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Hunting billbug, Sphenophorous venatus vestitus (Family: Curculionidae) is an important weevil pest of turfgrass in Georgia. It’s called a “billbug” because of its long snout, or bill, which has small mandibles at the tip. Hunting billbug infestations in turfgrass are not easily detected until the first signs of feeding damage, such as discoloration or irregular patches, appear scattered across the turfgrass. Although hunting billbugs attack all major turfgrass genotypes, damage on zoysia grass cultivars can be particularly serious. In addition to hunting billbug, several other species of billbugs are found in warm-season turfgrass including the lesser billbug, S. minimus, and uneven billbug, S. inaequalis.
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The Southeast U.S. is susceptible to hurricanes and tropical storms every year. Hurricane season occurs from June 1 through November 30, and these storms are normally forecast several days in advance. Tornadoes, ice storms, thunderstorms, or straight-line winds—potentially damaging winds produced by thunderstorms—are rarely forecast with enough notice to prepare other than to hopefully warn employees. Storms disrupt operations and have the potential to cause injury to people and livestock and devastate facilities and the landscape. While there is nothing that can be done to prevent the impact of a storm, producers should have an emergency plan that safeguards family, employees, livestock, and equipment. The emergency plan should also address how to safely manage the damage after a storm. Emergency plans should include one-day, three-day, and seven-day or longer responses during which power outages, access to vendors, and normal operations may be very limited. Hurricanes that occurred in 2017 and 2018 caused devastating damage in some areas that took weeks to restore power because of the extensive damage to distribution lines. This bulletin will provide information producers can use to develop an emergency preparedness plan in advance of a storm and suggestions for their potential responses following a storm. No plan will be 100% effective in all situations, but preparing will hopefully minimize damage and help speed the recovery.
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This report provides research and extension results for trials conducted by the University of Georgia Vegetable Team and its collaborators in 2019. Contributing authors include county and regional faculty as well as specialists from UGA’s horticulture, plant pathology, crop and soil sciences, and entomology departments.
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Produce buyers are increasingly requiring their suppliers to establish environmental monitoring programs in their packinghouses to verify the sanitary conditions of handling facilities and equipment. The first step of a successful monitoring program requires accurate zone designation, whereby surfaces are identified according to their proximity to and likelihood of contaminating a food product. This first publication in the “Packinghouse Environmental Monitoring Programs” series guides food safety managers as they determine how to prioritize food-contact and non-contact surfaces as they develop their monitoring programs.
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2017 plant disease losses, including control costs, amounted to an estimated $936 million. The value of the crops used in this estimate was approximately $6,634 million, resulting in a 14.1% relative disease loss across all crops included in this summary. The estimated values for most crops used to compute these disease losses are summarized in the 2017 Georgia Farm Gate Value Report (AR-18-01) published by the UGA Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development. Some estimates for fruits, ornamentals, and turf rely on specialists’ knowledge of the industry and industry sources for information.
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This publication is the second in a series focusing on irrigation scheduling for vegetable crops. It contains basic guidance on water use and irrigation management for Brassica crops such as cabbage, leafy greens, broccoli, and cauliflower, and this information should assist growers in scheduling irrigation.
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Mechanical filtration removes suspended solids and dirt to greatly improve the clarity of water. Various kinds of mechanical filtration methods and devices are available for home water treatments. Primarily, the size of the suspended solids will determine the appropriate type of mechanical filtration device suitable for your unique situation. Consumers interested in filtration devices should discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various available options with a water treatment professional. This publication discusses the various aspects of mechanical filtration.
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The Japanese maple scale (JMS), Lopholeucaspis japonica Cockerell, is an insect pest of Japanese maples and several other ornamental tree species. This insect sucks out plant juices using its piercing and sucking mouthparts. Because JMS, similar to other armored scales, does not directly feed on the phloem vessels of the host tree, the insect does not ingest excessive amounts of sugars to excrete them as honeydew. Instead, JMS secretes a detached waxy shell that covers the body. Adult male JMS are winged, leave their waxy shell, and are not common. The wingless females are 2 millimeters long and remain under their waxy shell or cover. Female and nymph JMS are lavender-colored and found beneath their off-white, oyster-shell-shaped covers. Females primarily aggregate on tree bark, at the base of branches, and in the cracks and crevices on the bark, although they are occasionally found on the leaves. They often blend in with the colors and patterns of tree bark and are challenging to detect. JMS-infested trees in the landscape reduce the value of the property. In the nursery, JMS infestation affects the marketability of the trees. Branch dieback symptoms appear when the trees are heavily infested.
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