Two-spotted Spider Mite (Tetranychus urticae) is a persistent threat to the strawberry industry nationwide. Their hidden colonization of plant canopies, rapid reproduction, and ability to develop resistance to chemical treatments make them especially difficult to control. Strawberry growers face significant risks because spider mites damage plants by reducing photosynthesis, stunting growth, and feeding directly on fruit causing significant crop losses annually.

With higher than normal temperatures this past month, damaging populations have broken out across Central Florida strawberry plantings and growers are in need of effective solutions to mitigate this escalating threat.

Published data developed by Dr. Frank Sances of Ag Metrics Group has shown that an average of 10-15 mites per leaf can cause measurable plant damage and yield loss. The plants shown above have had 100 or more mites per leaf for weeks at a time.

Currently, we are planning the Spring 2025 program at our Dover, FL strawberry research station. If you have a conventional or alternative acaricide in development, our “add on” trial program has openings for additional entries. Foliar sprays, root drench application and drip irrigation methods are possible. Your product will be compared with industry standards for efficacy against eggs, nymphs and adult stages.  At this time of year, 2-3 applications are normally made to manage this pest.

The industry is searching for products that can help growers manage the area-wide outbreak and prevent further losses economically important crop. If your product has potential efficacy against spider mites, please give us a call while we are filling slots in our field trial program in Central Florida. The industry is searching for products that can help manage the area-wide outbreak and prevent losses to this economically important crop. Two-Spotted Spider Mite is extremely difficult to control on strawberries and there are few effective control measures available to growers. Field trialing your potential solution in these real-world conditions could benefit everyone involved. 
 
Please call Florida Ag Research Director, Dr. Balaji Aglave, directly at (813) 892-1104. You can also email him at [email protected] or Erin Downey at [email protected] to discuss these Florida trials now starting at our Strawberry Research Center in Dover, FL. For questions regarding field trials at any of our other stations nationwide including the California Strawberry research program also with lab and field two spotted spider mite trials please contact Brad Booker at [email protected]

Today, at the Florida Strawberry Growers Association Field Day in Dover, FL, Dr. Frank Sances of Florida Ag Research (an Ag Metrics Group Comapny) shared key findings on Chilli Thrips Control in Strawberry: Comparison of Conventional and Organic Treatment Efficacy. The presentation offered a deep dive into:

• Innovative pre- and post-plant treatment methods.
• Comparative analysis of organic vs. conventional strategies.
• Early season agronomic responses to application timing and methodology.

Dr. Sances emphasized the need for ongoing research to fine-tune safe and effective practices tailored to Florida's strawberry crops. We’re proud to support cutting-edge research that directly benefits the agricultural community.

Explore the findings of the presentation here (Click image below to view file):

Metagenomic analysis of 16S and ITS sequencing data of soil microbiome. 1149 features detected across 48 samples. Dendrogram determines similarity across samples. Unsupervised clustering (colors) show sample consistency across seasonal timepoints as well as potential outliers (left samples). Processed data was derived from Mr. DNA pipeline. Final timepoint had the clearest separation in soil treatments indicating high reliability of treatment specific species detection.

Data summaries of "stackplot" representations of abundance data from genus level. Each timepoint grouped by treatment and stacked with detectable genera diversity expressed as percent of total abundance.  Top 12 out of 349 genera listed. Alternating color bands show diverse genera, thickness is percent abundance ranked from most (bottom) to least (top).

Additional research funding provided by The Florida Strawberry Growers Association Foundation and the USDA

2023 is shaping up to be the largest data generation season on record across the West, Midwest, and Southeast US. The last few years under Covid have brought new pest outbreaks in key cropping systems coupled with an industrywide pent-up demand for R&D data for product developers and growers alike. In response, our company has doubled down on our core capabilities to give our clients the insights they need to accomplish product development goals and drive new value for our farmers.
The world has reset–leaving an opening for biology to move in new ways. Over the last three years, we have witnessed significant crop losses across our farming regions. This includes a serious new Thrips / INS Virus / Pythium “Pest Complex” on lettuce in the Salinas Valley of California, explosive Tar Spot outbreaks in the Midwest, and strawberry crop losses from newly introduced Neopestalotiopsis in Florida. These and other agronomic challenges surfaced during Covid and have kept us busy working to understand their epidemiology and uncover new opportunities for control.

American Phytopathological Society of America (APS)
Dan Lawrence 1, Greg Brittain 1, Balaji Aglave 2, Frank Sances 3
1 Pacific Ag Research, 2 Florida Ag Research, 3 Ag Metrics Group
 
Following these authors’ research in Central Florida strawberry plantings in late 2019, they found this devastating fungus again in Salinas, California, on newly transplanted strawberries in the winter of 2021. Since their original Florida research, the fungus is now well established throughout the Southeast and has become the key pest for this crop early season. This subsequent finding in California is the first scientific proof that it has moved westward into other US strawberry producing areas, and has the potential to cause crop losses to growers in that region.

In 2022, we remodeled 1,200 ft2 of administrative offices, opened a new 2,500 ft2 climate-controlled field lab, and installed additional fruit, nut, and vine plantings. We added more microscopy, a walk-in cooler, a post-harvest drying unit, and a deep well with a new reservoir for sustainable water at this site going forward. The past year we purchased more off-site equipment including a new tow vehicle, support trucks, and another mobile orchard sprayer platform for off-site trials. Together with a new research biologist, these assets comprise a well-equipped and staffed Central Valley research campus with a wide geographic radius of field activities for product development needs.

To advance our goal to provide the best possible administration and science campus at Albion, Michigan Ag Research is now in the final stages of construction of a 4,800 ft2 building that will include:

• Specialized and general entomology bioassay lab
• Nematology soil extraction and microscopy rooms
• Expansion of the Plant Pathology lab
• Low humidity storage rooms for electronics and sensors
• Equipment shop for year-round maintenance of tractors and implements

In addition to the new laboratory facilities, 80 acres of irrigated farm land were added, bringing the total station size to 200 acres.

​Summary: Management of soil borne pests on commercial Florida strawberry farms has long been a challenge to growers. In recent years, this has been particularly difficult with regulatory pressures on the use of remaining chemical soil fumigants and the costs associated with their use. Also, while still in its infancy, organic strawberry production in Florida has been established by several shippers to try to meet the demand for this strawberry market segment.

To provide growers with alternative non-fumigant soil pest management techniques, this project builds on previous work from these and other researchers with an on-site demonstration of Soil Solarization and Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation for the 2023 grower outreach event by our collaborative groups.

Findings were presented at the Florida Strawberry Grower Association & UF/IFAS Tailgate on January 11, 2023.
QR Code to see the Poster for the study:

After cleaning up from two hurricanes (repairing and rebuilding) 40,000 sq. ft. of greenhouse and shadehouses, Florida Ag Research added 5,000 sq. ft. of climate-controlled greenhouses and 7,500 sq. ft. of shadehouses. Within two weeks of Hurricane Ian’s passage we were back in business, thanks to employee crews from Florida Ag Research and California colleagues from Pacific Ag Research!

Charlie Boone continues in his supervisory role overseeing the Company’s land and labor resources for East Tampa and Dover sites. As an Environmental Horticulturist, Charlie is particularly well-suited to run our research facility since he grew up on a commercial nursery farm just a few miles from the Florida Ag Research offices. Currently Charlie’s crew manages research greenhouses and shadehouses for our science laboratories experimentation, plus the USDA Quarantine facility.

Yesterday we were in Dover, Florida, at the Florida Strawberry Grower Association & UF/IFAS Tailgate. Frank Sances presented updated data on Combining Soil Solarization with Conventional Chemical Fumigants and Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation (ASD) in Florida Strawberry Production. See the poster here  

F.V. Sances (1), B. Aglave (1), K. Williams (1), C. Boone (1), S. Sances (2), W. Schonborn (3), & E. Rosskopf (3)
(1) Florida Ag Research, (2) Ag Metrics Group, (3) US Department of Agriculture (Collaboration Only)

Introduction
Management of soil borne pests on commercial Florida strawberry farms has long been a challenge to growers. In recent years, this has been particularly difficult with regulatory pressures on the use of remaining chemical soil fumigants and the costs associated with their use. Also, while still in its infancy, organic strawberry production in Florida has been established by several shippers to try to meet the demand for this strawberry market segment. To provide growers with alternative non-fumigant soil pest management techniques, this project builds on previous work from these and other researchers with an on-site demonstration of Soil Solarization and Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation for the 2023 grower outreach by our collaborative groups.

Methodology
Planting beds were inoculated with soil borne diseases, Sting and Root Knot nematodes, and common weed seeds prior to treatment. Four replications of six treatments (Table 1) were randomly placed into planting beds previously farmed (2021) in strawberries. Each plot comprises two planted beds (4 plant lines), 40 ft in length (8 ft x 40 ft plots, 320 ft²), in a randomized complete block (RCB) experimental layout. Following summer Solarization and ASD plots, beds were reworked in September, standard fumigation applied to comparison plots, and all plots planted and grown conventionally to maturity on October 15, 2022. Data collection for pest control and yields have begun. AOV with LSD Means comparison, α=0.05.

Frank Sances will be attending the 2022 MBAO: Fumigation and Alternatives for Production, Storage and Trade Conference in Orlando. Come find out about our "Efficacy of Solarization and Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation" study. Email us to have a meet-up or a pre- or post-conference tour of our Florida Station, less than 2 hours from Orlando. #anaerobicdisinfestation #strawberry #MBAO #Methylbromide #FloridaAg #FloridaAgResearch [email protected]

Florida Ag Research presented a “Proof of Concept” field demonstration intended to evaluate the suitability of using solar radiation to enhance soil borne pest control with Conventional Fumigants and Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation in commercial Florida strawberry production. Potential benefits of the system include:
 
a) Solarization and ASD are approved organic soil pest control options
b) Solarization with conventional soil borne pest control inputs may allow reduction in chemical usage
c) ASD is a potential waste recycling system

​The project, which began in June of 2021, was published by Florida Ag Research/Ag Metrics Group scientists and growers: Frank Sances, Balaji Aglave, Mark Keeley, Kaleb Williams, and Charlie Boone.
 
The Solarization Project was presented by Ag Metrics Group’s Mark Keeley (formerly a Station Manager of Florida Ag Research). “It was great to come back out and present this exciting work to growers and researchers since the ‘Field Day’ was cancelled last January,” said Keeley, “And a great opportunity to introduce Mariano [Galla], the new Florida Ag Research Station Manager, to the Florida strawberry grower community.”