July 2024 - 4

EDITOR'S LETTER
New apps, spraying
tech fortify grower
knowledge
N
ew University of Florida research
shows how strawberry growers can
use fewer pesticides to control a
destructive pest.
As they say in real estate, it's location,
location, location. The study discovered chilli
thrips prefer to aggregate in a 330-foot radius
outside the center of strawberry fields. That
field-border area provides the invasive pest a
staging area close to adjacent woods, where they can easily live during
the summer and reinfest during the next strawberry season.
Growers can save money and time by spraying lower volumes of
insecticides in smaller portions of their fields. The more efficient
spraying can protect beneficial insects in and around their fields, which
in turn will assist with maintaining healthier strawberry plants.
In this issue of Fruit Growers News, we take a look at how
advancements in spraying and other AgTech can reduce grower costs.
New app innovations are explored in Talking Tech, page 6. The apps
can help growers improve pest management, disease monitoring and
data collection, among other things.
An article on how spraying automation can exterminate pests like
chilli thrips is on page 8.
The fall FIRA-USA is a great opportunity for growers to view the
latest in ag automation and robotic technology. As previous shows
were in the Central and Salinas valleys, this year's will be in northern
California and growers get free admission. See what this year's will
offer on page 18.
In breeding tech, apple growers should look for new Cornell Geneva
rootstocks. The releases help produce fruit with size, yield and disease
resistance, including one cider makers would like on page 11.
While Georgia's Pearson Farm uses some orchard tech, the six
generation-run family operation picks peaches much as it has since the
19th century. Read the profile on page 14.
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JULY 2024 | VOLUME 63 | ISSUE 7
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Doug Ohlemeier, Assistant Editor
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4 | JULY 2024
-Doug
July 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July 2024
