Insect-Killing Worms May Help New York

Now, after 20 years of research, Cornell University scientists have discovered a pair of microscopic, insect-killing worms that prey on the beetle, an invasive species that has infested 500,000 acres in nine counties nearly 14 percent of the state's cropland since it was first identified in 1933.

Scientists hope the nematodes will be part of a two-pronged approach to thwart the wingless weevil. Cornell plant breeders also are working to develop a resistant variety of alfalfa.

"They've done the job," said John Peck, whose 200-year-old family farm in Jefferson County has been the site of Cornell's testing since 1991. "I went from a heavily infested soil to virtually nothing."

The adult beetles surface in May after laying eggs at the root of the alfalfa plant. The emerging larvae then feed on plant roots.

"With the discovery of these two nematodes, it's a big deal," said Robert Mungari, director of the Division of Plant Industry at the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. "It will make a significant impact on the ability of growers to deal with this persistent pest."

In 2006, New York farmers harvested 370,000 acres of alfalfa worth nearly $112.7 million, making it the state's third most valuable crop behind corn and hay. But alfalfa also is vital to the state's $1.5 billion dairy industry.

Most of the state's 6,000 dairy farmers grow their own alfalfa, said Peter Gregg, a spokesman for the New York Farm Bureau. If a farmer had to find another feed for cows, it would likely be soybeans, currently at record prices, he said.

"Certainly for farmers who have experienced an infestation, it has been devastating," Gregg said.

The alfalfa snout beetle was first reported in North America in 1896 in Oswego, likely deposited from ship ballast. Farmers first reported it as a pest in 1933, about a decade after alfalfa was planted as a forage crop in New York.

The spread of the alfalfa snout beetle has been limited to northern New York and parts of the Canadian province of Ontario.

"It's been New York's special little problem," said Cornell entomologist Elson Shields, "even though if they were to spread, it could become a huge problem in the Midwest, or any alfalfa growing state."

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CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. (AP) Saying the nation's immigration system is broken, Pennsylvania's largest grower of fresh-to-market tomatoes announced he will no longer produce the crop because he can't find enough workers to harvest it.

Keith Eckel, 61, a fourth-generation farmer and the owner of Fred W. Eckel Sons Farms Inc., said this week he saw a dramatic decline last summer in the number of migrant workers who showed up to pick tomatoes at his 2,000-acre farm in northeastern Pennsylvania.

He said Congress' failure to approve comprehensive immigration reform had hindered his ability to hire enough workers to get his crop to the market. Most of Eckel's workers came from Mexico.

"There are a number of workers hesitant to travel, legal or illegal, because of the scrutiny they are now under," said Eckel, whose tomatoes have been shipped to supermarkets and restaurants throughout the eastern United States. "So there are less workers crossing state lines."

Eckel, who planted 2.2 million tomato plants last year, said he also will stop growing pumpkins and will plant half as much sweet corn as usual, resulting in a loss of nearly 175 jobs.