to my knowledge. In a normal year, the primarily threat to snap beans is white mold (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum). When we have a cool, wet spring, we see both white mold and gray mold (Botrytis cinerea). Gray mold is a game changer. Gray mold control requires a tank mix, early timing, and a two spray program.

RESEARCH LEADER: Daniel McGrath
 

COOPERATORS: Manual Silveira and Jim Gill, NORPAC; Wayne Parker, Jason White, and Neil MacInnes, National Frozen; Jon Brown, Truitt Bros; Larry, Ron, and Molly Pearmine, Richard Haener, Mark, Mike, and Cory Dickman, Skip Gray, Oscar Lopez, Matt and Gary Cook, Karl, Nancy, and Kenny Hendricks, Tom and Sam Sweeney Farm. Technical support for this project was provided by Pami Opfer and Jose Hernandez.

Bertha Armyworm can damage cabbage and broccoli crops in the Willamette Valley. This page provides some basic information about the pest and discusses management and controls methods. Detailed scouting and monitoring techniques are provided as well as a risk assessment for spray decisions.

The Black Cutworm & Variegated Cutworm can be particularly damaging to corn and bean crops in the Willamette Valley if infestations are not detected early. This page provides some basic information about the pest and discusses management and controls methods. Detailed scouting and monitoring techniques are provided as well as a risk assessment for spray decisions.