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Annual Biocontrol IndustryMeeting

eQC: An Idea to Consider

One for the IR-4History Book

Pest Management Solutions for Specialty Crops and Specialty Uses

Orn. Hort. Tour

NewsletterVol. 48 No.4 Fall 2017

2017 SOAR AwardRecipientsIR-4 is proud toannounce the 2017SOAR Award winners.This award is given tothose who excel inserving growers of

Specialty and Minor Use Crops.The awardees will havedemonstrated clear Service towardenhancing the mission of IR-4through participation oncommittees, advisory panels, orsimilar activities; excellent Outreachto growers educating growers onIR-4; Altruism by donating time andeffort towards IR-4’s mission;outstanding Research whichcontributes to expanded productlabels and increased understandingof product use. In other words,awardees SOAR in supporting IR-4and our mission to provide growersregistrations of new and expandedpest management tools. This year’sawardees are Barbara Madden,retired Minor Use Officer of EPAand Laura Phelps of the AmericanMushroom Institute.

Barbara Madden was a regularspeaker at IR-4 workshops andhelped growers understand the EPAregulatory processes. She was theEPA liaison with IR-4 when planningthe annual IR-4/EPA/USDAagricultural tours, and served as theMinor Use Team Leader at EPAwhere she processed over 315 IR-4actions that could support as manyas 10,000 new uses.

Laura Phelps hasbeen an IR-4Commodity LiaisonCommittee memberfor over 15 years.She has been aleader on the committee andrecently designed a trainingprogram for other committeemembers on what to do whenvisiting Congress. Lauracommunicates research needs ofher growers at the IR-4 Food UseWorkshops.

IR-4 is proud to recognize thesewomen with its SOAR Award.Congratulations!

Delaware Valley University (DelVal)Alumni Achievement AwardThe Alumni Achievement Award isdesigned to recognize outstandingalumni who have devoted time,energy, and resources to thebetterment of the University andthe Alumni Association,participated actively in thecommunity and professionalorganizations, and have made asignificant contribution in a chosenfield. The award seeks to honorand extend the traditional ideals ofDelaware Valley University byacknowledging alumni whoseactivities have been consistent withtheir founding principles. This year,IR-4’s Kathryn Homa was honoredwith the award at their annualhomecoming business meeting.Kathryn is the Plant PathologyProgram Coordinator for IR-4 and

Award Winners

New Product Corner

New Faces at IR-4

has been developing residue and efficacy data,coordinating submissions toEPA and serving as a memberon various committees andsocieties including theAmerican PhytopathologicalSociety. In 2017, Kathryn received the National Recognitionof Excellence Award from IR-4, forher advocacy of specialty cropagriculture. While working fulltime, Kathryn earned her Master’sdegree in Plant Pathology and sheis currently in the process ofcompleting her Ph.D. at RutgersUniversity. In her spare time, sheenjoys guest-lecturing Dr. JackieRicotta’s students at DelVal eachspring. Kudos Kathryn!

So Many Workshops

Dan Kunkelwelcomes

Barbara to theIR-4/EPA

working groupwith a copy of

Food and FeedCrops of the

United States inJune 2005.

Executive Director Notes

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Dear Friends,

The fall season is never slow for IR-4. However, this year it was exceptionally busy. It started with the annualIR-4 Food Use Priority Setting Workshop in Denver, CO, Sept. 20-21. One hundred and thirty participantsattended to select 2018 research priorities. Prior to the workshop, we were concerned that the workshopwould become contentious because of the uncertainty of whether IR-4 could “afford” the post Workshopupgrades. Projects on crops that would normally be selected through the upgrade process would have tomake a case for the priority at the workshop. The contentiousness never materialized; in fact, the level ofcooperation was at an all-time high.

The next big event was the 3rd Global Minor Use Summit/2nd Global Minor Use Workshop in Montreal,Canada, Oct.1- 5. Over 225 delegates from 35 countries participated. IR-4 was deeply engaged in theplanning and organization of these two conferences. Dan Kunkel served as Co-Chair of the Summit withsignificant roles for Michael Braverman, Bill Barney and myself. It is amazing the amount of progress globalharmonization and cooperation has made over the past ten years. There were significant accomplishments butthere is significant work ahead. A workplan to tackle challenges was drafted giving the global minor usecommunity a roadmap to achieve future success.

The third major meeting this fall was the IR-4 Ornamental Horticulture Priority Setting Workshop in SanDiego, CA, on Oct. 17-19. Participation was up slightly from past workshops. It was exciting to meet somany people who were attending this workshop for the first time. Once again, high level of cooperation wasthe rule. Also occurring this week was a mini Biopesticide and Organic Support Workshop that focused onBiopesticide priorities in the ornamental horticulture area.

IR-4 is exploring the potential to bring all three programs’ priority setting workshops to a single week in2019. We believe this is the best way to minimize travel expenses and allow IR-4 stakeholders to attend andbenefit from a face-to-face meeting.

We capped the busy fall off with a joint IR-4 Project Management Committee (PMC) Meeting/NationalResearch Planning Meeting (NRPM) at IR-4’s offices in Princeton, NJ. The PMC met with a significantamount of time focusing on how to sustain IR-4 in the fiscal environment of higher operating expenses,reduced funding. and greater demands from our host institutions to help them offset their operational costs.The PMC agreed to re-establish the upgrade proposals. This allowed IR-4 to pick up a few more researchpriorities for 2018.

Field trial assignments for Food Program were assigned at the NRPM. Field trial assignments for theOrnamental Horticulture and Biopesticide Programs will be set at a later date. This year’s NRPM wasessentially the last task on the “To Do List” for Satoru Miyazaki and Michelle Samuel-Foo as they leave theIR-4 North Central and Southern Region Field Coordinator positions, respectively. Congratulations to Satoruon his well-deserved retirement and best of luck to Michelle as she takes on the new challenge as anentomology professor.

IR-4 is very fortunate to have two experienced people step up and take on the duties to replace Satoru andMichelle. John Wise of Michigan State and Roger Batts of North Carolina State will be serving as RegionalField Coordinators in an interim role. IR-4 also welcomed Michael Horak as the new Western Region FieldCoordinator at these fall meetings. Additionally, Wlodek Borejsza-Wysocki announced he would be retiringfrom the Southern Region Lab Coordinator position at the end of year. (See other personnel changes on pg11)

All for now, and all the best,Jerry

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The Annual Biocontrol IndustryMeeting (ABIM), held in Basel,Switzerland on Oct. 23-25,opened with a private InternationalBiocontrol ManufacturersAssociation (IBMA) RegulatoryAffairs Seminar. The later AnnualGeneral Meeting discussed howIBMA is trying to get nicheproducts through the Europeanregulatory system. There wereconcerns from the public about thelong used active ingredient Bacillusthuringiensis (Bt). IBMA explainedthat there is nothing to beconcerned about in regards topublic health, only thatidentification needs to be improvedto distinguish from species deemeddetrimental to humans. The IBMAaims to further revise EU approvalof low-risk pesticides within currentlegislation.

A potential merger was introducedbetween IBMA and The EuropeanBiostimulant Industry Council(EBIC). This would be a joining ofEuropean and International forces,regarding EU legislation and easieraccess to market. There was muchdiscussion about biostimulants.Biological Products IndustryAlliance (BPIA) includesbiostimulants, which are alsorecognized in Brazil, South Africa,and India. IBMA hopes to get theEU to recognize these products.

The most important needs forBiopesticide registration in the EUinclude: knowing activemetabolites, establishing clear andaccepted criteria for whatconstitutes biostimulants, improvingrecognition of biopesticide efficacy,harmonizing efficacy requirements,and generating suitable microbialprotocols. Rising needs include

addressing antibiotic resistance, andgenerating data between microbialstrains. This includes distinguishingthe actives of registered productsfrom each other, and from similarmicrobial strains deemed hazardousto public health.

There were various talks concerningEU and Global Regulatory Issues,there was discussion on: 1) allowingminor uses without major usesalready on label, 2) preparingoverview documents on veryspecific products of Baculovirusesand bacteriophages that are highlytarget specific, and 3) recognizingauthorization in the US in the EU.

The IR-4 Project had a presentationwithin the “Initiatives BringingBiological Tools to the Market”section. It covered the history ofIR-4, the Biopesticide and OrganicSupport Program, and how IR-4 canhelp with registration of newproducts from the public sector. Itbuilt on the Global Minor UseSummit mentioned by previousspeakers and asked for championsfrom Latin America in ‘GlobalHarmonization of ToleranceExemptions.’ Many were interestedin the possibility of gettingregulatory help with Europeanproducts in the United States.

Overall, the meeting was a forum,which successfully educated theEuropean community, andintroduced several new people toThe IR-4 Project. This is in concertwith the globalization of theBiopesticide and Organic SupportProgram expressed at the GlobalMinor Use Summit.

Biocontrol MeetingAnnual BiocontrolIndustry Meeting — by Krista Coleman

New ProductCornerThis is for informational purposes only as IR-4does not endorse a particular product orregistrant.Cyclaniliprole* (Insecticide – ISKBiosciences)Introduction: Ishihara Sangyo KaishaUS subsidiary, ISK Biosciences,received unconditional EPA registrationfor the new active ingredientCyclapryn® (Cyclaniliprole) in August2017. The review was conductedjointly with the Canadian PestManagement Regulatory Agency, withthe Australian Pesticides and VeterinaryMedicines Authority also participating.Registration of Cyclapryn® providesgrowers with a new pest managementtool for use on a range of fruit andvegetable crops (see labeled crops).Belonging to the anthranilic diamideclass of chemistry, Cyclapryn® targetsryanodine receptors of calciumchannels in insect cells leading to rapidcessation of feeding and long-lastingcontrol. Cyclapryn® has shownexcellent efficacy against lepidopteranpests across crop groups and requiresless active ingredient/acre compared toexisting diamides and other classes ofinsecticides, including instances wherepests have shown resistance toorganophosphate, pyrethroid andcarbamate insecticides. In addition,Cyclapryn® has a more favorableprofile for beneficial arthropods makingit an excellent partner for integratedprograms.Other global registrations: ISK beganselling cyclaniliprole in South Korea in2017, and expects launches in the US,Canada, Australia and Japan in 2018.US trade name/formulation:Harvanta™ 50SL Insecticide (50 g ai/L,a soluble liquid formulation);Verdepryn™ 100SL Insecticide (100 gai/L, a soluble liquid formulation)Tolerances: EPA’s review of

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eQC?

3) eQA: This process was a steeplearning curve and although we havegained efficiencies let's not get tooefficient. One more layer ofelectronic monitoring is just toomuch.4) A few lost trials is no big deal:We book extra trials and we deliverthe goods for our stakeholders, i.e.registration data for new tolerances. 5) We're Ag, not Tech: We collectour data on paper and we're notgoing to use electronic notebooks.We kick dirt clods and walk furrows;innovation is for hipsters not hops.

OK, that last reason might be a tadbit facetious but frankly our currentsystem of data management isremarkably dated. We’re technicalprofessionals who carry smartphones and laptops but our GLPrequirements tie us to a systemwhere mistakes are discovered froman after-the-fact paper trail. Are weclod kicking Luddites who can onlybe dragged reluctantly into thedigital era? Or is there a middle waywhere electronic trial tracking couldimprove our data generation?

What if a field researcher sat downbefore an application and enteredtheir anticipated tank mix: water, testsubstance, sprayer output, targettime and target area. What if thisinformation was checked against adatabase which contained specificprotocol details that need to squareup with the researcher’s plans?What if after the application wascompleted the field researcher couldenter their actual, recorded data andthe database confirmed an accurateapplication? What if this informationwas automatically emailed to theStudy Director, RegionalCoordinators and the Field ResearchDirector? This system would serveas a check of the GLP recorded

data, and most significantly the QCcheck of an application would occurimmediately, or shortly, after anapplication was conducted. Yes wewould need to train FRDs to inputthis data, but imagine for a minutethe advantages of knowing, close toreal time, if an application wasconsistent with the protocol.

With the collection of applicationand harvest dates a master schedulecould be generated, and thesedates could also be compared toother protocol criteria. We have allmade errors calculating the exactnumber of days between twoapplications, or the exact number ofdays for a pre-harvest interval. AneQC system could track these keyevent timings and keep everyoneinformed of field events in a timelymanner. One of the key advantageswould be having the opportunity tocancel and re-start failed trials inthe current season instead ofdiscovering the error six to ninemonths after it occurred.

No electronic system is fool proofand yes this system would requiresome money, effort and change.Our Canadian colleagues developeda similar system where fieldresearchers input proposed andthen actual event dates. Throughthe use of a calendar system thisinformation is then available toregional management, QApersonnel and Study Directors. TheeQC system proposed here wouldincorporate event timings and alsoinclude application parameters. Thedatabase system would then allowboth application % targets andcritical event timings to be reviewedby all. Call it AppCheck,FieldCheck, eQC or the “The GreatBig, New and Improved IR4-FieldEvent Tracker”, no matter thename, but there is an opportunityto improve what we deliver to ourgrowers with such a system.

At this year’s National ResearchPlanning Meeting we held an “AllHands” meeting to discuss variousprogram strategy and planningissues. One topic which wastouched on was the potentialdevelopment of an “eQC” systemwhich would electronically monitorfield study data in something closerto real time.

The time delay before regionalcoordinators conduct QC reviews offield data is a key limitation of ourcurrent system. Pen and paper fielddata books are often not revieweduntil six to nine months after fieldevents have occurred. It’s importantto stress that this eQC idea is not amove to digital notebooks. Theremay be a place for IR-4 to usedigital notebooks in the future, butthis idea is similar to our eQAsystem, which uses an electronicdatabase to track and inform ourvarious groups about QA activities.

The idea for eQC was first advanceda couple years ago, but this year itseemed timelier. Nevertheless,rather than pitch what would begreat about an eQC system, Ithought I’d flip the argument andgive 5 reasons why an electronicQuality Control system would justnot work.1) Money: Hey Flanagan haven't younoticed our funding is flat and ourwork is constricting? This ideawould require development costs;therefore, it's dead on arrival.2) Spreadsheets: We have the QCspreadsheets originally developed byformer IR-4 SD Johannes Corley andupdated by the Western Region, sowhy fix a working system? Thespreadsheets are an economicalelectronic tool that checks eachapplication made by our fieldresearchers.

eQC: An Idea to Consider

continued on nextpage

– by Stephen Flanagan

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New Product Corner

Example Trial date input screen from Canadian Trial Tracking Database:

Note: Screen shots from the Minor Use Pesticide Program System (MUPPS)database, courtesy of: Jennifer Ballantine, Research Sites Manager, PestManagement Centre Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Example Calendar screen for Vineland Field Station:

A specific example of a summary table for Study Director andQA: As an example, displayed is the week of Oct 8th for oneof our SD’s. It shows there are applications, harvests,RDFN’s to come in and shows the sites involved. The Trialson Oct 11 with ** are scheduled for QA audits to be doneby Stéphane.

Cyclapryn® showed a lack of toxicity,thereby supporting an exemption fromthe requirement of tolerances for allcrops. However, for internationaltrade purposes, ISK requested thatEPA establish tolerances for residuesresulting from direct applications tocertain commodities. In addition, anexemption from the requirement of atolerance is established for indirect orinadvertent residues in or on all rawagricultural commodities, except forthose commodities with establishedtolerances. Cyclaniliprole is on the2017 JMPR schedule for evaluation toestablish CODEX tolerances for thecrops listed above.Labeled crops (see labels for specificuse patterns and other generaldirections for use): Harvanta™ 50SLInsecticide: Leafy Vegetables(non-brassica) Crop Group 4-16,Brassica (Cole) Leafy Vegetables CropGroup 5-16, Fruiting Vegetables CropGroup 8-10, Cucurbit VegetablesCrop Group 9. Verdepryn™ 100SLInsecticide: Caneberry subgroup13-07A; Bushberry subgroup13-07B; Small fruit vine climbing,except grape, subgroup 13-07E; Lowgrowing berry subgroup 13-07G;Citrus Crop Group 10-10; Tuberousand corm vegetables subgroup 1CActive IR-4 residue/performanceprojects (PR#): globe artichoke(11952 – a 2017 study); GH tomato(11894 – a 2018 study); sunflower(12264 – a 2018 study, which willalso cover safflower [11570])Other IR-4 database requests (PR#):GH eggplant (12042); GH pepper(11891); GH cucumber (11893);blueberry (11592) and cranberry(11982) are registrant objectivesIR-4 Orn Hort Program Protocols:Foliar feeding beetles on orn hortplants (18-080); armored scale onplants in containers (18-010);managing thrips infesting orn hortplants (18-014)*Cyclapryn, Harvanta and Verdepryn areregistered trademarks of Ishihara SangyoKaisha, Ltd.

Feature

pg 6Vol 48 No 4

One for the IR-4 History Book!!It was Tuesday, September 5,2017, when South Florida beganto brace herself for the largest

Category 5 hurricane to hit the statein years. As people beganevacuating, some very brave IR-4personnel drove into the storm areato save trial samples. These emailsand telephone logs tell the story.

Tuesday, September 5, 2017,10:28 AM. Homestead, Fl,Research Director, RebeccaTannenbaum phoned QualityAssurance (QA) director, TammyBarkalow with concerns thathurricane Irma was knocking on herfront door. Kathleen Knight wasalready in Homestead to perform anIn-Life audit, so she might be ableto drive some samples back toGainesville. In an effort to savesamples, Rebecca and Tammyproposed the following action plan:“1) We will need TFM (TestingFacility Management) approval ofthe GLP exception in that QA willbecome involved in study conduct(sample transport) due to thisemergency. 2) This exception willneed to be noted in the compliancestatement for these studies. 3) TheSDs (study directors) will need towrite amendments for each studyapproving the Florida lab holdingthe samples for 10405,17-FL127and 10765. 17-FL130 prior tothem (U of FL lab) shipping thesamples to the Tifton lab.”

Tuesday September 5, 10:48 AM.IR-4 Executive Director, Jerry Baronsoon responded with thesecomments: “Thanks for the quickplan to secure the samples inanticipation of this potentiallydevastating hurricane. TFMapproves of the involvement of theQA unit in the transport of thesesamples in this exceptional situation. Kathleen, thank you for goingbeyond the call of duty to ensurethe security of the samples. Please

be safe on the road back toNorthern Florida and rememberyour safety is the most importanttask on your ride home. Ourthoughts and prayers will be outthere for everyone in the path ofHurricane Irma as well as thoserebuilding from Hurricane Harvey.Please let us know if there isanything we can do to assist.”

Tuesday September 5, 11:42 AM.Regional Field CoordinatorMichelle Samuel-Foo wrote: “I justtalked with Rebecca and learnedthat they have about 189 lbs offruit from the subject trials onhand. It will be difficult to get the4:1 ratio of dry ice to sample thatthey normally use when shippingsamples, will it be ok if she uses a2:1 ration instead?

The hurricane is expected thisweekend in south Florida. Rebeccais scheduled to harvest 11292Flumioxazin sugar apple samplesfrom this decline trial on Friday soeven though they are sending themajority of the samples withKathleen overnight today to theGainesville lab, she will still havethese in the freezer. The remainingfruit may/may not survive thestorm. She is also supposed toharvest 10765 Trifloxystrobin &Fluopyram papaya next week. Thistrial will potentially be in jeopardy.”

Tuesday September 5, 1:41 PM.Quality Assurance Assistant,Kathleen Knight provided anupdate to the situation thatafternoon: “The Homestead site isvery very close to the only way toget down to the FL Keys. There arelots of cars pulling large boatsheading for higher ground. The gasstations are packed with anxiousdrivers and it took me about 10minutes to get to a pump. The onlygas available cost a premium of$3.30 per gallon, which broughtmy fill-up to $51. Now that the

state van is filled, I should be ableto make it home without needingmore gas. Folks here are taking thisvery seriously. Most of the bottledwater at the quick shop places arealready running out down here,south of Miami.  

Rebecca is working on getting thedry ice and determining how tobest pack the samples. It looks likeall the samples will not fit if the 4:1dry ice is going to be required. Iknow she and Michelle are workingon possibly getting permission togo with a 2:1 ratio.

The dry ice will be placed in thefreezers until tomorrow morning.The coolers will be packed andloaded into the state van and Ishould be on the road by 9:00AM. Rebecca and I decided that itwill be best to skip the audittomorrow morning. The study hasalready been audited in Puerto Ricoand I want to get on the road assoon as possible. I know fromexperience that Miami traffic isterrible from 6:30-9:00 AM evenwithout evacuees, so we will leaveat 10:30 AM.

I did talk to Wlodek (Florida LabDirector) and Gail this morning.Wlodek said that he is ready forsample delivery tomorrow. I willcall him when I pull out and willgive him updates so the lab will beon stand-by.”

Tuesday September 5, 1:49 PM.Jerry wrote back to provide furtherguidance: “Kathleen – A fewminutes ago, I provided a blanketapproval to deviate from therequirement for the 4:1 ratio of dryice to sample to a minimum 2:1ratio. Please do what you can, it isvery much APPRECIATED. We

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FeatureOne for the IR-4 History Book!!also appreciate the efforts by others(Wilfredo, Rebecca, Jonathan) totake as many precautions to save thiswork as possible. Safe travelstomorrow and let us know how thetrip ends; hopefully safe and sound.”

Tuesday September 5, 3:43 PM.Yavuz Yagiz (QA Lab) addedcomments: “Ms. Kathleen and I havediscussed having a sample receivingaudit for the SOR Lab anddocumenting this emergencysituation by two different QAofficers. I will conduct an In-Lifeaudit for these samples upon theirarrival. Warm regards.”

Tuesday September 5, 4:12 PM.Michelle wrote back with moreactions: “I want to provide anupdate to everyone regarding thesituation in Homestead. Kathleen’svehicle is too small to accommodateall the samples that Rebecca will besending in the morning, and shedidn’t know if they would haveenough dry ice in Homestead topack the samples. Jonathan workedto help source additional dry icefrom the surrounding areas and Ijust spoke to Rebecca and learnedthat they acquired an additional 100lbs. Earlier this afternoon, I had toldDr Gu that I would be willing to flyinto Miami, rent a van and bring theremaining samples up to the lab inGainesville. He approved this plan.  I will take the 6:30 am flight intoMiami and be in Homestead by8:45am. The traffic will be headedin the opposite direction so this willwork to my advantage. Rebecca alsohas to prep the field site/office (fielddata books, chemical storage, logsetc) in case of flooding so I will helpher take care of this tomorrow. Shealso has an application on herpapaya trial in the morning that willproceed as planned. As you can tell,there will be a lot of moving parts.

Will keep everyone updated as weproceed.”

Tuesday September 5, 4:21 PM.Jerry replied to Michelle: “Thanks &be safe.”

Wednesday September 6, 10:18AM. Deborah Carpenter provided anupdate: “Michelle called. She is atHomestead with Rebecca and theyare packing samples up. They arerunning low on dry ice. Jonathan hasgone out to look for some. IfJonathan can find dry ice, that willhelp, but it may not be possible.They have blue ice available, and ifthey need to, they will use that, alongwith data loggers in any coolers withblue ice. Michelle and I discussedwhat samples were less important, inthe event they can’t get them allshipped on dry ice. 

We talked specifically about PR10405.17-FL127, the decline trialon guava. I said that the RACsamples were most important, so toship one untreated and the RACsamples – B, C, D, E and F.  I’d likethe RAC samples and if they can’t getthe decline in the coolers, so be it. Ifshe can get some of the declinesamples in, we only need one (EPArecommends two samples, and wealways take two, but one will sufficefor registration, as long as the datalooks good). So, ship one 7-daysample, one 10-day sample and one14-day sample (samples G, I and K).For any samples shipped on blue ice,I suggested that they fill up a zip-lockbag (double bag it) with wet ice.That will give them an additional clueregarding sample integrity, along withthe data loggers. Keep any samplesthat can’t be shipped in the freezer,in case the hurricane track changes.

Michelle said it is usually a 5-hourdrive from Homestead, but the roadsare packed, so it likely will takelonger. They are doing their best tosee that the samples arrive in good

condition. To all of you inHomestead, Gainesville and PuertoRico – thanks so much for all yourefforts to save as many samples asyou can. Drive carefully and staysafe. Our prayers are with you.”

Wednesday, September 6, 1:26PM. Michelle wrote: “Kathleen andI are in route from Homestead. Weleft around 11:30 AM. The trafficis at a standstill at some points andmoving in other areas. I decided totake I 75 and avoid the turnpike, asI noticed the traffic was completelyat a standstill as I was driving infrom the airport this morningheading out of Miami. According tomy GPS, I should be back inGainesville around 7 PM.” 

“Wlodeck, I know it is going to bequite late, but please arrange tohave someone meet us at the lab todocument receipt of the samplesand check their integrity before weput them in to the freezers. Will keep everyone updated as weprogress on the road.”

Wednesday, September 6, 11:31PM. Michelle provided an update:“I just made it to the lab. Yavuz andWlodeck are here and are checkingthe samples I brought with me.They are all still frozen, thankfully.The bags of regular ice that we hadin Ziploc bags are also intact andfrozen with the samples that hadblue ice. These were the ones that Iwas most worried about, the oneswith the dry ice of course are stillfrozen also. My legs feel paralyzedfrom sitting in the car for the past12 hours, but I made it. Kathleen isabout 30 minutes behind me. I justspoke to her on the phone. I’mheading home to shower andsleep.”

continued on pg 9

potential for damage is high on anylow growing vegetation. Rhinos cancause damage to trees with theirhorns and by rubbing up againstthe trees. Rhinos are powerful andcan rip off the chain link protectionhorticulturalists install on treetrunks, so large rocks and bouldersare stacked around the base oftrees to prevent rhinos from gettingtoo close. Tigers are large cats, andlike their domesticated smallercousins, enjoy digging their clawsinto scratching posts. Withoutchain-link fencing and mildelectrical currents to discouragescratching live specimen trees, thelarge cat enclosures would havelittle tree cover.

Altman PlantsAltman Plants, which started in theowners’ backyard in 1975 as ahobby growing succulent plants,has grown into a multi-statewholesale nursery businessencompassing over 1700 acresacross six states. During our tour,we saw their ongoing efforts tobreed new hibiscus and rosecultivars with drought tolerance anddisease/pest resistance traits. Whilegrown in the breeding plots,potential new cultivars are providedlimited water and no fungicides orinsecticides so that the bestperforming cultivars are selected asgenetic stock for future breedingand/or for commercialization. Todeal with limited water resources inCalifornia Dustin Meadorhighlighted how Altman’s reuseswater by collecting runoff into aretaining pond and then filteringand purifying it prior to mixing it

The 2017 Ornamental HorticultureWorkshop began with a unique3-stop tour related to productionand maintenance of ornamentalhorticulture plants. The stopsincluded a behind the scenes tour ofthe San Diego Safari Park, which isa combination botanic garden andnaturalized areas for animals; theCenter for Horticulture andResearch at Altman Plants; andMellano and Co which grows cutflowers, foliage and certain seasonalpotted crops like poinsettia.

San Diego Zoo – Safari ParkTour attendees enjoyed the SafariPark and learned about the uniquepest problems facing thehorticulture team there. The SafariPark is open to the public yearround and has a board that reviewspest management options availableto the horticulturalists. Often theyresort to power-washing insectpests off of trees because they haveno internally-approved treatmentoptions. In addition to the normalinsect and mite pest managementproblems (diseases and weeds didn’tcome up in discussion), GailThurston, Horticulture Lead, sharedthe challenges they have withmammal damage and maintainingprized botanic specimens. SafariPark pest managers often deal withsmall mammals such as mice, rats,and rabbits, but they also need tomanage damage caused by the verymammals they are displaying.Giraffes are the tallest living landanimal and sleep only two hours perday. Because they feed mainly onleaves, buds and seeds, the

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pg 8Vol 48 No 4

Orn Hort TourSpotlight on Orn. Hort. with well water to irrigate their

crops. One of their innovations toconserve water is the use of driplines under absorbent mats to retainwater for uptake into the pots.

Mellano and Company Cut FlowersMellano and Company farms over400 acres of fresh flowers andfoliage in San Luis Rey and Carlsbad,California. One of the majorchallenges Mellano’s faces is labor:Mike Mellano spoke about difficultyin finding good workers domesticallyand the need for a continued guestworker program to fill the gaps. Mikealso spoke about the impactupcoming increases in the CAminimum wage will have. Laborcosts are a fixed item in theirbudget. When hourly wagesincrease, their workers will beworking fewer hours. To deal withthis, Mellano’s has been developingmore efficient processes so thatharvested cut flowers and foliage aretouched as few times as possible byas few workers as possible.Managing diseases, pests and weedscan be problematic because theplants are spaced very closelytogether and typical applications maynot penetrate plant canopies well.Preventative applications to managerust is critical, and these are oftenapplied using aerial equipment.

Setting the Stage for Priority SettingWhile we have highlighted severalnon-pest related issues growers andlandscape managers face, we alsolearned about their disease, pest andweed challenges prior to the prioritysetting workshop. This was a goodway to understand their needs, seenew aspects of production and meetother workshop participants prior tosetting future research priorities.

Photo by Cristi Palmer

Largemammalssuch as

giraffes andrhinos

cause damageto plantings.

Photossupplied bySafari Park

Drip linesunder waterretainingmat. Photo byMika Pringle-Tolson

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Tolerance Successes

Thursday, September 7, 12:50AM. Kathleen pulls into the lab:“The second eagle has landed!!!The sample inventory received byWlodek and Yavuz matches mynotes as to what was packed inwhich coolers. A HOBO®(temperature monitor device) thatwas placed in one of the coolerswas found and then replaced fordownloading tomorrow.

I must say that there is an almosttotal lack of gasoline here. The restareas on the turnpike had little gasor had at least a 1- 2 hours wait.Once you leave the turnpike thereis NO gas! Lucky for me I knew aplace about 10 miles off I75 inOcala where I was able to fill up.This was a blessing as the 11 gasstations I passed on the rest of theway to the lab had no gas.

As Michelle can tell you a 5-hourtrip took us 14 hours. Thehundreds and hundreds of carspulled off in the plazas are astatement of how seriously

Floridians are taking this storm.This was such an unbelievablegroup effort. It was AMAZING andeveryone helped make it happen!!!Now to sleep and hopefully wakingup to find that Irma has turned outof our path.” 

Thursday, September 7, 7:36 AM.Deborah Carpenter responded:“Thanks to all of you – for gettingthe samples there, and signingthem in. It was a long day….and Iwish you and your families’ safehaven. Take care.”

Thursday, September 7, 20178:43 AM. Dr. Gu’s thankedeveryone involved for their efforts:“I want to recognize theextraordinary efforts of the IR-4teams in Puerto Rico andHomestead to evacuate samplesand drive them to Gainesvilleyesterday…These are unbelievableefforts. This is a story that goesinto the IR-4 history book. Thankyou all.”

One for the History BookThe IR-4 Newsletter is published quarterly fordistribution to cooperators in our partnerState/Federal/Industry research units, Stateand Federal officials, commodity groups, andprivate citizens. Material from the IR-4Newsletter may be reproduced with credit tothe publication. New Jersey AgriculturalExperiment Station PublicationNo.P-27200-17-04. This material is basedupon work that is supported by the NationalInstitute of Food and Agriculture, USDepartment of Agriculture, under awardnumber 2015-34383-23710 and the HatchMultistate project accession number1008823 through the New JerseyAgricultural Experiment Station HatchMultistate project NJ27202, with substantialcooperation and support from other StateAgricultural Experiment Stations,USDA-ARS, and USDA-FAS.In accordance with Federal Law and USDepartment of Agriculture policy, thisinstitution is prohibited from discriminatingon the basis of race, color, national origin,sex, age or disability.

Editor: Sherrilynn NovackIR-4 Public Relations and CommunicationManager, 732.932.9575 x 4632, novack@njaes.rutgers.edu

Newsletter Committee:North Central Regional Director, John Wise, 517.432.2668.

Western Regional Assistant Field Coordinator, Stephen Flanagan,541.688.3155.

Southern Region Research Administrator II Robin Federline 352-294-3983.

Commodity Liaison Committee member, Mike Bledsoe, 407-493-3933, VillageFarms.

IR-4 HQ, 732.932.9575Research Assistant, Krista Coleman x4631,Associate Fungicide Coordinator, KathrynHoma x 4604, Associate Director, DanKunkel x 4616, Ornamental HorticultureManager, and Technical Copy Editor CristiPalmer x 4629, Technical Coordinator/Entomology, Ken Samoil x 4614, andAssistant Director, Van Starner x 4621

The IR-4 Newsletter Vol 48 No.4 Fall 2017

ToleranceSuccesses August - October

Federal Register: Aug. 3, 2017EthaboxamTrade Name: Elumin Crops: Ginseng, Pepper/Eggplantsubgroup 8-10B, Cucurbit vegetablegroup 9, Tuberous and cormvegetable subgroup 1CPR#: 10649, 10650, 10651,10652, 11113

Federal Register: Sept. 27, 2017Fluazifop-p-butylTrade Name: FusiladeCrops: Tuberous and corm vegetable

(except potato) subgroup 1D, Bulbonion subgroup 3-07A, Greenonion, Head and leaf lettuce,Bushberry subgroup 13-07B,Caneberry subgroup 13-07A,Small vine-climbing fruit (exceptfuzzy kiwifruit) subgroup 13-07F,Rhubarb, Strawberry, Fescue PR#: 02072, 02083, 02085,02402, 02403, 02404, 02681,02772, 03029, 03405, 03947,09825, 11361, 11362, 11365

Federal Register: Sept. 27, 2017OxathiapiprolinTrade Name: OrondisCrops: Cacao beanPR#: 11883

(No IR-4-related permanenttolerances were established inOctober.)

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Workshops

This Fall could be summarized as ahuge listening session with twopriority setting Workshops and aGlobal Minor Use Summit(GMUS). The first Workshop wasthe Food Use Workshop (FUW)held Sept. 20-21 in Denver, CO.Over 130 participants discussed162 researchable projects, andchose the 42 highest priorities forthe 2018 GLP residue researchplan.

At this workshop, projects requiringonly Efficacy and/or Crop Safetydata (Performance research) werealso prioritized along with projectsrequiring GLP residue data.Stakeholders selected the 8 highestpriority performance projects; thesewere designated as "H+" and trialswill be conducted for these priorityPerformance projects in 2018.

Find the complete list of GLPresidue and performance projectson the IR-4 website home page(ir4.rutgers.edu).

The next prioritization stepoccurred after the workshop whenRegional Field Coordinators andHQ staff determined upgradeprojects and then subsequentlyassigned field sites for all GLPresidue projects. Plans for 2018performance research are made tofirst complete ongoing projects andthen initiate research on the newperformance projects.

Next was the GMUSOn Oct. 1, 2017, ShirleyArchambault of Agriculture andAgri-Food Canada’s PestManagement Centre (AAFC/PMC)noted more than 200 experts from35 countries gathered in Montrealto kick off the four-day ThirdGlobal Minor Use Summit. The

Summit aimed to help producersof specialty crops from around theglobe through discussion ofregulatory challenges and traderelated issues to producing andmarketing minor crops.

The event was hosted and lead byAAFC/PMC in partnership with theIR-4 Project, United StatesDepartment of Agriculture ForeignAgriculture Services and otherorganizations.

Since pesticide regulations varyfrom country to country, somecountries will reject products atthe border, even if they containtrace pesticide residues whichscientific studies show do not posean unacceptable risk.

The Summit provided a venue forexperts to discuss these issues andidentify ways to harmonizepesticide regulations. The goal isto reduce whenever possible theamount of duplication and costinvolved in developing andreviewing regulatory submissions.This year’s Summit saw somesignificant progress. The groupagreed to work on the followingthemes over the next five years:•Increase cooperation by creatingminor use champions fromdifferent regions of the world;•Actively promote the adoption ofprocedures to establish globalmaximum residue limits (theamount of pesticide that canremain on crops);•Work towards a globallyacceptable definition of “minorcrops”;•Find consensus on crop groupingand representative crops (cropsthat are similar enough that theycan be treated the same, i.e.

onions and leeks); and•Develop a white paper on capacitybuilding to meet regulatory datarequirements.

Ultimately, securing consensus aboutregulatory approaches and minor usepesticide management on aninternational basis will provideproducers with improved marketaccess.

The final day of the Summit was theGlobal Minor Use Workshop wherepeople representing 23 countriesselected research priorities. Therewere a total of 3,852 globalpriorities. Participants were asked tochose “A” priorities for each growingenvironment: greenhouse, temperateand tropical. They then identified2nd and 3rd priorities in each andlabeled those “B” priorities.

The “A” priorities are: Temperate climate, Basil/downy mildew/oxathiapiprolinand lettuce/weeds/halauxifen-methylhaloxyfopTropical climate,banana/nematodes/fluopyram,biopesticide options i.e. Burkholderiasp and mango/anthracnose/tbd;andcarried forward from past workshop Greenhouses,ornamentals/thrips/pyridalyl,biopesticide options, andcucumber/powdery mildew/flutianil. To read more about the Summit andWorkshop visit gmup.org.And then onto OrnamentalHorticulture.

The 2017 Ornamental HorticultureWorkshop was held Oct. 17-19 inSan Diego, CA. The workshopkicked off with a tour of three sitesrelated to production andmaintenance of ornamental

Wow! So Many Workshops

continued on next page

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New Faces at IR-4

New Facesat IR-4There are many new faces at IR-4.The Western Region has hired Dr.Michael Horak to fill the position ofRegional Field Coordinatorpreviously held by Rebecca Sisco,who recently retired (see relatedacknowledgment from Jerry BaronVol 48 No 3)

Michael received his B.S. and M.S.in Plant Science from the Universityof California, Riverside and hisPh.D. in Agronomy (Weed Science)from the University of Illinois –Urbana. He worked as an Assistantand Associate professor in the

Department of Agronomy at KansasState University. His researchprogram encompassed basic andapplied studies on the biology,ecology and control of troublesomeannual and perennial weed species.He later joined Monsanto Companyas a Plant Ecologist. He wasresponsible for scientific studies toassess the potential ecologicalimpacts of biotechnology crops onthe environment. In 2014, heassumed the role of Global WeedResistance Management Platformlead for Regulatory. Hisresponsibilities included engagementwith the academic, industry andregulatory scientific communityaround herbicide resistant weedmanagement.

Headquarters has hired four

part-time/temp people. Amy Abate,Nick Drost, Sarah Latyn and BasilStergios.

Amy Abate is working with CristiPalmer on the pollinator project.Amy is currently an undergraduatestudent at Rutgers Universitystudying Environmental andBusiness Economics and PlantScience. Amy can be reached atamy.abate@rutgers.edu.

Nick Drost is a recent graduatefrom MSU. He was raised in GrandRapids and lived there most of hislife. He earned his Bachelor ofScience in Agriculture BusinessManagement in the Spring of2017. Nick is working as a UnitAdministrator/ Specialist under thesupervision of Sherri Nagahirohelping to facilitate and managegrants and awards. Nick can bereached at nick.drost@rutgers.edu.

Sarah Latyn is a graduate student atRutgers University in theProfessional Science Master’sprogram. She will be receiving aMaster’s of Business and Sciencewith a concentration in GlobalAgriculture in May 2018. Sarahreceived a B.A. from Rutgers with amajor in Biological Sciences and aminor in Entomology. and isworking with Michael Bravermanand Krista Coleman in theBiopesticides program. She ismainly focusing on updating theBiopesticide Label Database, butalso helping with various otherprojects when needed. Sarah canbe reached atslatyn3@scarletmail.rutgers.edu.

Dr. Basil Stergios has completedtwo graduate degrees at MichiganState University (1975), the first inSystematic Botany and PlantEcology, and the latter in small fruit

Efficacy, New Disease ManagementTool Crop Safety

Entomology - Borer & BeetleEfficacy, Mealybug & Scale Efficacy,New Pest Management Tools forCrop Safety

Weed Science - PreemergentHerbicide Crop Safety, PostemergentHerbicide Crop Safety and Efficacy inField Containers

The Ornamental HorticultureProgram regional priority projectsfor 2018 include:NCR - Nematode Efficacy,NCR/WSR - Thrips Efficacy, NER - Herbicide Crop Safety for CutFlowers,- Herbicide Crop Safety forGreen Roof Production (embeddedin related national project)NER/WSR - Snail & Slug Efficacy,SOR - Cover Crop Management forChristmas trees.

In the space of about a month, IR-4listened to our stakeholders and,based on their needs, developedresearch priorities for 2018.

horticulture plants. Participantsvisited the San Diego Zoo SafariPark which is a combination botanicgarden and naturalized areas foranimals, the Center for Horticultureand Research at Altman's, andMellano and Co which grows cutflowers, foliage and certain seasonalpotted crops like poinsettia. (readmore about the tour on pg 8).

During the OrnamentalHorticulture Workshoppriority-setting sessions,participants listened topresentations about new activeingredients and expansions ofcurrent products and thendiscussed potential projects. At theend of the day, attendees voted onthe top projects for each programvia a sticker caucus.

The national priority projects for2018 and 2019 for theOrnamental Horticulture Programare: Pathology - Botrytis Efficacy,Non-Oomycete Root & Crown Rot

Workshops

continued on back pg

IR-4 Headquarters, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey500 College Road EastSuite 201 WPrinceton, NJ 08540

NON-PROFITUS POSTAGE

PAIDNEW BRUNSWICK, NJ

PERMIT NO. 157This material is based upon work that is supported by the NationalInstitute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture,under award number 2015-34383-23710 with substantialcooperation and support from the State Agricultural ExperimentStations, USDA-ARS and USDA-FAS In accordance with FederalLaw and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution isprohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, nationalorigin, sex, age or disability.

United States Department of AgricultureNational Institute of Food and Agriculture

New Faces at IR-4

horticultural science (Viticulture,Oenology, and highbush blueberryculture). Dr. Stergios has joined theIR-4 team as a part-timecollaborator with the Specialty Cropactivities dealing with updates andrevisions of the crop monographdrafts destined for inclusion in afuture new edition of the Food andFeed Crops of the United States.Basil can be reached atbasil.stergios@rutgers.edu.

Retiring and Moving OnIR-4 also had many retirements thisyear. At HQ, Study Director, RayLeonard retired in Sept. and is nowhappy to be spending time with hisfirst grandchild. QA Specialist,Diane D’Angelo took advantage ofthe opportunity to relocate toNorth Carolina, where the beach isclose and the temperatures arewarmer. She is now enjoying herbrand new home and getting to

know the community.

The North Central Region will belosing Satoru Miyazaki as theRegional Field Coordinator thisyear. Satoru held that position forover 39 years. He plans on servingas a Japanese public radio reporter(like NPR) for Michigan, USA , andalso plans on doing more golfingand traveling in his retirement. Inthe interim, NCR Director, JohnWise, will carry on the RFC duties.

The Southern Region will missWlodzimierz (Wlodek)Borejsza-Wysocki, their RegionalLaboratory Coordinator. Wlodekbegan his IR-4 career in Geneva,NY at the Northeast IR-4Laboratory in 2000. When that labclosed, Wlodek was offered theLaboratory Coordinator position atGainesville, FL. While most peoplego south for retirement, Wlodekwill be going back to NY to be with

his family there. Replacing Wlodekwill be Gail Mahnken.Also moving on, in the SouthernRegion is the Regional FieldCoordinator, Michelle Samuel-Foo.Michelle will be taking an assistantprofessor position at Alabama StateUniversity. She has been with IR-4for ten years. Roger Batts will serveas an interim Regional FieldCoordinator for the IR-4 southernregion until a permanent RFC isfound. Roger will work remotelyfrom his location in North Carolina.Robin Federline and Amanda Hoglewill be assisting him from theGainesville, FL office.

IR-4 sends best wishes to ourretirees and Michelle, andwelcomes those who have joinedus.