Project Overview

Reports

Commodities

Target Pests

Practices

Small fruits and grapes are value-added crops that can provide a diversified income stream for small-scale specialty farms and are often associated with agritourism. However, environmental conditions in the Intermountain West region can lead to poor plant health and present an obstacle in implementing Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices. Several recent studies in this region have evaluated cold-hardy varieties and varieties that can withstand arid and high-elevation conditions. Yet growers do not have comprehensive access to this information and instead rely on content from other regions with different climate and soil conditions and pest biology. Based on a recent survey of commercial farmers in the region, irrigation and fruit varieties were the top two topics of interest for small fruits and grapes production. While pest management was a topic of least priority, 17% of the participants answered not being sure which pests caused major issues in their production when offered a list of common pests. This highlights the need for improving identification of pests, their symptoms, and IPM practices. Therefore, we propose to develop a print and online production guide on small fruits and grapes by pooling resources and expertise from different fields to address a regional need. This project will be overseen by Utah State University, but our team includes extension specialists with expertise in entomology, horticulture, viticulture, and IPM from Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Utah. To supplement the guide, we will deliver one webinar, one half-day workshop, five presentations at commercial fruit events in each of the collaborative states and write newsletter articles and social media posts. Completion of this project will not only fulfill the need for a regional small fruit and grape guide but also will help growers with pest monitoring and potentially serve home gardeners who showed great enthusiasm for such educational materials (1,880 respondents in our survey). Finally, we will evaluate the project’s impact through a postcard survey included with the guide and post-event surveys. We are expecting a 40% increase in knowledge gain regarding cold-hardy varieties, crop establishment, and pest identification in small fruit and grapes, and a 40% increase in IPM adoption. We intend to continue to update and expand the guide in the future by using evaluation feedback to improve the next edition.

Objective 1: Produce and distribute a regional Small Fruit and Grape Production Guide in print and PDF format to at least 300 producers to improve IPM practices and producer success. The guide will include general information about site selection, plant nutrition, irrigation, cold protection, and pollination. A total of eight different crops will be covered (raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, grapes, haskaps, saskatoon, currants, elderberry). For each crop, we will present the most suitable varieties for the Intermountain West, pruning, crop load management, harvest timing, insect pest descriptions and monitoring, disease descriptions and monitoring, weed management, IPM recommendations, registered pesticides, and general pesticide information, as well as additional online resources.

Objective 2: Convert the new guide’s content to mobile-friendly web pages on the USU small fruit and viticulture website to reach over 2,000 commercial and hobby producers. To promote the new content, we will create posts on our social media accounts and use the resources available at USU Extension marketing to make the website more attractive.

Objective 3: Deliver outreach on IPM for small fruits and grapes via presentations and written materials to over 2,500 commercial and hobby producers. The authors will participate in at least six different professional events to advertise the guide content and other online resources. A postcard survey will help us evaluate the impact of the guide and gather feedback from users to improve future editions.