Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Preliminary comments: Website for the project is in a renovation stage but report related information can be added if it was not previously reported. Site for 2015 meeting: an offer to host the meeting was proffered by David Shapiro-Ilan to hold the project at Byron, GA. The offer was accepted and approved by unanimous vote of the members. New secretary for 2015-2016: Jackie Lee from Oklahoma State University. Administrative Advisor Comments: Thanks were expressed to the Noble Foundation for its hospitality relative to the 2014 meeting. New project will be required in September 2015 so it was recommended that a committee to write up a new project for submission be established. A committee was formed chaired by Donn Johnson that included Tiffany Johnson, Brad Lewis, Jackie Lee and David Shapiro-Ilan. The Farm Bill was passed and the Specialty Crops, Beginning Farmers and Ranchers, and the Organic programs were reauthorized. Dr. Watson commented on the reduction in FTEs on pecan and the potential of a more regional approach to pecan research and Extension. He introduced Dr. Rogers Leonard from LSU to discuss this issue from the LSU perspective given that they have experienced a large reduction in staff at their dedicated pecan research center near Shreveport, LA. Dr. Leonard explained what the situation was in LA, as well as a suggestion that cooperative programs would be of interest given that grower interest in pecan production and pecan acreage is increasing. They will not be replacing retired positions. Dr. Watson indicated that some new federal special grant opportunities might be forthcoming which might offer a means to fund this type of regional research. Two USDA regions are represented and with KS and MO added there are actually three regions. A discussion ensued about the potential of different vehicles for increasing multidisciplinary and multistate research and Extension efforts at a more formal level such as a SERA project. The need for members of other disciplines to work together was discussed as well as what barriers might be in place that would hinder their participation. A number of previous disciple-inclusive meetings of pecan scientists have been convened in the past that were successful and they might serve as a model for developing new opportunities. Meeting Location 2015: USDA-ARS, Byron, GA.

Objective 1: Improved Monitoring and Forecasting Methods for Field Populations of Pecan Arthropods: Brian Cowell provided a brief report on stink bug monitoring in AR using various sampling methods. Brown stink bug was the most numerous, and all were in higher populations in early (June-July) than late season. Damage was 100% in water and dough stage and 50% in later stage nuts using a cage study. UV light traps used in the orchards indicated that light traps are not very efficient for capturing the major stink bugs in pecan and that green stink bugs are not contributing to damage to pecan. NM is using nut casebearer and hickory shuckworm traps to promote monitoring of these insects by growers. LA is working with growers to increase nut casebearer trap use and reporting of data collection to ipmpipe. GA is sampling obscure scale by removing sample limbs and counting stages in the lab. Crawlers occur in south GA about June 15. Serious damage has been observed and once orchard is infested it is hard to suppress. GA has also tried a Johnson vacuum suction trap for pecan aphids and other arthropods mounted in the canopy at about 18 feet. Prionus beetle pheromone is being used to try to trap out males. KS is working with nut casebearer using nut counts and found that 8% cluster damage was accrued and no sprays were applied. TX is using nut casebearer traps and reporting data to ipmpipe as well as county agents. Susceptibility of blackmargined aphid has been shown to be genetically based and this has led to this information being incorporated into pecan breeding programs. Objective 2: Improved Control Systems for Pecan Arthropod Pests: NM Movento, Requiem and Belief were tested against blackmargined aphids. Belief was the best single insecticide treatment. A surfactant was needed with these single compounds but not if Movento and Belief were used together. TX has been emphasizing rotation of neonic insecticides for aphids. Closer is very effective and better that Belief which was also effective. Differential treatment of aphids relative to cultivar susceptibility e.g., Pawnee (lower) vs Cheyenne is being emphasized as well. A number of sesquiterpenes (pecan chemical constituents) are being tested to induce nut casebearers to emerge prior to the availability of food in a suicidal manner. In GA, Mite control with insecticides was still demonstrated up to 28 days with Envidor and older acaricides. Acramite provided only moderate control. Intrepid + Tactic worked effectively for hickory shuckworm with one or two applications (better) whereas Intrepid alone was less effective. Assail provided good control of obscure scale the last week in June when targeted to crawlers. Movento + a surfactant was also effective. In LA, Exirel (HDW86) was tested and found as effective as Intrepid for nut casebearer. Objective 3: Integrate Pecan Arthropod Pest Control Methods with Pecan Production Methods: TX - Tawny ant found in state 2002 and now in 27 counties as mostly an urban pest. It disrupts electrical boxes and other such venues. Now has been seen as pest in pecan orchards near Houston, TX. Doing trunk sprays with Delegate, Spinosad, Lorsban Advance and Cobalt Advance. Cobalt was best followed by Lorsban. In 14 days, they were back to pretreat numbers. Then ran test with Warrior and Cobalt for 4 weeks using floor applications and trunk sprays. Trunk sprays lasted for four weeks but not the floor sprays. The ants get in electrical equipment, affect beneficials, and laborers. A bait preference study showed that neither pecan kernals nor oil was attractive, but pecan hulls can be used for nesting. They repel fireants from an area. New NIFA Organic Transition Grant Funded as group project: The objectives were discussed. Objective 4: Develop real-time Decision Aids for Delivery on the Internet: KS Now has a pecan blog that has about 10,000 hits per month. Operated by Google is called BlogSpot and it is at no charge. WordPress is another platform for free blogging. A discussion was conducted on the prevailing IT policies that are responding to security needs but limit the functionality of web sites.