The following interview with Farmer Bob Muth of Muth Farm in Williamstown, NJ, was conducted by Michelle Infante-Casella, Agricultural Agent, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Gloucester County in 1999.
Q: How many years have you farmed vegetables?
A: 16 years Q: How many years did you work as an agricultural agent and where?
A: I worked for 3 years in South Carolina as an area vegetable agent. Q: Could you explain your educational background related to agriculture?
A: I attended Cumberland County Community College in New Jersey where I received an Associate's Degree in Production Agriculture. I later received my B.S. from Cook College. In South Carolina I attended Clemson University to work on my M.S. degree. When returning to New Jersey I continued working on a M.S. degree at the University of Delaware, hoping to complete my graduate degree someday. Q: How many acres of vegetables do you grow on an annual basis?
A: 10-12 acres of tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, okra, melons, and squash. Q: What is the total acreage you farm?
A: 60 acres tillable, therefore, I have about 48-50 acres in hay, rotational crops, or with municipal leaves spread. Q: When did you first see Phytophthora blight on your farm?
A: In 1988 it first started and I only had about 5-6 pepper plants die. Then I did not see any for 5-6 years after that, but in 1996 it was back. 1996 was a wet year and infection increased in my peppers as the season went on. In 1997, I saw some in a field I had never had Phytophthora in before. I must have carried it in on equipment. Now with all of the precautions and a dry year in 1998 I haven't seen any since. Q: Where do you think the source of this disease came from?
A: On my farm it was most likely air-borne from another farm and could have traveled miles in the winds of summer storms. Originally, it may have come to New Jersey in contaminated soil that was on the roots of transplants grown in fields down south. Q: How close is the nearest vegetable farm to your fields?
A: The nearest is about 1 mile directly away. Being that far away is a benefit when it comes to the aerial phase of Phytophthora traveling from field to field. Many farmers in Southern New Jersey are closer in proximity to each other. Q: What controls do you use for Phytophthora blight?
A: Mainly cultural controls, especially rotation, to prevent the disease and then chemicals like fungicides and fumigants as a precaution. I have seen what it can do to fields that are not rotated and the results are devastating. Q: What do you think of chemical controls?
A: I believe they are an added tool, but can sometimes fail if used alone. When I was in South Carolina we saw fungicides fail due to pest resistance that occurred from over use of chemicals. Q: How do chemicals fit into your production?
A: I sometimes fumigate by broadcasting vapam. I used to use vorlex and strip fumigate with methyl bromide, but don't use them anymore. I will use ridomil through the drip and copper and mancozeb for foliar and fruit protection. Q: How did you decide to use rotations?
A: I credit Dr. Steve Garrison. When I was an undergraduate student at Cook College, I had Steve as a professor. He told us that to control diseases you cannot rely exclusively on chemicals. He said some growers have tried this and failed. He taught us that using good rotations and sanitation, followed by clean-up treatments with chemicals is the best way to go. Once I used rotations for a few years, I was convinced that it was the only way to produce a high yielding, high quality crop. Q: What do you do in the way of sanitation to prevent Phytophthora blight?
A: We faithfully clean the equipment and tractors before going into another field, even if we do not see signs of Phytophthora in the field we were in. We make sure to clean our baskets after packing in the shed. Q: What other controls or practices do you use?
A: I follow Dr. Steve Johnston's steps to prevent Phytophthora blight in pepper. We back fill the planting hole immediately after planting with the water wheel transplanter. We use high, domed raised beds, drip irrigation, and plastic mulch. First and foremost is our use of rotation and adding municipal leaves to our soils to build organic matter. Q: Could you explain your crop rotation plan?
A: I rotate out of vegetables for at least 4-5 years. The year after vegetables I may put in a hay crop of timothy and orchard grass that I cut and sell. I will put timothy alone in fields with my best soils. If the soil is a bit rough or gravely, I will add in orchard grass. Orchard grass establishes better than timothy. Other rotational crops I use as green manures include winter rye and vetch mixtures, winter rye alone, and sudangrass in the summer. Using sudangrass after legume cover crops helps to recycle the nitrogen from the legume crop. The sudangrass utilizes the nitrogen in its own growth and then releases the organic nitrogen when it decomposes. I like to use a green manure crop just before planting vegetables. If I go right in after hay, I may have some clumping left from the hay crop, especially when turning it under in the fall after a dry summer. If not using cover crops or green manure crops I set aside other parts of the farm to spread municipal leaves. Q: Could you explain the amount of leaves applied?
A: I spread a 6" layer on top of the soil which is about 20 tons of dry matter per acre. In the beginning the leaves had some trash in them. However, the municipalities have worked on that problem and they are coming to the farm much cleaner than they used to. We are doing the municipalities a favor by taking the leaves that are no longer able to be brought to the landfills and we are getting an organic matter benefit to our soils. Spreading leaves does mean working extra months in the winter after leaf collection takes place, but it is worth it to my soils. Q: Could you explain the pros and cons of leaves?
A: Well, again, leaves help with increasing organic matter in my
soils. In fact, I have a field that tested 5% organic matter. That is
unheard of in our mineral soils in Southern New Jersey. I attribute
this to leaf application and good cover crops and green manures. I
also feel that there are some nutrient benefits to adding leaves. I
see my soil tests coming back with increased potassium after leaf
application. It does take a few years for the leaves to decompose and
release nutrients, but I usually plant my hay crop or green manure
crops into fields that have recently received leaves. Also, increasing
the organic matter and using leaves, will cool the soil temperatures
and increase soil moisture. This sometimes delays earliness in crops,
especially tomatoes, peppers, and melons. It may not be a good idea to
use high amounts of leaves on fields where you want early production. Q: What benefits do you see from using an integrated approach to controlling Phytophthora on your farm?
A: The number one benefit is economics. I am spending less money using rotations and leaves. I don't have the chemical bills of some farms. Even if and when chemicals alone fail, you still have to pay the salesman. I haven't seen the rotation system, along with the other tools (including chemicals) fail. Using all the tools available works. I find it a healthier system for me, my land, and the environment. My workers feel safer in the fields and the neighbors see me spraying less and getting better looking crops. In fact, some of my neighbors saw how healthy my crops were and how I treated my lands and asked me to farm their lands rent-free. They use to charge rent to other farmers but were unhappy with what was being done to their soils. I am less stressed about anticipating the disease coming on, because I don't think it will. Even though I am putting half of my lands in cash crops (vegetables and hay) I have increased my bottom line. Yields are higher and inputs have decreased. I am not rushing to crop every acre and produce an excess of product that the market cannot handle. If more farmers took their lands out of vegetables to grow rotational crops to improve their soils, the supply of vegetables may decrease and prices may stay more stable. In the meantime, our lands would benefit and our chemical bills would decrease. Our good crop lands are dwindling due to development and we must treat the lands left with respect. In relation to that, we must be concerned with our water sources and not apply any more pesticides or fertilizers than we have to that may wind up in our water. Maybe my son will want to farm. Daniel is almost 4 and he hasn't decided yet, but I would like to leave his options open. Someone will have to produce food in the future. Shouldn't we prepare the farms for our future generations? Some farmers take the approach that I will probably have to sell the land anyway. Some say "I am tired of farming", but don't most of us farm until we die because we deep down inside really like working the land and have our pride? Just some things to think about.
