State-of-the-Project Report Year 2 Debbie Inglis, Co-Project Director Biodegradable Mulches for Specialty Crops Produced Under Protective Covers (SCRI-SREP Reference No ) June 1-2, 2011 Team Meeting; Lubbock, TX

cropresearchinitiative.cfm The Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) was designed to solve critical agricultural industry issues through research and extension activities that are multi-state, multi-institutional, and trans-disciplinary

SCRI participation means teamwork! o Was it a team effort that made your work possible? o Are you sharing data and information on a regular basis? o Are you communicating with WG leader, team and/or advisory members on a regular basis? o Are you completing your work, data analyses, and writing assignments on time? o Are you keeping up-to-date on what your team colleagues are doing? Deb’s A to Z list...

AccomplishmentsChallenges for Yr 3 Advisors - Our advisors have good advice—thank you! - Continue to listen to them Budget - Most accounts are now 50% expended; if not, see me - Cost share needs to be documented quarterly - Effort certification updates - messages improved (per my request last year) - CC:ing the PDs—Important! - Regular WG mtgs (leaders) - More WG Leader + AC interactions/meetings (DI) Communications

Etiquette o Accurate subject line descriptors o Shorter messages for multiple recipients; longer messages for fewer recipients o Chain of command ie., relay through WG leaders o Photos and diagrams are great! o Read the entire chain before responding; use care in who is cc:d; remember, not being cc:d does not mean exclusion o Do not hesitate to pick- up the telephone\ o It is OK to communicate between WGs!

AccomplishmentsChallenges for Yr 3 - messages improved (per my request last year) - CC:ing PDs—it’s important! - Regular WG mtgs (leaders) - More WG Leader + AC interactions/meetings (DI) - Analyses in progress on most (but not all) Yr 1 data - Yr 2 coming soon; consult w/university statisticians - No one ‘owns’ their data; it is the property of the university and the SCRI agency - More data sharing needed among the team; develop POA this week! Internal website? Dropbox? - A few now drafted, but...- Denote as ‘PRELIMINARY’ - Write and review w/authors FIRST; acknowledge project - New product being tested this year (thank you Larry) - Note revisions to treatment content descriptions Communications Data analysis Data mgt / sharing Industry reports Mulch treatments

AccomplishmentsChallenges for Yr 3 - New product being tested this year (thank you Larry) - Note revisions to content - Some have been great ones, and are an expected part of good science - We must pay attention to our capacity (time and $) Outreach (thanks Andrew) - Our 2010 CRIS report: 65 presentations; 9 abstracts/ proceedings; 17 media interviews; 5,066 people educated; 1.9 M people made aware! -Team helps in listing all activities, as they occur -Outcomes/impacts must be on-task w/our logic model - Always acknowledge the project New ideas Mulch names

*AC = Advisory committee; ASTM = American Society for Testing and Materials; BDMs = biodegradable mulches; KI = Key informants; PNW = Pacific Northwest; R&D = Research and development; SSAWG (Southern Sustainable Agricultural Working Group). Note: areas shaded in gray have already been completed via SCRI project planning activities. Fig 3. General logic model for SREP project planning, implemen- tation, and evaluation to ensure effective outreach (see grant proposal) Situation on BDMs* and High Tunnels Priority Issues Activities Planned and Completed Outputs Planned and Completed Desired Short-term Outcomes Desired Long-term Impacts Mulches are critical to successful production of specialty fruits and vegetables in high tunnel crop systems Establish a team of scientific experts in biosystem and textile sciences, soils, horticulture, pests/diseases, sociology, and economics, including stakeholder advisory committee members Hold project planning meeting at UW-River Falls; follow-up with regularly scheduled conference calls, electronic mail, and shared documents via Sharepoint website Assign four working groups (crops, materials, socio- economic; soils) with project leaders; work together to submit SREP proposal SREP grant awarded and research carried out. Monthly and quarterly conference calls and annual site visits held; course corrections made as needed. Years 1, 2, and 3 of project successfully completed CAPS proposal for 5-yr project submitted by the team on the next generation of BDMs Mulches are mostly made from petroleum-based plastics, a non- renewable resource with significant disposal/pollution problems Reduce energy and materials consumption in mulch production. Reduce disposal costs and pollution. Create economical, sustainable high- performance alternatives Conduct Key Informant Survey across three regions of U.S. Assemble glossary of terms and annotated bibliography. Summarize KI survey results for American Society Plasticulture conf. Common base of knowledge compiled; team and industry manufacturers become familiar with stakeholder needs for BDMs in agriculture Industry R&D on BDMs for agriculture increases with on- going stakeholder input Given that plastic mulch is not sustainable in agriculture, it makes sense to investigate the use of BDMs in high tunnel systems versus the open field, and then improve on currently manufactured BDMs, accordingly Establish agricultural specifications for BDMs. Inventory BDMs now available commercially in U.S. Select target BDMs and analyze their physical, chemical, biological, and crop production characteristics via bench and field studies. Based on findings, refine studies and lay foundation for new BDM prototypes for testing. Assess economic feasibility, and understand sociological barriers to adoption of new BDM technologies Identify agricultural specifications for BDMs with stakeholder input; inventory commercially available BDMs; design bench and field experiments for replication across three regions of the U.S.; obtain letters of support from mulch manufacturers Post preliminary research findings for team and AC on Sharepoint website; discuss at annual meeting of team/AC committee where progress is reviewed and evaluated. Submit abstracts and proceedings; organize annual field days for growers at research sites Regional grower/industry groups educated on research findings via conferences such as Focus on Farming, Tilth, Vegetable Assoc., Small Fruit Workshop in the PNW; SSAWG Mtg., TN Horticultural Exposition and TN Organic Growers Assoc. in the SE; High Plains Small Farms conf., TX Produce Conf. in M-S. New scientific information communicated via scientific journals: Applied Environmental Microbiology, HortScience, Vegetable Science, Plant Disease, Weed Technology New prototype mulches evaluated for future testing. More efficient utilization of mulches in high tunnel systems occurs across the PNW, SE and M-S As awareness of BDMs becomes more widespread, knowledge of the standards that define bio-degradability and their applicability to BDMs need dissemination Incorporate ASTM standards into project methodology Evaluate current BDMs and new and emerging BDMs according to ASTM standards First abstract on use of BDMs in organic agriculture submitted to Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. mtg.; others that incorporate standard methods for BDM testing to follow Study results communicated via WSU website for Plasticulture, in order to disseminate information worldwide Public awareness of the standards required for materials to be classified as ‘biodegradable’ is heightened Three areas of the U.S. would benefit from growing select specialty crops under mulches in/out high tunnel systems PNW (wind, cold, pest/disease threats); Mid-South (wind, weed, heat, erosion threats); SE (heat, pest/disease threats) Establish BDM and high tunnel field sites in Washington, Texas and Tennessee Collect data on environmental parameters, cultivar performance, pest/disease occurrence, production costs of materials, and net economic benefits of adopting BDMs and high tunnels Regional results disseminated during high tunnel field days in WA, TN, TX. Grower association meetings and workshops given. Special symposium at Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. conference organized. Increased productivity of high value specialty crops in high tunnel systems takes place across the three regions Understanding and dissemination of ecological and socio- economic information on using BDMs and/or high tunnels is essential to success Document impacts of BDMs on soil ecology, root and plant health, crop production. Ascertain agricultural and environmental costs/benefits Incorporate Life cycle analysis framework into whole systems research; design cost-benefit analysis Assess costs under experimental conditions; conduct follow-up focus groups and surveys with growers and BDM manufacturers Tangible and accurate assessment of environmental and economic costs/benefits of BDMs and high tunnel systems are published using many venues A significant number of growers adopt sustainable mulch components in high tunnel systems leading to reduction in pollution and disposal costs

AccomplishmentsChallenges for Yr 3 - New product being tested this year (thank you Larry) - Note revisions to names - Some have been great ones, and are normal part of science - We must pay attention to our capacity (time and $) (thanks Andrew) - Our 2010 CRIS report: 65 presentations; 9 abstracts/ proceedings; 17 media interviews; 5,066 people educated; 1.9 M people aware! -Team helps in listing all activities, as they occur -Outcomes/impacts must be on-task w/logic model - Acknowledge the project Protocols - Good baselines established during Yr 1 which are excellent for M&M sections in upcoming manuscripts - Need constant review, revision and re-posting on internal website (with the revision date = mo + yr) Pubs - Lots of nice abstracts and technical reports (see our ‘portfolio’! - Refereed journal articles— POA to review and complete - Questions on authorship New ideas Mulch names Outreach

Some Important SCRI Team Outputs in 2011 (presentations and media interviews not included): Tennessee: D. G. Hayes, L. C. Wadsworth, A. Wszelaki, J. Martin, T. Washington, C.T. Pannell, R. Wallace, K.K. Leonas, H. Liu, C. Miles, and D.A. Inglis. Poly(Lactic Acid)- Based Biodegradable Mulches for “Green” Agriculture. American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ASAEBE) Annual Meeting, 7-10 August 2011, Louisville, KY (Hayes = speaker, oral presentation, 75 people anticipated) Hayes will be the PI for UTs NSF-IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program) proposal, "CERCLE Graduate Training Program: "Customized Energy and Renewable Carbon through Lignocellulosic Engineering," $3.5 Million, due 01 July 11. Jones, R., Cook, A., Lamphere, J., Corbin, A., Wszelaki, A., Wallace, R., Malayter, E., Basinger, A., Inglis, D., Miles, C., and Beus, C Identifying the barriers and bridges to high tunnel/BDM production systems among specialty crop producers and stakeholders. June th International Symposium for Society and Natural Resource Management, Madison, WI (abstract/presentation; x people anticipated). Jones, R., Kirschner, A., Lamphere, J., Corbin, A., Wszelaki, A., Wallace, R., Malayter, E., Basinger, A., Inglis, D., Miles, C Identifying the barriers and bridges to high tunnel/BDM production systems among specialty crop producers and stakeholders. 18th International Symposium for Society and Natural Resource Management, Koto Kinabalu, Malaysia (abstract/presentation/xx people anticipated). Wadsworth, L.C.,Tommy L. Washington, Douglas G. Hayes, Annette L. Wszelaki, Jeffery Martin, Jaehoon Lee, C. Tyler Pannell, Carol Miles, and Debra Inglis, 2011, Study of Biodegradable Mulch Materials in a Greenhouse Environment—Part 1, Cellulosic and Melt-spun 100% PLA Nonwovens, in preparation (Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics) Texas: Belasco, E., Chen, C., Ponnaluru, S., Marsh, T. and Galinato, S An Assessment of the Interaction between High Tunnels and Crop Insurance for Specialty Crop Producers. Selected Paper Presentation at Agricultural & Applied Economics Association’s 2011 AAEA & NAREA Joint Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 24 ‐ 26, Available at Moore-Kucera, J., M. Davinic, L. Fultz, J. Lee, C.A. Miles, M. Brodhagen, J. Cowan, R.W. Wallace, A. Wszelaki, J. Martin, J. Roozen, B. Gundersen and D.A. Inglis Biodegradable Mulches: Short-term degradability and impacts on soil health. HortScience 46(8): Abstract in press AND SSSA in press. Wallace. Russell W., Carol Miles, Annette Wszelaki, Debra A. Inglis, Jonathan Roozen, Jeffrey Martin and C. Joel Webb High tunnel lettuce variety yield and quality when grown in different US climates. HortScience 46(8): Abstract in press. Washington: Gundersen, B., Inglis, D., Miles, C., Wallace, R., and Wszelaki, A Control of late blight on tomato in western Washington using high tunnels. Phytopathology Supplement (in press). (Abstract/poster; 1200 estimated attendees). Inglis, D., Miles, C., Gundersen, B. and Roozen, J Evaluation of high tunnels in western Washington for growing three specialty potato cultivars. WSPC Potato Progress Newsletter May 9. Vol. XI, No. 4. Inglis, D., Gundersen, B., Miles, C., Roozen, J., Wallace, R., Wszelaki, A., and Walters, T Evaluation of late blight on tomato cultivars grown in high tunnel vs. open field plots, Plant Disease Management Reports 5: VO71. Inglis, D., Gundersen, B., Miles, C., Roozen, J., Wallace, R., Wszelaki, A., Walters, T. and Evans, M Evaluation of physiological leaf roll on tomato cultivars in a high tunnel production system, Plant Disease Management Reports 5: VO72. Inglis, D., Gundersen, B., Miles, C., Roozen, J., Wallace, R., Wszelaki, A., and Walters, T Evaluation of gray mold and Verticillium wilt on strawberry cultivars grown in high tunnel vs. open field environments, Plant Disease Management Reports 5: accepted May Leonas, K.K., Liu, H., Cowan, J., Hayes, D.G., Wadsworth, L, Wallace, R., Miles, C., Wszelaki, A., and Inglis, D Degradable mulch for agriculture: Year 1 evaluation of a field study. Beltwide Cotton Conference: Nonwovens Symposium. January 4–7, Atlanta, GA. (Abstract and oral presentation; xx estimated attendees) Leonas, K.K., Liu, H., Cowan, J., Hayes, D.G., Wadsworth, L.C. (Speaker), Wallace, R., Miles, C., Wszelaki, A., Martin, J. and Inglis, D Degradable mulch for agriculture: Year 1 comprehensive analysis of a field study. The Fiber Society Spring 2011 Conference, May 23-25, 2011, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong (Abstract and presentation; 350 estimated attendees). Leonas, K.K., Wadsworth, L., Liu, H., Hayes, D., Wallace, R., Miles, C., Cowan, J., Wszelaki, J., Martin, J., and Inglis, D.A Degradable Agricultural Mulch, a Technical Textile: Year 1 of a Comprehensive Field Study. Proceedings of the 2011 International Textile and Apparel Association, Inc. 68th Annual Meeting, Nov. 2- 6, Philadelphia, PA (accepted; xx estimated attendees). Miles, C., Marsh, T., Inglis, D., Corbin, A., Espinola-Arredondo, A., Leonas, K., Walters, T., Hayes, D., Jones, B., Lee, J., Wadsworth, L, Wszelaki, A., Belasco, E., Moore-Kucera, J., Wallace, R., and Brodhagen, M Glossary of Terms for Biodegradable Mulches for Specialty Crops Produced Under High Tunnels.

Guidelines on Authorship  Substantial participation in conception AND design of the study, and/or in analysis AND interpretation of data  Final approval by EACH author of the manuscript or report is REQUIRED  Ability to explain AND defend the study in public and/or scholarly settings  Must actively participate in the writing AND the timely AND accurate review of the document  Contributions that do not satisfy authorship (ie., supervision of people, funding assistance, technical support; ideas; info) should be acknowledged separately  All faculty should safeguard the rights of graduate students to publish the results of their research  The senior author is the person who actually leads the study and/or makes the major contribution; all authors at the onset of a publication, should participate in establishing authorship order and responsibility

AccomplishmentsChallenges for Yr 3 Always acknowledge the project in all publications! - Good work to date on investigating the BDMS with lots and lots of analyses - Reconciling our BDM performance measures between WGs-POA! Team - Welcome graduate students! - Our team has perseverance! (floods, high winds, tornados, baseball hail....) - Watch-out for ‘silo’ effect! - It has been a pleasure...- Unusual number of changes... but, life happens Team members Taxing task

Debbie Inglis with Carol Miles WSU-NWREC Stakeholder Advisory Committee Econ WG Leader Tom Marsh WSU-Pullman Dr. Ashley Basinger TX Elizabeth Malayter TN Manufacturing Robert Greene NatureWorks; Terry Phillips BioBag USA AMST Standards Dr. Ramani Narayan MSU University/Extension Dr. Lewis Jett, WVU Ben Craft; Tom Thornton WA Specialty Crop Growers Science/Industry Crops WG Leader Annette Wszelaki UTK Soils WG Leader Jennifer Moore-Kucera TTU Materials WG Leader Doug Hayes UTK Materials Science Dr. John Dorgan CSM Karen Leonas Hang Liu (RI) WSU-Pullman Larry Wadsworth UTK Suzette Galinato (RI) Sasi Ponnaluru (PDoc) WSU-Pullman Russ Wallace TAM Jeffrey Martin (GS) UTK Tom Walters WSU-NWREC Marion Brodhagen USDA/OSU Andrew Corbin WSU-Extension Eric Belasco TTU Carol Miles WSU-NWREC Jaehoon Lee UTK CSU = Colorado School of Mines TAM = Texas A & M TXT = Texas Tech University WSU = Washington State UniversityGS = Grad student; RI = Research intern; Pdoc = Postdoc KSU = Kansas State University TN = Tennessee UTK = University of Tennessee, Knoxville WSU-NWREC = Washington State University Northwestern Washington Research & Extension Center MSU = Michigan State University TX = Texas WA = Washington WWU = Western Washington University Updated May 2011 Sociology WG Leader Robert Jones UTK with Annabel Kirschner WSU Sathishkumar Dharmalingam (GS) UTK Debra Inglis WSU NWREC Chenhui Li (GS) TTU Marianne Powell (GS) WSU NWREC Chen Chen (GS) TTU Jeremy Cowan (GS) WSU-NWREC Rob Raley (GS) UTK Outreach Coordinator Andrew Corbin WSU-Extension Mark Williams BioBag USA, Inc. Eric Menard Dubois Agrinovatrions Dick Mathes Crown Films Ad Hoc Interest Groups Mike Gallagher Sunshine Paper Debra Inglis WSU NWREC SCRI Team Revised Organizational Chart for SREP Project on Biodegradable Mulches for Specialty Crops Produced Under Protective Covers

AccomplishmentsChallenges for Yr 3 - Good work to date on investigating the BDMS with lots and lots of analyses - Reconciling all BDM performance measures between WGs--POA! Team - Welcome graduate students! - Our team has perseverance! (floods, high winds, tornados, baseball hail....) - Watch-out for ‘silo’ effect! - It has been a pleasure...- Unusual number of changes... but, life happens Timeline - We are over 50% there; Sep 1, 2009 to Aug 30, Review proposal timeline! - No cost extensions this Dec Team members Taxing task

Table 1. Gantt Chart on Timeline of Activities/Tasks (see grant proposal)

No cost extensions  WSU will not process no-cost extensions until early 2012  WSU can do in one of two ways:  Assume all subcontractors will need a no-cost extension and process one no-cost extension amendment  Send each subcontractor a letter requesting a no-cost extension, and then process a no-cost extension amendment to each sub-award  Subcontractors cannot assume a no-cost extension until WSU sends an amendment to the agreement, extending the agreement end date (for a limited amount of time)  Additional time spent on the project during the no-cost extension counts towards match.

AccomplishmentsChallenges for Yr 3 - Good work to date on investigating the BDMS with lots and lots of analyses - Reconciling all BDM performance measures between WGs--POA! Team - Welcome graduate students! - Our team has perseverance! (floods, high winds, tornados, baseball hail....) - Watch-out for ‘silo’ effect! - It has been a pleasure...- Unusual number of changes... but, life happens - We are over 50% there; Sep 1, 2009 to Aug 30, Review timeline in proposal! - No cost extensions this Dec Websites (thanks Carol) - New public site launched - Internal team website has lots of new info and potential - Use them in all of your SCRI outreach and research activities! Team members Taxing task Timeline

Alison Foren

YEAR !!! Include 2009, 2010, or 2011 on each and every document and photo date! Deb’s A to Z list...

WG Sessions Today... ‘Hot’ topics needing attention Data management, data analysis Outline of manuscripts, with writing assignment and completion dates New advances/new literature; potential issues in the near future WG accomplishments to date WG leaders will be reporting back

Plans of action need for...  Sharing of large data sets  Integrating and interpreting data between WGs  Reviewing and completing manuscripts and extension bulletins, both within and between WGs Group discussions, and the Round Robin

Round Robin session at 1 pm Mitigating the silo effect... o Crops + Soils Environmental monitoring—data collection and sharing Mesh bag study review Rating disease incidence and severity—new protocols OK? Work/writing w/other WGs, possibly needed o Materials + Economics Clear definition of bio-degradable Progress on life cycle analysis Modeling BDM degradation and/or (bio)degradation Work/writing w/other WGs, possibly needed o AC + Sociology/Outreach Distributing information from focus group study Conducting the next surveys on project impact (and IRBs) Communicating ‘biodegradability’ to the public Work/writing w/other WGs, possibly needed

Round Robin Session at 2 pm Mitigating the silo effect... o Crops + Materials + Sociology/Outreach BDMs and the organic agricultural community—the zero tolerance issue Becoming familiar w/other HT & BDMprojects in the country/world Future directions for HTs and BDMs in agriculture o Soils + Economics + AC Value of soil quality indicators (SMAF framework), and ways to utilize it in our project Modeling BDM degradation and/or (bio)degradation

Round Robin Session at 3:15 pm Mitigating the silo effect... o Crops + Economics + Sociology/Outreach Crop budget(s)—published (by state? pub format?) HT construction costs (by state? pub format? Extension bulletin(s) on risk management (state? format?) o Soils + Materials + AC Combining data sets across WGs Upcoming work in Ramani’s lab Potential issue w/copper fungicide

Please take good notes this week Thanks for Russ and Jenn for hosting, and to everyone for coming!