Then fertilizer was rotovated into the soil. Poast was applied around the perimeter to keep the bahia at bay during tomato season. A conventional black plastic planter, which installs drip line at the same time it plants seedlings, was used in both fields. The damage was evident at harvest when the strip-tilled plots produced 1270 boxes per acre compared to 1498 boxes per acre for the conventional plot. Dan Chellemi, who helped design the alternative system, says that only a farmer could have discovered the thrips problem.
Farmers have to find out the logistical problems when they take our research into their fields.
That's where producer grants offset some of the risk for the farmer who sticks his neck out. Greg Murray doesn't consider thrips a major obstacle to the system. Besides with the loss of methyl bromide, there's going to have to be some kind of rotation, and each system will have its good points and its weak points. Despite the loss from spotted wilt virus, net profit from the alternative system exceeded net profit from the conventional plot due to savings on inputs. After-harvest cleanup includes burning the nylon string, pulling stakes and mowing the vines before turning the cows back in, all chores that must be done even if tomatoes are not rotated with cattle.