Gypsy Moth Open House

Gypsy Moth Open House. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

I realized when I wrote the title to today’s show it might garner a slight chuckle. The gypsy moth open house is not a tea party for a swarm of flying critters but is the Washington State Department o Agriculture’s way of answering questions for growers in the northwest. Lacy Gray has the details.

GRAY: The WSDA will hold an open house Jan. 27 in Puyallup, site of a gypsy moth infestation detected this past summer. WSDA staff will be on hand to answer questions on its proposal to conduct a biological insecticide treatment this spring at the South Hill Mall in Puyallup to eradicate the infestation. Of the 13 gypsy moths caught in Washington trapping efforts last summer, seven were caught near the South Hill Mall. The gypsy moth is a destructive forest pest that attacks both deciduous and evergreen trees.

The insecticide WSDA is proposing to use is Btk, a biological insecticide used in the past to keep gypsy moths out of Washington. Btk is registered for use in the U.S. by the EPA and is found naturally in the environment.

If the proposal is approved, three to five treatments, administered three to 14 days apart, will begin in late April or early May.

The gypsy moth has been detected in Washington State every year since 1977, but permanent populations have not been established because of WSDA’s aggressive trapping and eradication programs.

The open house will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Zeiger Elementary School gymnasium in Puyallup. Individuals are invited to drop in anytime during this period.

For more information on WSDA’s gypsy moth program, call or visit their website, agr.wa.gov. The website includes a map of the proposed treatment site.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.