Apple maggot quarantine boundaries in Okanogan County, Washington, will remain the same this year, while fruit industry leaders mull possible changes for 2023, said Jon DeVaney, president of the Washington State Tree Fruit Association.
The Apple Maggot Working Group, a loose coalition of state entomologists, pest control managers, growers and tree fruit industry officials, met in February to discuss the detection of reproducing populations behind existing quarantine boundaries in Washington’s northernmost apple-producing county.
The group decided to leave the boundary as is for 2022, while the local pest board continues to spray or remove vegetation in problem areas and Washington State Department of Agriculture entomologists look for ways to speed up the processing of trap data, DeVaney said. The department surveys for the pest with funding from the tree fruit industry.
—by Ross Courtney
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