08/22/06 Apple Maggot Hearing

Apple Maggot hearing. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) will hold a public hearing in Yakima on Aug. 31 on a proposal to increase the certification fee charged the apple industry to fund the annual apple maggot survey. To fund the program, the apple industry currently pays 3/4 of a cent for every 100 pounds of apples shipped. The WSDA proposal would increase that amount to 1 1/2 cents, effective Oct. 9, 2006. The increase would remain in effect through Dec. 31, 2008, at which time it would revert back to 3/4 of a cent. The proposed fee increase has the support of the Apple Maggot Working Group - a volunteer group of representatives from the Washington apple industry and research and regulatory community. The summer survey program began in 1980. The purpose of the program is to determine which areas of the state are free of apple maggot; certify commercial orchards in quarantined areas are apple-maggot free and meet export regulatory requirements; and slow the spread of the apple maggot into pest free areas. Apple maggot larvae have never been found in commercial apples shipped from Washington. WSDA officials say the increase is necessary because the range of the apple maggot has expanded in recent years. As a result, more trapping will be needed, causing program costs to increase. The hearing will be held at 11 a.m. in the Washington State Department of Agriculture`s conference room at 21 North 1st Ave., Yakima. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.