The Chestnut Grower Vol. 11, No. 2 Published by Chestnut Growers of America (CGA) Spring 2009 If you’re putting in a tree planting that requires the use of Protecting the Chestnut Crop, high-dollar planting stock, or an investment of your valu- Bond Style able personal time, then you will want to protect that invest- ment. There are several methods available to limit the likeli- by Dusty Walter, University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry hood of crop loss to deer. However, none are 100 percent foolproof. Some of the popular methods rely on repellents. There are a variety of commercial repellents available, or here is a potential prob- you can mix your own. Most repellents rely on two meth- Tlem in paradise! Deer ods of deterrent, smell and taste. However, no matter which have become so abundant repellent you choose, there are drawbacks. For example, (1) that weed control alone is no if purchased, they can be expensive; (cont. pg. 6) longer sufficient to ensure good tree growth and a boun- tiful nut crop. Foresters have always preached that good weed control will result in better Heading to Ohio? tree growth … and it’s true! In agroforestry, we continue to preach this message with an even broader application. While agroforestry practices may involve the harvest of re you heading to Ohio for * timber, this is often in addition to annual crops such as nuts ACGA’s annual meeting? Cleveland and fruit. To maximize the vigor of our trees and facilitate Remember, the deadline for registration is June 5 and we’re Carrollton* harvesting, it is then necessary to manage weeds in these * practices. One of the nut trees we believe has real crop making it easy to get yourself on Columbus Cincinnati potential throughout Missouri (in fact, throughout much of the guest list – a registration form * the Eastern U.S.) is the Chinese chestnut. However, should is enclosed in this issue. your unprotected chestnut trees produce a heavy crop, you may end up sharing more of the crop with deer than you Mail the form, with conference fee, to Ray Young, would like. So, what can you do? After covering several Secretary/Treasurer, PO Box 841, Ridgefield, WA 98642. options for controlling nuisance deer, I’d like to share with you a solution used effectively by Sen. “Kit” Bond in 2008 The meeting will include orchard tours, presentations, (pictured above with his orchard’s guard dogs) to keep deer food and fun! The fun kicks off with a get-together at out of his chestnut orchard. Greg Miller’s house Friday night (June 26). The meeting and presentations will be Saturday, June 27, at FFA Camp Muskingum, Carrollton, Ohio, followed by an orchard tour. In this issue: Another orchard tour will be Sunday, June 28. Miller is the Protecting the Chestnut Crop 1 meeting chairman (contact him at empirechestnut@gotsky. Heading to Ohio? 1 com or 330-627-3181). Find more information at Australian Chestnut Industry 3 http://www.wcga.net/annmtg.htm Green-on-Green Grafting Guide 4 What I Wouldn’t Do Again 5 (Registering after June 5? That’s OK – just remember UMCA Chestnut Research 6 you’ll likely miss out on the sweatshirt.) CGA CGA By-Laws Revisions 10 The Chestnut Grower 1 CHESTNUT GROWERS OF AMERICA A Message from BOARD OF DIRECTORS the President PRESIDENT Mike Gold (573) 884-1448 e-mail [email protected] MIKE GOLD VICE PRESIDENT Bill Nash (517) 651-5278 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI e-mail [email protected] CENTER FOR AGROFORESTRY SECRETARY-TREASURER Ray Young (360) 887-3669 e-mail [email protected] Annual Member Survey/Detailed Production Cost DIRECTOR Lucienne Grunder (209) 848-4816 Information Still Needed e-mail [email protected] In my previous message I began by noting the “rough” DIRECTOR Dennis Fulbright (517) 353-4506 winter conditions that were occurring across the USA. I e-mail [email protected] DIRECTOR Lee Williams (509) 765-3922 am humbled and shocked by the horrible firestorm that e-mail [email protected] took place in SE Australia in January and February. John DIRECTOR Sandy Bole (503) 625-1248 Morton, President, Chestnuts Australia Inc., has an update e-mail [email protected] on the events that took place. I am sure I speak for everyone in the CGA in expressing our prayers and support for all Newsletter Editor: Mike Gold who experienced painful losses of loved ones and property (573) 884-1448; [email protected] Newsletter Coordinator: Michelle Hall during the devastating fire season and its aftermath. (573) 882-9866; [email protected] At the outset of the fire season, CGA member Dennis NOTICE Fulbright was touring Australian chestnut growers and in The Chestnut Grower is published quarterly by the Chestnut the first of a two-part travelogue, he shares some wonderful Growers of America at 203 ABNR, Columbia, MO 65211. experiences from his visit. Copyright 2009. Original articles may be reprinted with written permission of the author and this publication. Due to out-of-control deer populations in much of the Web site: www.chestnutgrowers.com eastern US, tree planting and survival has become a major concern. To establish orchards of any kind, extensive Single membership is $30 per year per person, house- (expensive) measures must be taken to keep the deer from hold membership is $40 and associate membership is $50. browsing and “buck rubbing” the trees. In addition, Members receive The Chestnut Grower quarterly. For for- eign delivery contact the Editor for pricing. Back issues may during harvest season, deer must be kept away from crops be obtained by members. Membership applications may be including chestnuts, prior to harvest. Using dogs, trained obtained from the Secretary-Treasurer. to work within “invisible fence” surrounding an orchard is an interesting idea and a potential alternative to the use POSTMASTER of both ‘hot’ electric fencing and 8’ high non-electrified Send address changes to CGA, c/o PO Box 841, Ridgefield, WA 98642. fencing. ADVERTISING RATES ATTENTION FELLOW CGA MEMBERS: In the Winter Full page, camera ready (w/1 photo) . $20.00 2009 issue of The Chestnut Grower we enclosed a Half page, camera ready (w/1 photo) ...15.00 market survey for CGA members to fill out. To the 17 Quarter page .........................................10.00 CGA members who have returned the survey, thank you Business card (4 issues) .......................15.00 One classified ad per member per year is free (max. 6 lines, (reminder: these are anonymous and no individual details $2.50 ea. add’l 6 lines). Ad space may be reserved with full will be revealed in our analyses). However, 17 surveys is payment but must meet established deadlines. For more infor- too small a number for us to provide meaningful feedback mation and specifications, contact Michelle Hall at (573) 882- to our members regarding the current market and market 9866 or [email protected]. trends. I am hoping that we can at least double the number of CGA member survey responses after reading this issue of The Chestnut Grower. Without a much stronger response, PUBLICATION DEADLINES there will not be much validity in what we are learning, the numbers are simply too small. So, please take a few Fall issue deadline 9/15 mailed 10/15 minutes and fill out your surveys. Winter issue deadline 12/15 mailed 1/15 Spring issue deadline 3/15 mailed 4/15 Finally, best wishes to all for perfect spring weather. See Summer issue deadline 6/15 mailed 7/15 you in Ohio this coming June and don’t forget to register for the annual meeting. 2 The Chestnut Grower Australian Chestnut Industry 2009: Workshop and Wildfires by Dennis Fulbright, Michigan State University ennis’ recap of his recent trip to Australia will be buds. Severe pruning or tree removal will probably need Dfeatured in two parts; the first in this issue, and the to occur in many of the chestnut orchards I drove past and second in the summer ‘09 newsletter. visited. y wife Jane and I visited Australia from Jan. 17-Feb. We arrived in Canberra and were picked up by Heather M1. The trip was part work and part vacation. I made a Kane and taken to Tweenhills Chestnut Farm for the presentation to a chestnut nut rot meeting held by Chestnut chestnut rot meeting. We ate lunch and talked to about Australia, Inc. at Tweenhills Chestnut Farm owned by 40 chestnut growers from all over Australia including John and Heather Kane. John and Heather were also our Tasmania. They had toured John’s dry-land chestnut farm hosts and took us to other farms. Later, I also reported that morning while waiting for us. The meeting started our laboratory findings to researchers at the University of with Stephen Morris speaking about CALM storage units. Sydney. This is a report based on that quick visit. First, I want to say how well we were treated by all of the The CALM, pictured at right, is a growers, how open and sincere they were when discussing modified atmosphere unit that keeps various issues, and how impressed I was with the care carbon dioxide (CO2) at higher than they give their trees. Before I get started, I need to say ambient concentrations, but not so high how mournful we were to hear about their countrymen’s as to induce foul odors and flavors. The suffering due to the extreme drought conditions that idea is that the chestnuts are placed in brought on fires, a sealed plastic bag and they respire, both natural and releasing CO2 into the sealed environment. Normal set, that have atmosphere, that is, before the bag is sealed, consists of wreaked such oxygen at 21 percent and CO2 at less than 1 percent.