$103,000 Awarded to Specialty Crop
Production Projects
The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food has awarded more than $100,000 to nine agricultural producers of specialty crops to help stimulate production and meet consumer demand. The grants are provided through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service.
“We are happy to make these grants available to help increase production of items of very high demand in Utah, and help the specialty crop industry as a whole,” said Jed Christenson, Director of Marketing for the UDAF. This is the second year in a row that the UDAF has administered the USDA funds.
The following is a list of those receiving grants:
1. Codling Moth in Mating Disrupted Apple Orchards: Development of Trap thresholds and Prediction of Fruit Injury, 2008. Utah State Horticulture Association with Utah State University Extension. $4,250 grant with $1,430 matching contribution. The primary pest of apples in Utah is codling moth, and has historically required large amounts of chemical inputs to manage. In recent years, many Utah apple growers have switched to use of mating disruption—the release of a high concentration of the insect’s sex pheromone to disrupt normal mating behavior, supplemented with lower toxicity insecticides. Monitoring adult codling moth density during mating disruption with insect traps is essential to evaluate the orchard’s management program
2. Orchard Floor Management options for soil quality, weeds and efficient water use. Utah State Horticulture Association. $12,000 grant with $15,185 matching contribution. The purpose of this project is to provide locally adapted solutions for organic and reduced input peach production with applicability to other tree fruits. Orchard floor management and fertility are still of major concern in organic tree fruit production. Problems are particularly acute during the establishment stage when inadequate weed control and low fertility can severely retard tree growth.
3. Management of Fire Blight in Utah Orchards. Utah State Horticulture Association. $25,000 grant with $9,800 matching contribution. Survey Utah fruit orchards for incidence of streptomycin resistance among populations of EA causing fire blight. This data will provide necessary documentation for the EPA regarding the justification for emergency Section-18 labeling for Kasugamycin. The data will also provide where streptomycin can still be used to manage fire blight.
4. Revitalizing Central Utah Raspberry Agriculture. Cornaby Farms. $6,700 grant with $6,700 matching contribution. Raspberry production is well suited to small farms and can provide significant income after the establishment year. However, initial investment in a planting is high, good management skills are needed and substantial labor is required to produce a quality product.
5. Promotion of “Utah” Grown Apples. Utah Apple Marketing Board. $10,500 grant with $10,500 matching contribution. Develop a website with detailed information to educate and promote “Utah Grown” fresh apples to consumers and current and potential commercial customers. The site will be linked to major retail and foodservice websites, “Utah’s Own” and Farm Bureau’s websites, and media.
6. Utah Grower Directory. UDAF Marketing Department. $5,000 grant with $1,000 matching grant. No organized data is available to identify Utah growers that may have an interest in or the ability to raise high value crops of fruits and vegetables. The Utah Grower Directory is important to establish a foundation for an organized effort to assist any of the 15,000 Utah growers in many marketing opportunities to meet the consumer and restaurant needs. When Utah growers have been identified partnerships can be created between restaurants, stores and growers.
7. Utah Nut Tree Rootstock and Cultivar Trial. Improving Perennial Plants for Food and Bio-Energy, Inc. (IPPFBE, Inc.). $18,000 grant with $18,500 matching grant. The project will create research based recommendations of locally adapted nut trees which can lead to commercial nut production in Utah and increased nut tree use in home landscape.
8. Shrub Eriogonum corymbosum as a Nursery Crop and for use in low water use Utah landscapes. Utah State University Department of Plants, Soils and Climate. $15,000 grant with $9,000 matching grant. Research into EC as a nursery crop and landscape plant will aid Utah nursery growers in general and INPGA growers in particular by providing another species, and potentially several new cultivars, to utilize in their product line.
9. Principles of Inspecting and Auditing Food Plants. Payson Fruit Growers. $3,750 grant with $1,000 matching grant. The specific issues that will be taught are: General Overview of Food Safety Challenges from the Orchard to the Consumer Principles of Inspecting and Auditing Food Plants Food Defense Plan and Coordination Developing and Implementing Chemical Control Programs, Traceability and Recall Programs, Allergen Programs Maintenance Fundamentals
Posted April 21, 2008
