Welcome and Announcements For all you technophiles, Ted Klopp mentioned after the Russian River meeting that he has been using Manifold, a GIS vineyard data management system that sounds like it is developing a good reputation and a devoted following due to its affordable cost and technical support. It is Microsoft-based. Paul Michalczyk noted that the ag burn period has been extended to the end of the month due to the late wet weather. CaDPR is looking for sites to observe sulfur loading and application. If you have a good operation and would be willing to show the effectiveness of current regulations please contact Angelica Welsh, DPR, 916-324-8847 or cell 916-870-8364.Review Cooperator’s Blocka) Russian River Appellation—Host Dennis Devitt at Laguna Ranch Out of wet weather and into good growing weather. No phomopsis on the susceptible viognier. Getting shoot thinning done on time, and waiting for bloom. A tankful of Champ with oil precipitated in the spray tank, and other growers mentioned similar issues with that material this year. Dennis is not using Abound due to low residue tolerance in wine sold in Canada.b) Sonoma Valley Appellation—Host Pat Herron at Barricia VineyardSurprising amount of deer damage in one vineyard. Getting the weeds down and using them to stuff Tyvek suits that are hung from branches so they twist in the breeze. Also applying Surround, all of which should help abate.c) Dry Creek Valley Appellation—Host Richard Rued at Rued VineyardPierce’s disease affected vines starting to differentiate from healthy vines by their stunted shoots. Richard pulled out 4 of the worst rows by the creek and put in a horse corral since eliminating BGSS breeding hosts in the riparian area was impractical.d) Alexander Valley Appellation—Host Dana Grande at Jordan VineyardOur new site is a hillside cabernet franc and petit verdot vineyard with spots of high magnesium. The vines are on 44-53 and 101-14.Focus Points Powdery Mildew: Mildew pressure is on the rise and spray intervals should be adjusted accordingly. See the UC IPM Pest Management guidelines for appropriate spray intervals for our various classes of fungicides www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG. Dow AgroScience has an email service that delivers the mildew pressure to interested growers. The contact address is Fred Rehrman [dowagrofax@yahoo.com].Heads Up Mites – Vineyards that ended with high populations of Willamette or Pacific mites last year may see populations developing again now. Overwintered adults are just beginning to lay eggs. Predaceous mites may also be seen, in abundance in some cases, regardless of Willamette or Pacific mite presence. Check out the UC Plant Protection Quarterly (April 2006) “New Tools Available for Spider Mite Management” online at www.uckac.edu/ppq.Seems like more growers started their fungicide programs this year with strobilurins, and many included oil to eradicate any incipient fungi. The oil will have the added benefit of reducing recurring mites without residual effects on predators.Dust is coming off of roads now that it has stopped raining. Applying Dust Off® or other dust-reducing agents now will help reduce chronic mite populations associated with dust at the edge of vineyards. Humic acid in high quantities was reported to alleviate salt burn from Dust Off runoff. Weeds – Bermuda grass was mentioned by more than one grower as needing extra management this season. Multiple passes with the disk may help, but will likely spread it as well. Under the vines, Roundup can help, but it is a tough weed. Sometimes when I look at a vineyard, all I see are weeds. Other times, all I see is cover crop. Until the first disk or mowing passes are made, the shoulder-high, non-vine greenness looks a lot like weeds and cover for deer. After, it looks like biodiversity and soil health builders. Dead arm disease – Rhonda Smith, UC Cooperative Extension, noted that we now know of five different species of Botryosphaeria that all have different rates of growth affecting vines in the North Coast. This is a good time to look for eutypa symptoms (See the UC IPM Grape Pest Management guidelines either in print or online for pictures) and look for dead spurs that may be indicators of other dead arm fungi that do not produce shoot symptoms. Next month’s topics will include a more detailed discussion of dead arm diseases.Monitoring Points Mealybugs – Mealybugs should be moving from the trunk and cordons onto spurs and shoots. Admire applied around bloom in a full application should help reduce numbers. Admire Pro is a new formulation that can be included in fertigation. Clay soils bind both types of Admire, and a new material from Valent called Venom is a better candidate for clay soils. Gallo’s previous years’ management of vine mealybug included delayed dormant Lorsban and bark removal. Their vine mealybug numbers have been reduced so they will no longer be doing bark stripping, and will address the mealybugs during the growing season with Applaud, and apply Lorsban post-harvest. This is an effort to conserve mite predators and manage mealybugs without disrupting beneficials. This is putting IPM into practice. Pierce’s disease & bluegreen sharpshooters – BGSS have been finding their way into vineyards and those with PD should be reading their sticky traps to confirm and treating to protect shoots at this critical time. PD is cyclical in nature and goes through years of high and low pressure. We may be in a higher-pressure cycle and growers should be alert to finding PD in areas where it has not been before. Grape leafhoppers – Overwintered adults are moving into vineyards and development appears to be delayed. Nymphs are usually expected around the middle of the month, but use bloom as a better indicator of when to expect nymphs this year than the calendar. Like Nexter, Nichino’s FujiMite has activity against leafhopper nymphs, and may be a good choice if mites are also an issue.Resistance management note: Imidicloprid has become widely used in grape pest management as the material of choice for leafhoppers and BGSS. As a foliar material, Provado now has competition from Assail and Venom to name two. All three materials are in the class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids and are very effective, but this class of insecticide is susceptible to developing resistance. Neonicotinoids are also being used as soil-applied chemigation materials for phylloxera, mealybugs and BGSS. Keep close track of all the 4A (neonicotinoid) materials you are using and follow the labels religiously. After mildew began developing resistance to DMI’s way back when, it has become second nature to rotate our fungicides. It is this kind of mindset we need to incorporate into our insect pest management programs now that neonicotinoids are in the forefront.BGSS may be an exception to the resistance note, since the main population of BGSS is not entering the vineyard and therefore not experiencing selection pressure.What is it? Phytotoxicity (leaf burn) from different mildew materials applied at the end of April, just prior to a mini “heat spell” reaching into the 80’s. The damage resembled frost or thrips, both of which were easily ruled out. Strobilurins, oil, copper, sulfur, all had reports of causing burn. In all but the most extreme cases the vines are growing out of it fairly easily. There seems to be an association with concentration, with more dilute sprays causing less damage. Erinium (leaf blister) mites are starting to cause warty bumps on some leaves. Sulfur is curative.Adjourn - Thanks for coming!