Cranberry Harvest Pt 1 & Fruit Bites
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. Cranberry harvest season is now upon us and it's looking like Washington growers have reasons to be optimistic.
Washington State University Extension professor Kim Patten says he's been talking with growers and from what he's hearing, it's looking like the conditions are set up for good season ...
PATTEN ... "It's actually going to be a good crop year, probably as good as we've had in the last five or six years, or at least comparable. It's not going to be a record breaker, but it's going to be a good crop year."
Patten says, yes it's been warm, but the weather run we had Spring into Summer was just about perfect ...
PATTEN ... "It actually has been a very pleasant and warm summer. Probably the biggest factor affecting the production of cranberries is the weather during pollination. And so, June was a pretty good pollination month. I mean it was one of the warmer Junes that we've had. And so, if you get a good pollination month you pretty much can get a good crop, all things considered."
There hasn't been a lot of fruit harvested YET, but Patten says so far so good ...
PATTEN ... "People are already harvesting, so from the yield perspective it will be fine. There are issues however with the amount of water that's available for flood harvesting. It's been a challenge for some growers."
Due to a surplus of fruit, the USDA ordered a 25% set cut in cranberry production. Smaller and organic producers are exempt from the set aside.
Listen tomorrow for more on this year's crop.
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BL: Welcome back to another episode of "Fruit Bites" brought to you by Valent U.S.A. With us again is Valent's Allison Walston. And this week Allison, let's talk about a new invasive insect pest in the United States.
AW: There is a new insect pest, or more specifically, an invasive leafhopper that was discovered in southeastern Pennsylvania, called the spotted lanternfly.
BL: I'm guessing that since we are discussing it on Fruit Bites, that it attacks fruit?
AW: oh yeah, this little leafhopper has the potential to greatly impact grapes, tree fruit and hops. It hasn't been mentioned, but a lot of leafhoppers transmit plant diseases.
BL: Where is the spotted lanternfly native to?
AW: it's native to China, India and Vietnam. The spotted lanternflies have been become a major pest in Korea and hopefully they don't move out to the PNW. The adults and 4th instar nymphs are gorgeous, entomologically speaking. So check out PennState Extension for pictures and more info.
BL: Well, thanks Allison. Join us again next time for Fruit Bites, brought to you by Valent. Until then, I'm Bob Larson.
https://www.agriculture.pa.gov/Plants_Land_Water/PlantIndustry/Entomology/spotted_lanternfly/Pages/default.aspx
https://extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly
