Pumpkins are a beloved fall crop ushering in all kinds of festive activities such as hayrides, fall festivals and agritainment events at local farms. When you include Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays into the mix, this iconic orb gets plenty of exposure across the state and provides much needed revenue when most other field vegetables are winding down.

But Ohio’s slice of the pumpkin pie has dramatically shrunk in recent years. From 2011-2015, acres planted averaged 6,680 compared to 2016-19 with an average of 3,840 A planted, a 42.3% loss in acres planted and production value according to the Ohio Annual Statistics Bulletin from 2011-20 (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Pumpkin statistics from 2011-2020.

So the question becomes, what caused the loss of nearly 3,000 acres of pumpkin in production years 2016-20? People I have asked about this offer explanations such as Ohio growers are increasingly importing cheap and widely available pumpkin fruit from other states or abroad, saving on production costs. I have also heard that growers may not be reporting their pumpkin acres accurately or at all on National Ag Statistic Surveys which could account for the drop in reported acreage, but likely not so much from 2015 to 2016-2020. Was there a market shift due to buyer demands or Food Quality and Protection Act leading to a mass exodus of growers, again not known.

If YOU have an idea for the loss of 3,000 A of pumpkins from Ohio production, please feel free to share it with me at Jasinski.4@osu.edu or call me at 937-772-6014.

If you prefer to leave a written comment of any length, here is an anonymous link where you cannot be identified if that is a concern you have.

https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7P8aLZ5iihcBnE2

If any production issues are mentioned, I’ll be sure to follow up with additional articles in the VegNet Blog to address these.

Ohio State’s organic production winter webinar series will finish up in the next few weeks, but session recordings will remain available at go.osu.edu/organic-series, where you can also find log-in details for our final sessions.

These sessions are brief, free, and can be accessed online or by telephone. All sessions are 11:00-11:45 a.m. and will include time for questions and discussion. Speakers are from Ohio State unless otherwise noted. The webinars are intended for growers involved in, considering, or simply curious about organic agriculture.

March 31, 2021, 11 a.m.
Remediation of Post-Industrial Urban Soils by Organic Management – Larry Phelan
The loss of manufacturing in a number of U.S. cities, particularly in the Rust Belt, along with the 2008 housing crash, has led to population loss and abandonment of a large number of properties and land area. Unfortunately, what did not leave was the legacy of soil contamination and degradation caused by this industrial past. This project documents the impact of this history on chemical, physical, and biological dimensions of soil health in Cleveland’s vacant lots and investigates the changes associated with conversion of industrially damaged soils to urban organic farming.

April 14, 2021, 11 a.m.
The Organic Consumer: What We Know – Zoë Plakias
Knowing who your customers are, can help you reach them more effectively. Ohio State economist Zoë Plakias will share market research about consumer attitudes and behaviors toward organic products. Demographically, who are our customers? What motivates them to purchase organic products? How much extra are they willing to pay? And how can organic growers and retailers increase their appeal with these customers?

Previous sessions are available for viewing at osu.edu/organic-series, including:

• Management Practices That Impact Soil Health and Organic Matter – Christine Sprunger
• Tips for Using/Attracting Beneficial Insects – Mary Gardiner
• Cultural Control Strategies for Nightmare Weeds – Douglas Doohan
• Considerations for Organic High Tunnel Production – Matt Kleinhenz
• Irrigation Basics – Larry Brown
• Transition Q&A – Julia Barton, OEFFA
• and more.

Figure 1. Area shaded in orange is where brood X of the periodical cicada is expected to emerge in 2021 (from Periodical and “Dog-Day” Cicadas, OSU extension Fact Sheet ENT-58, by D. Shetlar and J. Andon, 2015;
https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/ENT-58
).

In case you have been living underground for the past 17 years, take note of the map showing the impending mass emergence of billions of Brood X cicadas in central and southwestern Ohio (Figure 1).

There is also a useful timetable for when to expect the emergence, mating, oviposition and end of the Brood X cicadas (Figure 2). The whole process is temperature driven but should begin in April and be over by the end of June.

If you are primarily a vegetable grower, you can relax a bit as the cicada emergence will likely not affect or damage any crops but adults may randomly appear in a crop and serve as a noticeable and potentially loud contaminant.

Figure 2. Estimate for cicada stages and life cycle (source https://www.cicadamania.com).

For small fruit and tree fruit growers, there is a chance of damage to stems about ¼” in diameter due to cicada oviposition. Celeste Welty, OSU Dept. of Entomology,  wrote an excellent article for the Ohio Fruit Newsletter recently that covers chemical and cultural options (https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/u.osu.edu/dist/b/28945/files/2021/03/OFN_FEB_2021-FINAL-V2.pdf).

For anyone with an interest in reporting locations of cicada emergence, there is an app called ‘Cicada Safari’ that is available for iOS and Android devices. It is interesting that most of the cicada broods do emerge as expected 17 years after the previous emergence, but if they are off-schedule, it is usually by 4 years, usually 4 years early. Excellent information about the biology and behavior of cicadas can be found at the cicada mania website: https://www.cicadamania.com/ . Other general information about cicadas can be found there too.

Last but not least, why not take advantage of this rare free protein and try cicadas in a variety of tasty snacks and meals!

1. https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2016/05/cicada_recipes_how_to_cook_the.html
2. https://www.bonappetit.com/uncategorized/article/how-to-cook-cicadas-according-to-3-richmond-va-chefs
3. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/130515-cicadas-recipes-food-cooking-bugs-nation-animals

Bon appetite!

Midwest specialty crop growers are encouraged to participate in the current herbicide drift damage survey. The study seeks to document the frequency, severity, management, and economic impact of drift damage among specialty crop growers in the North Central U.S. Even if you have not experienced drift damage, your input will be helpful in determining risk factors.

If you haven’t already done so, please take the time right now to complete this survey at go.osu.edu/driftsurvey21

The survey should take 5-20 minutes depending on your personal experience with herbicide drift. Results will help document needs for related research, education, or policy review around herbicide drift and drift management.

For more information on the study and resources on managing drift risk, please visit go.osu.edu/ipm-drift.

For over 100 years OSU Extension has delivered information to growers in the form of field days, workshops, conferences, newsletters, factsheets, guides, bulletins, etc. However, in the past decade there has been a shift in how people (including growers) search for and consume information. That newer method of information transfer is through the use of “how to” videos to show people how to do something or prepare for something, and it’s available free 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Partial screen shot of OSU IPM YouTube Video Library.

The OSU IPM Video Library on YouTube (https://go.osu.edu/osuipm) embraced this digital delivery trend and was launched in 2009. The site now has 81 videos on a variety of crops (pumpkin, sweet corn, carrots, strawberry, hops, field crops and coming soon apples) and a number of topics including identification, monitoring and management of traditional and invasive pests.

Videos are added throughout the year to these categories called playlists and new playlists are being created to house specific content such as apples. In the next month or two, new videos on squash vine borer and striped cucumber beetles on pumpkin will be released. Updated videos on monitoring brown marmorated stink bug and spotted lanternfly are also on this list.

This year in addition to shooting in our traditional video format, we intend to experiment with shorter (one minute long?) but more frequent (weekly?) videos, including some live streaming from the field; stay tuned for more details on that.

How can YOU participate in adding content to the video library? What kind of topics would YOU like to see added to the YouTube channel? You can either email me directly at Jasinski.4@osu.edu about specific topics or ideas you have or if you prefer to send them 100% anonymously, click on this link (https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6RawJGD7g2Tj2bY) and leave your suggestion. One thing we always struggle with is how long to make the video. While we generally know that shorter is better, it can be challenging to convey the nuances of some pest management topics in shorter videos but we try!

We hope the content on the site is useful to your operation and our IPM Team is looking forward to your video suggestions. Remember, YOU put the You in YouTube!

Bird damage in sweet corn and other specialty crop production can be significant and those affected by it need different types of effective solutions. Some are described in articles and publications such as https://vegetablegrowersnews.com/article/some-tips-to-curb-bird-damage-in-specialty-crops/, https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/preventing-bird-damage, and https://rvpadmin.cce.cornell.edu/uploads/doc_691.pdf. Still, the search for additional farm-ready ‘tools in the toolbox’ continues. A team led by the University of Rhode Island is working with growers in the Northeast and other regions to better understand the extent of the problem and success of current control measures. Consider completing their very brief (5-minute) survey at https://uri.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8qBBeU2HAIwcKYl to help inform and get the most from the team’s work.

OSU Extension Mid-Ohio Small Farm Conference – Sowing Seeds for Success scheduled for March 14th
Do you own a few acres that you want to be productive but you’re not sure what to do with it?
Do you have a passion for farming and turning your piece of this wonderful earth into a food producing oasis?
Do you own land or forest that you’re not quite sure how to manage?
Do you want livestock but have questions about fencing and forage?
Do you raise or produce products that you would like to market and sell off your farm but you’re not sure how to make it successful?
If you’re asking yourself these questions you should think about attending the 2020 Small Farm Conference – Sowing Seeds for Success on March 14th from 8:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the Mansfield OSU Campus in Ovalwood Hall.
The campus is just minutes from I-71 and US Rt 30.
Please visit: go.osu.edu/osufarmconference2020 for class and registration details or call OSU Extension Morrow County 419-947-1070.

Interest in pumpkins and squash peaks today on Halloween and slowly fades as we head toward Thanksgiving. While thoughts of cucurbits are still fresh in your head, take a few minutes to watch the results of our 2019 pumpkin and squash hybrid trial at the Western Ag Research Station in South Charleston.

In keeping with the principles of IPM, most of the hybrids selected have tolerance to powdery mildew, which allows for a healthier less diseased plant through the growing season. This is not to say these hybrids can go without protection from fungicides for the whole season, as there are many diseases that attack the foliage and fruit, but sprays can be delayed or have longer intervals without significant damage to the plants.

The trial consists of 27 hybrids from Harris Seeds, Harris Moran, Rupp, Johnny’s, and Siegers.  Fruit size ranges from small to extra large, and colors include orange, white, blue, and pink; some even have bumps and warts. Estimates of average fruit weight and fruit number per plot are given during the narration. Hopefully you see something worth trying in 2020!

Detailed Commercial Review

Shorter Consumer Friendly Version

These videos were partially shot and edited with the help of Brooke Beam, Highland County Extension Educator.

For those people who want to see all the trial data in one table, here it is.

As of Monday, most reports of downy mildew in our neighboring states – MI, KY, PA – were in cucumbers, as were our previous reports. However, we found downy mildew on acorn squash in our sentinel plot on the OSU North Central Agricultural Experiment Station in Sandusky County and on cantaloupe in our sentinel plot on the OSU Muck Crops Experiment Station in Huron County. While we have not had reports from most Ohio counties, it is likely that downy mildew is widespread in Ohio. Now we have evidence that the strain that infects most cucurbits, including squash and pumpkins, is present here. The cucurbit growing season is winding down, but if cucurbit crops are expected to be in the field in the next few weeks they should be protected with fungicides.  See my blog post on August 22 below for fungicide recommendations.

The downy mildew pathogen does not infect cucurbit fruits but if plants are defoliated the fruits are at risk of sunburn. Sunburn may not be obvious immediately in the field but may develop in storage. In fields with significant defoliation, pumpkins and winter squash should be removed from the field and into shade for curing.

Finally, the downy mildew pathogen does not survive over the winter in the absence of living cucurbit plants. However once harvesting is completed, plants should be disked as soon as possible to kill remaining green tissues that may otherwise be infected and serve as sources of inoculum. This will reduce downy mildew inoculum that can spread to cucurbit crops near and far.

About 10 days ago we harvested a few pumpkin trials at the research station. After weighing and grading the fruit, they were set back in the row but not in the leaf canopy. Last week I drove by some of the plots and noticed some fruit were sunburned. Such is the fate of many pumpkin fruit exposed to direct sun and not covered by leaf canopy. Sunburned fruit have a reddish area facing the sun which will eventually soften and rot.

Reddish area on near fruit, sunburn.

Over the year’s growers have asked me, how long into the season should they treat the foliage with fungicides? I would respond as long as you plan to harvest fruit. Avoiding sunburned fruit is the primary reason to keep the foliage healthy later into the season. Given our increasingly warmer and sunnier fall season, growers should expect to incur significant losses if the foliage is degraded by bacterial or fungal pathogens.

Conditions that favor sunburn include thin leaf canopies, fruit that have been clipped off of the vine but left in the field to cure or be packed at a later date, and clear sunny days with highs above 80-85F.  The weather forecast for the next week in southwest Ohio include max temperatures in the mid 80’s to low 90’s…let’s hope periodic cloud cover spares growers from excessive fruit losses.