Carrot Country Spring 2020

CarrotCountry.com Spring 2020

• Spot-On Research • Inputs Essentials Buyers’ Guide • UK Onion and Carrot Conference

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Magazines For Maximum Yield

PO Box 333 Roberts, Idaho 83444 Telephone: (208) 520-6461

www.carrotcountry.com Carrot Country Contacts Editor Denise Keller

editor@ColumbiaMediaGroup.com

Publisher / Advertising Dave Alexander dave@ColumbiaMediaGroup.com Director of Operations Brian Feist brian@ColumbiaMediaGroup.com

EDITORIAL INFORMATION Carrot Country is interested in newsworthy material related to carrot production and marketing.

Contributions from all segments of the industry are welcome. Submit news releases, new product submissions, stories and photos via email to: editor@ColumbiaMediaGroup.com, or call (509) 697-9436.

Vol. 28, No. 1

Spring 2020

In This Issue:

4

Spot-On Research

Establishing a Carrot Cavity Spot Nursery at Washington State University

13 Inputs Essentials Buyers’ Guide

14 Exploring New Topics in Old City UK Onion and Carrot Conference

ADVERTISING SALES For information on rates, mechanics, deadlines, list rental, direct mail, inserts or other information, call (208) 520-6461 or email: dave@carrotcountry.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS U.S................... 1 year $16 Canada ............ 1 year $24 Foreign ............ 1 year $40 Payments may be made by check, Visa, MasterCard or American Express.

Subscribe online at: www.carrotcountry.com or call (503) 724-3581.

Email address changes/corrections to brian@ColumbiaMediaGroup.com or mail to: Carrot Country PO Box 333 Roberts, ID 83444

The team from Hazera staffs the company’s trade show booth at the UK Onion and Carrot Conference and Trade Exhibition.

See the story on page 14.

Carrot Country magazine (ISSN 1071-6653), is published quarterly and mailed under a standard rate mailing permit at Idaho Falls, Idaho and at additional mailing offices.

Produced by Columbia Media Group PO Box 333, Roberts, ID, 83444.

Copyright 2020. All rights reserved.

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For information on reprints call (208) 520-6461.

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On the Cover: Cal-Organic Farms is now shipping organic red bunch carrots from Coachella, Calif. for a limited time.

Read more on page 10.

Departments:

10 In The News 12 Calendar 12 New Products

New! Extreme Super Cleaning System 3 to 4 times better cleaning than any other system

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Spot-On Research Establishing a Carrot Cavity Spot Nursery at Washington State University

By Lindsey du Toit and Michael Derie, Washington State University Figure 1. These severe symptoms of cavity spot on carrot roots were caused by Pythium sulcatum.

Photo courtesy Alex Batson, WSU graduate student

Why Set up a Cavity Spot Nursery?

Cavity spot occurs in almost all regions of carrot production. This disease is listed by the California Fresh Carrot Advisory Board (CFCAB) as one of the primary concerns for carrot growers in California, who produce 70 percent of the fresh market carrots in the U.S. The pathogens associated most commonly with cavity spot are Pythium violae and P. sulcatum, but other species of Pythium can cause this disease.

These are not true fungi, but water molds (oomycetes). These pathogens survive in soils where they produce two main kinds of spores: long-lived, sexual spores called oospores, and short-lived, swimming spores called zoospores. The oospores are triggered to germinate by chemicals that roots of plants exude into the soil. The pathogens are most active and usually cause the most damage in cool, moist soil conditions.

Cavity spot seldom causes a reduction in overall carrot root yield (weight or size of roots). However, the disease can have a very significant economic impact for growers because the shallow, sunken lesions caused by the pathogens on the surface of roots make the roots unmarketable for fresh or processing markets (Fig. 1). The lesions on roots start as very small, sunken areas that can increase to more than 1 inch in diameter.

Pythium species usually infect carrot roots within four to six weeks after planting, but infection can continue as long as roots remain in the soil. Cavity 4

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spot usually increases the longer carrot roots are left in the soil. The disease will even continue to develop on roots that have been harvested and placed in storage.

The lesions or cavities on the roots can be invaded by secondary microorganisms, including bacteria. This can cause the cavities to become discolored, particularly during heating/blanching of carrots being processed (Fig. 2).

Growers often struggle to manage cavity spot using cultural practices and fungicides. Recommendations to control cavity spot include avoiding fields with a history of the disease, using a crop rotation of at least three to four years between carrot crops, not using high rates of nitrogen fertilization, planting in fields with good drainage that is less favorable for the swimming spore stage, not planting in cold soils and harvesting roots in a timely manner to limit development of cavity spot. Some fungicides can be highly effective against cavity spot, such as metalaxyl or mefenoxam (e.g. Ridomil).

Unfortunately, the pathogens that cause cavity spot are notorious for developing resistance to fungicides like mefenoxam, which severely limits the ability for growers to control cavity spot using fungicides.

Given the difficulty of managing cavity spot, many seed companies are trying to breed for resistance to the disease, but the process is not easy and progress has been slow. There are differences in susceptibility to cavity spot among commercial cultivars, but there are no cultivars that are completely resistant to the disease. Carrot growers in some states continue to fund Phil Simon, USDA-ARS carrot breeder based in Madison, Wisconsin, to develop cultivars with better resistance to cavity spot. Simon has been collaborating with Mary Ruth McDonald, plant pathologist at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, in efforts to breed for resistance to cavity spot. McDonald has established a cavity spot nursery in a muck soil in Ontario that is naturally infected with cavity spot pathogens.

In most regions of carrot production in the U.S., the soils are sandy/mineral, so growers in California have been wanting to

Figure 2. Lesions and discoloration of peeled and blanched carrot roots from Pythium species.

create a cavity spot nursery in a field with mineral soil. In 2019, the CFCAB provided funding to Lindsey du Toit’s program at Washington State University (WSU) to establish a cavity spot nursery at the WSU Mount Vernon Northwestern Washington Research & Extension Center (NWREC)

in Mount Vernon, Washington, to complement the muck cavity spot nursery in Ontario and provide further support for Simon’s efforts at breeding for resistance to this disease.

Carrot entries planted in the WSU Carrot Cavity Spot Nursery differed in the percentage of plants that bolted (flowered and set seed). Only one of the 12 commercial cultivars had bolted plants, but many of the Plant Introduction lines had a lot of bolted plants.

Cavity Spot Nursery

Figure 3. Inoculum of Pythium sulcatum and Pythium violae was applied to a field at Washington State University using a spreader, and then incorporated by rototilling, in fall 2018, spring 2019 and fall 2019 to help establish the WSU Carrot Cavity Spot Nursery.

How to Establish a Cavity Spot Nursery

To establish the cavity spot pathogens in the field site in Mount Vernon, a 1-acre field was fumigated with metam sodium in fall 2018 to kill microorganisms in the soil that might compete with cavity spot pathogens. The field was then inoculated with P. violae and P. sulcatum three weeks later. The inoculum was produced by growing the pathogens on vermiculite moistened with V8 juice (Yes, Pythium species like V8 juice as much as some people like Bloody Marys!) in mushroom bags. About 250 gallons of inoculum were spread over the field using a tractor mounted, PTO-driven, Viton sling spreader (Fig. 3). The inoculum was incorporated into the soil by rototilling. The field was inoculated again with 266 gallons of inoculum of P. violae and P. sulcatum in April 2019.

On May 3, 2019, 219 carrot breeding lines and 12 commercial carrot cultivars were planted in replicate blocks in the field. The cultivar Atomic Red, which is highly susceptible to cavity spot, was planted throughout the trial as a susceptible check to assess the uniformity in cavity spot pressure across the field. Each plot was a single row, 10 feet long. Rows were spaced 20 inches apart. The seed for each 6

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Figure 4. From top, researchers undercut, dig and wash carrot roots in the WSU Carrot Cavity Spot Nursery in 2019 to evaluate replicated plots of 231 Plant Introductions, breeding lines and cultivars for resistance to cavity spot.

plot was planted using a Wintersteiger cone push planter set to distribute 100 seeds in each plot. The trial was irrigated 19 times between May and early September to promote carrot root growth and development of cavity spot.

In September 2019, each plot was rated for the percentage of plants that had bolted (started flowering) and for average height of the plants. In October 2019, the roots in each plot were undercut, dug manually, washed and rated for the percentage of roots in each plot with symptoms of cavity spot and for the severity of symptoms on each root based on the size of the largest lesion on each root (Fig. 4, Fig. 5).

Carrot seed was planted in the WSU Carrot Cavity Spot Nursery using a Wintersteiger cone push planter.

Success at Establishing the WSU Carrot Cavity Spot Nursery

Cavity spot symptoms were observed on all but eight of the 231 carrot lines evaluated, including all 12 named cultivars.

Isolations from root lesions confirmed the symptoms were cavity spot, as Pythium was isolated from all of the lesions tested.

There was a wide range in incidence and severity of cavity spot among the 231 lines, which demonstrated success at establishing the WSU Carrot Cavity Spot Nursery.

For the 231 carrot entries evaluated, the percentage of roots with cavity spot ranged from 0 to 100 (average of 33.6 percent), and the severity ranged from 0 to 79 (average of 19.8) (Table 1).

Although cavity spot symptoms were observed on the vast majority of the carrot lines evaluated, for the eight entries with no cavity spot, 50 to 100 percent of the plants had bolted. When plants bolt, the roots turn “woody” and do not show symptoms of cavity spot, as demonstrated by the negative correlation between the percentage of plants bolted and both the incidence and severity of cavity spot.

Therefore, the eight lines with a high percentage of bolting and no cavity spot were not included in the data analysis for cavity spot.

Of the 12 carrot cultivars evaluated, the incidence and severity of cavity spot was least on Purple Haze. Based on trials in Ontario and other sites, Purple Haze is partially resistant to cavity spot. In the

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7

Cavity Spot Nursery Atomic Red (susceptible check)

PI 451753

Envy

Figure 5. A variation in size of cavity spot lesions was observed on the roots of Atomic Red, Plant Introduction 451752 and Envy in the WSU Carrot Cavity Spot Nursery in 2019. Isolations from these lesions yielded Pythium spp.

WSU Cavity Spot Nursery, 11.1 percent of Purple Haze roots had cavity spot lesions, with a mean severity of 3.2 (Table 1). In contrast, the percentage of roots with cavity spot was greatest on Atomic Red, the susceptible control cultivar (42.4 percent of roots had cavity spot, with an average severity of 28.5). Of the other breeding lines and plant introductions (PIs), 26 had fewer roots with cavity spot than Purple Haze, and 13 had less severe cavity spot symptoms than Purple Haze, the partially resistant cultivar. Some of these 13 lines had a lot of bolted plants, which confounded cavity spot ratings, but five of the 13 had no bolted plants. This included PI 225869 (0.3 severity of cavity spot), PI 225870 (1.0), PI 652188 (2.0), PI 451761 (2.0) and 725-1 (2.5). These lines might be valuable sources of resistance to cavity spot. The entries will be evaluated again in 2020 in the WSU Carrot Cavity Spot 8

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Nursery to determine the consistency in response of the cultivars. The percentage of roots with cavity spot was significantly correlated with the severity of cavity spot across all the lines tested (r = 0.9154 at P < 0.0001).

The percentage of plants that bolted ranged from 0 to 100 (average of 15.9 percent) and was particularly severe for some PIs. None of the named cultivars had bolted plants, except for Purple Haze, which only had 2.5 percent bolted plants.

Carrot rust fly pressure was also quite severe in the trial.

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Next?

After rating the carrot roots in October, the roots were spread out on the field and disked into the soil to increase cavity spot pressure for planting another trial in 2020.

In addition, a third batch of inoculum of P. sulcatum and P. violae was produced on

vermiculite with V8 juice, applied to the field in October 2019 and incorporated into the soil. The field will be inoculated again in spring 2020 to continue building cavity spot disease pressure. This nursery will support the development of carrot cultivars with improved resistance to cavity spot.

In addition to the CFCAB funding, this project is funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Specialty Crops Research Initiative (SCRI), under award number 2016-5118125400. The researchers also appreciate the support of seed companies and carrot growers.

The 2020 WSU Carrot Cavity Spot Nursery trial will be included in the field tour as part of the 40th International Carrot Conference on Oct. 5-6, 2020, at the WSU Mount Vernon NWREC. For more details on that conference, visit www.internationalcarrots.org.

Cavity spot Incidence (% of roots with lesions)

Carrot Entry All 231 Cultivars

Severity index (0-100)

Incidence (%) of bolted plants

Average plant height (cm)

Range

0-100

0-79

0-100

8-67

Mean ± SE

33.6 ± 1.1

19.8 ± 0.7

15.9 ± 1.2

29.9 ± 0.4

Purple Haze

11.1 ± 9.9

3.2 ± 2.9

2.5 ± 1.4

34.4 ± 2.5

Candy Snack

19.3 ± 9.8

8.6 ± 4.0

0

28.3 ± 2.0

Slendercut

20.0 ± 7.9

9.2 ± 3.8

0

32.0 ± 2.3

HoneySnax

22.3 ± 8.6

9.8 ± 3.1

0

32.9 ± 1.5

Maverick

25.1 ± 13.4

9.1 ± 4.7

0

32.6 ± 2.6

Nairobi

25.8 ± 16.8

11.1 ± 6.3

0

35.1 ± 1.9

Uppercut

34.9 ± 9.9

17.7 ± 4.9

0

43.0 ± 4.3

Viper

36.3 ± 22.0

25.5 ± 16.5

0

30.9 ± 2.1

Envy

37.9 ± 11.3

21.6 ± 8.4

0

36.6 ± 2.7

Cellobunch

38.5 ± 13.3

13.4 ± 4.9

0

36.7 ± 4.0

Atomic Red

42.4 ± 2.6

28.5 ± 1.8

0

19.1 ± 0.5

OSA Orange

45.9 ± 10.7

22.9 ± 5.1

0

28.0 ± 2.2

26*

13*

Number of entries with less severe cavity spot than Purple Haze Number of entries with no cavity spot

Table 1. Cavity spot incidence and severity, incidence of bolted plants, and average canopy height for 231 carrot entries planted in the WSU Carrot Cavity Spot Nursery in 2019.

* Plots with >50 percent bolted plants were not included in this calculation as the woody roots of bolted plants do not develop cavity spot.

Five of the 13 Plant Introductions with less severe cavity spot than Purple Haze had 0 percent bolted plants, i.e.: PI 225869 (0.3 severity index), PI 225870 (1.0), PI 652188 (2.0), PI 451761 (2.0) and 725-1 (2.5). ** Eight entries with no cavity spot lesion had 50 to 100 percent bolted plants, so the lack of cavity spot was confounded by the high percentage of bolted plants with woody roots.

8**

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In the News Cal-Organic Farms Offers Limited Edition Red Bunch Carrots

Cal-Organic Farms is now shipping organic red bunch carrots from Coachella, California. A division of Grimmway Farms, Cal-Organic is offering the carrots for a limited time.

The California-grown carrots are available in 12- and 24-count cases with green tops intact.

The company bills the carrots as an excellent source of vitamin A with sweet flavor. With solid red color through the root, the carrots are favored by shoppers for their colorful appearance and their vibrant presentation on the plate, the company says.

Supplies are expected to last until the end of March.

OSU Entomologist Earns IPM Award

Oregon State University entomologist Silvia Rondon has received the Award for Excellence in Integrated Pest Management from the Entomological Society of America (ESA). The award recognizes outstanding contributions that have a direct relation to integrated pest management (IPM).

Rondon is a professor and extension entomology specialist at OSU Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center. Her areas of expertise are pest management, insect distribution, population dynamics, insectsplant interactions, biological control and chemical control. Rondon works on various cropping systems including carrots, potatoes and onions. She is currently working toward improving management of Lygus bugs, leafhoppers and other pests affecting irrigated crops.

Rondon earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in entomology at the Agraria University in Lima, Peru, and her Ph.D. in crop sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She then worked as a postdoctoral associate in the horticulture department at the University of Florida before joining OSU in 2005.

Rondon is particularly honored to be recognized by the ESA because her mentor who brought her to the U.S. is a past recipient of the award, and Rondon is one of two women to ever have earned the award.

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Key Technology Acquires Herbert Solutions

Key Technology, a designer and manufacturer of digital sorting, inspection, conveying and other processing equipment, has acquired Herbert Solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Herbert serves the root crop and fresh produce markets with sorting, washing and handling products. Herbert Solutions will become a product brand within Key’s overall portfolio of vegetable products.

Fox Packaging Promotes Lucas Fox

Lucas Fox is the new director of operations at Fox Packaging. In his new role, Fox will oversee production activity across all operation departments and work alongside the executive board.

Since joining Fox Packaging in 2014, Fox has been credited with developing and improving efficiencies within the company through various roles, including superintendent of maintenance and production manager.

He is part of the third generation of Fox Packaging. His grandfather, Kenneth Fox, founded the company more than 50 years ago, and his father, Keith Fox, is company president.

Skagit Seed Services Wins Syngenta Award

Skagit Seed Services has received the FarMore Vision Award from Syngenta. The award is given to companies that display excellence in their commitment to growers and their contributions to the seed treatment industry.

Skagit Seed Services, owned by brothers Tom and Jack Hulbert, is a third-generation farm and seed provider in northwest Washington. The Hulbert family began producing vegetable seed in 1919. Skagit Seed Services was founded in 1989, and in 1995, the company expanded to offer seed treatment and pelleting services to growers and dealers around the world.

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In the News Stokes Seeds Acquires Siegers Seed Company

Volm Expands Offerings

Volm Companies, Inc. has announced that its partner, Manter International BV, has acquired shares of Solidtec.

Solidtec has been manufacturing gantry-style palletizing systems for fresh produce and other markets since 1999. The merger results in a more cohesive process for customers wanting a single source for packaging and endof-the-line solutions, according to Volm.

Volm will complement its portfolio of palletizing offerings with both robotic and now conventional palletizing systems. Volm has been manufacturing custom robotic palletizing solutions since the company opened its Ancaster, Ontario, Canada, facility in 2016.

All companies will continue to operate independently.

Stokes Seeds has expanded its U.S. market coverage with the acquisition of Siegers Seed Company. The acquisition combines two organizations, each of which has been operating for over 100 years in the vegetable seed industry.

Stokes Seeds is continuing operations from Siegers’ Michigan, Georgia and Florida locations, with the newly combined organizations doing business under the Stokes Seeds brand. Stokes Seeds will now serve commercial growers from five U.S. locations in Buffalo, New York; Vineland, New Jersey; Holland, Michigan; Moultrie, Georgia; and LaBelle, Florida. Stokes Seeds’ expanded U.S. market area now includes the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Mid-South and Southeast.

The ongoing 2019-20 sales season will be a transition year with primary focus on customer service. Siegers Seed Company customers can expect the same level of service, provided by the same staff, from the same facilities.

New Products

Calendar June 16-19

Company Cuts Into Market With New Slicer FAM recently unveiled its new V-belt slicing machine, the Volantis. The machine is suited for the transverse slicing of a large range of vegetables in slices, shreds and square pieces. It is designed for precise cutting of elongated and oblong products such as carrots and potatoes.

The machine can be fed manually or by a feeding system. The wide infeed channel will align long, slender products toward the slicing wheel. The more than 2-meters-long infeed section contributes to a better orientation of the product and will align it to prevent it from tumbling while it is fed into the slicing wheel, according to the company.

The combination of the high speed of the knives and the unique cutting method is designed to produce uniform slices with a smooth surface while minimizing breakage and ragged ends, thus increasing the shelf-life of products.

Visit www.fam.be/en/machine/volantis.

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United Fresh 2020 San Diego www.unitedfresh.org

July 8

Summer Farm Festival and Malheur Experiment Station Field Day Ontario, Oregon Janet Jones, (541) 889-2174 or janet.jones@oregonstate.edu

Oct. 5-6

40th International Carrot Conference

Mount Vernon, Wash.

Sheri Nolan, (509) 585-5460 or snolan@agmgt.com

Oct. 15-17

PMA Fresh Summit Convention and Expo Dallas www.freshsummit.com

Inputs Essentials AgroLiquid Access

Buyersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Guide

www.agroliquid.com

Access is a liquid sulfur fertilizer designed to provide plants with essential sulfur and other vital nutrients. A carefully calibrated combination of nutrients allows plants to effectively absorb sulfur. The product uses Flavonol Polymer Technology to deliver nitrogen, sulfur, iron, manganese and zinc in a plant-usable form. This allows the plant to access a sustained supply of nutrients and prevents nutrients from being tied in the soil.

With a variety of delivery options, Access can be used wherever sulfur deficiencies have been shown or in a comprehensive secondary nutrient program. It works to correct or prevent sulfur deficiency, stunted growth and reduced yields, increase nitrogen utilization, and improve overall soil and plant health. Access mixes with other nutrients or crop protection products and can be applied at planting or throughout the growing season.

Certis USA BoteGHA

www.certisusa.com

BoteGHA ES is a new biological insecticide that features the highly effective entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana strain GHA. BoteGHA controls a wide range of difficult-to-control soft-bodied insects, including psyllids, whiteflies, thrips, aphids and mites.

BoteGHA is formulated to provide growers with a stable shelf-life of 18 months. The nontoxic mode of action of BoteGHA presents low risk to applicators and handlers and is considered safe on beneficial species and the environment. BoteGHA is exempt from residue tolerance with no pre-harvest interval (PHI) requirements or maximum residue limits (MRLs) and carries the minimum allowed restricted entry interval (REI) of four hours.

NovaSource Sectagon

www.novasource.com

Sectagon soil fumigant (metam sodium) is an important tool for producing high quality, high value carrot crops.

When soil-borne pests are a problem in the carrot field, Sectagon provides effective, economical suppression of weeds, diseases and nematodes. These soil pests can build up over time and rob fields of their full yield potential. Sectagon has a proven track record of suppressing these yield-compromising pests, helping to optimize quality and profits.

Sectagon can be applied in most areas of the country using soil injection, soil bedding or chemigation methods.

Recent research has uncovered useful, new insights into best use practices for this product. Watch an informative video on the NovaSource channel on YouTube.

Syngenta FarMore F300

www.syngenta-us.com/seed-treatment/farmore-f300

FarMore F300, an advanced fungicide seed treatment technology, delivers protection for a variety of small-seeded vegetable crops, including carrots, against a broad spectrum of seed and seedling diseases including Pythium, Fusarium and Rhizoctonia.

With the active ingredients mefenoxam (Apron XL), fludioxonil (Maxim 4FS) and azoxystrobin (Dynasty), FarMore F300 enhances seedling emergence, plant stand establishment, plant health, early-season vigor and yield potential.

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Exploring New Topics in Old City T

he biennial UK Onion and Carrot Conference and Trade Exhibition opened its doors to delegates, exhibitors and speakers at the Cambridge Corn Exchange in the historic city of Cambridge on Nov. 20, 2019.

Allan Wilkinson, head of Agrifoods HSBC, opened the conference with a presentation on excelling in a period of change and the UK food supply chain. He covered current talking points such as consumer trends, producer trends, drivers and solutions.

Andrea Graham, head of policy services for the National Farmers’ Union, followed with a discussion of “The Future of Food 2040.” She provided insight into the changes happening within the industry from food production, changes in diets and how this affects UK farming. She went on to discuss the opportunities the changes will provide and how this will influence productivity in British food and farming manufacturing.

The conference moved on to its technical session with the first speaker, Joseph Peller from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, presenting work on innovation in disease detection and explaining how spectral imaging works and how it can be applied.

Joe Martin with the UK’s Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board then took to the stage to update attendees on the SCEPTRE-plus project’s work on sustainable plant protection products.

Also within the technical session, Stephen Jelley with RootWave presented the company’s alternative weed control methods using its electricity technique.

The conference delegates were then split into two groups for separate carrot and onion technical sessions. Lizzie Sagoo with ADAS, an independent agricultural and environmental consultancy, opened the carrot session. She shared the results

Simon Pearce from Alfred G Pearce speaks about markets of the future.

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From left, Coral Russell, Pauline Sutton and Debbie Stacey represent the British Growers Association at the UK Onion and Carrot Conference.

from year one of the INNO-VEG project. Hannah McGrath, a Ph.D. student from Rothamsted Research working in partnership with Huntapac Produce, gave an overview of her project looking at conservation biological in carrots. Jack Hill from Bayer closed the session with some practical advice on Emerger, a new herbicide for carrots.

The delegates then regrouped for joint sessions during which Anna Jones spoke about her project Just Farmers, aiming to create more spokespeople to represent the industry.

Dan Parker with Veg Power then presented on the “Eat Them To Defeat Them” campaign, proving that the media is having a positive impact on how eating vegetables is perceived by an influential audience. He also discussed future opportunities to encourage families to eat more vegetables.

Michael Barker from Fresh Produce Journal chaired the “Markets of the Future” panel session. The discussion involved Simon Pearce of Alfred G Pearce, Mark Tate of George Perry and Joe Shaw Roberts of Kantar. The panel covered how future consumers will buy fresh produce, how they will be influenced and how the supply base will react to market changes.

Jack Hill with Bayer delivers a presentation about Emerger, a new herbicide for carrots, covering best practices and key learnings from 2019.

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