Whether you believe in global warming or not, there has definitely been a greater variation in climate in the last few years.
Looking at the top-fruit industry, and specifically the production element of the chain, it has always had a huge reliance on what Mother Nature decides to do. The days of “normal” or “average” weather seem to be a distant memory, and 2011 was not an average year for growers.
The season started with an early spring, a late frost in some areas and a dry interval, but it was an overall warm season with lower-than-usual average light levels, and early scab infection and codling moth hatch were all there to challenge producers.
In late winter and early spring temperatures were generally positive and the average readings rose quite quickly as the growing season approached.
Looking at rainfall, the 2011 spring was a dry one. From March until May hardly any rain fell in most of the key growing areas. This caused a stressful start for new plantings and young trees as they struggled to find enough moisture, but on the other hand it was a good opportunity to save on fungicides for scab protection, as the risk was very low.
A normal May sees trees in bloom, but due to the mild weather and lack of early rainfall last year they were at the fruitlet stage. Then early May saw some areas hit by a late frost. The temperature dropped below zero and there were negative values for more than seven hours in some areas, including Wisbech in East Anglia. Unfortunately, on the same day the temperature rose to above 10°C in less than two hours. This extreme temperature change was one of reasons why the damage some sites suffered was extremely severe.
Using the Growers Choice Interactive system, producers can monitor the timing and intensity of the scab spore release and infections periods, as well as the codling moth activity. In all the regions Agrovista monitors, they noticed early spore maturation, three to five major spore release events, and one to three significant infections depending on the geographic area. Overall the dry start to the season gave growers the possibility to save on fungicide applications and scab was not difficult to manage.
The codling moth season also started early. Some flight activity was noted in early May and first eggs were laid in mid-May.
In 2011 there was only one codling generation, unlike the previous season, and this helped to control the population.
At the time of writing 2012 has produced an early spring with buds and blossom some two to three weeks early. Is this pattern now the norm? Only time will tell. -
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