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2007 Year End in Review Ontario

Weather

This summer was very hot and dry in many regions of Ontario. Many of the varieties were harvested several days earlier than usual. There was some difficulty in getting the fruit to colour up at harvest, especially varieties such as McIntosh. There were several hailstorms that went through the apple growing region east of Toronto.

Diseases

Despite the extreme dry weather there was a lot of apple scab in orchards throughout the province. There was considerable discussion about why this may be occurring (resistance, timing etc). Many growers assumed that their fungicides applied around bloom would provide 3-5 days protection. However, I think the extremely hot weather during bloom may have resulted in accelerated growth and may have reduced the fungicide residue distribution uniformity. Currently Dr. Wendy McFadden Smith (McSmith Ag services) is conducting some research to test for resistance to SI’s in Ontario. Currently SI resistance has not been documented in Ontario.

Insects and Mites

Aphids (rosy apple aphid, and green apple aphid) appeared in apple orchards early in the season this year, and in high numbers. Codling moth was a problem again in several Ontario apple orchards. Last year (2006) OMAFRA conducted a bioassay (based on research conducted by L. Gut) to evaluate levels of OP resistance in codling moth (CM) populations at two orchards in Norfolk county. Although the sample size was small, the preliminary results suggest that OP resistance in codling moth populations in some of the orchards may be a problem. Dr. Ian Scott was recently hired as a toxicologist with Agriculture and Agri-food Canada and he hopes to conduct a survey to evaluate if OP resistance is present in CM populations in Ontario. Mite populations were high this year in some orchards, likely a result of the hot dry summer.

Other

Last year CFIA announced that all counties in Ontario are deemed infested with Japanese beetle (prior to last year it was only found in southern Ontario). This year we saw more incidence of Japanese beetle damage in apple orchards, however, it is still considered to be a sporadic pest. Honeycrisp appears to be a variety that is preferred by Japanese beetle.

Last year surveyed orchards throughout Canada for the apple clearwing moth (Synanthedon myopaeformis). This pest was first noted in BC in 2005, and a single orchard with this pest was found in Ontario in 2006. Surveys in 2007 found that although this pest is still present in relatively high numbers at one orchard in Ontario it has not been found at any other orchards. This year OMAFRA initiated a project to evaluate the efficacy of using mating disruption to manage this pest.