Climbing Cutworm and Steely Beetle

This is your yearly reminder that we are at the growth stage where feeding from climbing cutworm and grape steely (flea) beetles can be a problem. With the forecast of warm temperatures and some sunshine the grapes may move through the susceptible stage (bud swell to three inches of shoot growth for climbing cutworm and bud swell to 1-inch shoot growth for steely beetle) rather quickly, limiting the amount of damage.

A close second to weather conditions in determining the severity of damage from these pests is habitat. Steely beetle like overgrown brushy areas to over winter in while climbing cutworm damage has been shown to increase as the weed free band under the row decreases. Evaluate your vineyard blocks to determine potential hot spots. As Labrusca growers look to limit input costs in response to the current returns, more time will need to be put into information collection to assist in making management decisions.

However, if you have had a problem with either of these pests in the past I would urge you to take the time to look at past problem areas. Damage thresholds are 2% bud damage for each of these pests. Keep in mind that these thresholds were developed using balanced pruned vines so you should be able to increase the damage threshold if you are leaving up extra buds.

If you are a member of the Lake Erie Regional Grape Program through your local county extension association you should have received your copy of the 2007 New York and Pennsylvania Pest Management Guidelines for Grapes in your mailbox or at least in the near future. Note: Those joining the program through Cattaraugus County will need to order individual copies of the grape guidelines as the cost of the guidelines is not covered by the cost of membership.

If you are not a member of extension you can get a copy of the guidelines by contacting Liz Powers of the Pest Management Education Program at Cornell University through any of the following methods:

Phone at (607) 255-7282
Fax at (607) 255-7311
E-mail at patorder@cornell.edu

Sustainable Viticulture Workbook Project

We continue to hear from growers and are still asking for more volunteers to go through the workbook, answering the questions that pertain to them (and let us know what questions do not pertain to their operation)! Please let us know if you are interested by emailing Edith (emb35@cornell.edu or grape@netsync.net)! We would love to hear from you.

Update - We have met with growers from Chautauqua, Niagara, Cattaraugus Counties in New York and several growers from PA. for this project which is a cooperative effort of growers, processors, the Finger Lakes Regional Grape Program, Long Island Grape Program and the Lake Erie Regional Grape Program.

Going over the questions in the workbook typically takes about 90 minutes. Depending on your operation and the type of grapes you are growing doesn't make any difference either - we are interested in everyone's input, no matter how many acres you have. Once you have completed the first phase of going through the workbook and answering the questions scaled from 1 (best practice) to 4 (should look at this practice to see if it can be improved), a follow-up visit is scheduled with a member of the SWCD from your county (they have the money to help with cost sharing) to discuss how you might be able to move the practices that received a rating of 4 to a rating closer to 1 - this is the Action Plan meeting.

The workbook questions are painless, self-reflective and the comments made by growers' are very positive - including how going over the questions makes them think about their total operation, or how they might be able to do or think about something differently, etc.

We have appointments set up with more growers through the month for both the workbook portion and Action Plan meetings... If you are interested in working with us on this project please send Edith an email or give her a call at 716.672.6830 so she can schedule an appointment with you.