North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[anton ptak <antonptak@gmail.com>]

I thought I should chime in here, as the coordinator and board member 
for the Organic Tree Fruit Association.  Our organization represents 
member growers with just a few trees to several thousand trees mostly 
located in the Midwest.  We have made formal presentations in the past 
to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) on this issue, and did so 
again this year.  We proposed a "middle ground approach" that provided 
for continued use in 2014 to 2019 ONLY when computer models calculated a 
high blight risk.  After 2019, our proposal allowed for emergency use 
only to save orchard plantings, with the crop on those treated trees not 
being available for sale under the organic label for that year.

One reality is that there are organic growers out there that have 
purchased their ochards and are attempting to manage organically. Some 
(or most) of these were not planted with fireblight resistant 
rootstocks.  Others have established their orchards many years ago when 
fireblight resistant rootstocks were not available.  The alternative 
products out there (Blossom Protect, Blightban) have been trialed most 
extensively in the pacific northwest, which is a completely different 
growing environment than here in the midwest. To our knowledge, there 
has not been any conclusive trials that these products would work for 
fireblight control in the midwestern or eastern US.

It is critical to note that most of the organic growers that use 
antibiotics in this area leave it untouched in the shed most years. It 
is on hand for those years when there's hail, warm temps, and high 
humidity and use only to avoid the possibility of using an entire 
block.  I know an grower near here that decided not to spray strep on a 
young planting one year, and did lose that block.  Trying to protect the 
investment made by some organic growers was part of the reason behind 
our position and proposal.

The NOSB vote to extend the use of antibiotics to tree fruit production 
to 2016 did not pass.  Likely, a discussion of the use for emergency 
situations will be taken up at the October 2013 meeting of the NOSB.


Sincerely,
Anton Ptak
Board Member, Coordinator
Organic Tree Fruit Association
http://organictreefruit.org/