Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/263110
Pesticide programs were cheap and effective, but sci- entists such as Drs. Stan Hoyt and Everett Burts at Wash- ington State University and Peter Westigard at Oregon State University were working on a concept called inte- grated pest management, which involved considering the impacts of pesticides on beneficial insects and the environment. Brunner, who was born in Pendleton, Oregon, gradu- ated from Willamette University, Oregon, in 1969 with a bachelor's degree in biology and went to WSU as a gradu- ate student. After earning his doctorate in entomology at WSU in 1975, he took a research and extension position in tree fruit and small fruit IPM at Michigan State University. Time of change Three years later, when stone-fruit entomologist Ted Anton retired from WSU, Wenatchee, Brunner took his place, working alongside Hoyt and Burts, who were lead- ers in tree fruit IPM. "It was a time of change," he recalled, "and there was interest at the national level in IPM, driven a lot by con- cerns over the negative effects of pesticides on the envi- ronment and on agriculture, so there was funding for those types of programs." In 1989, Brunner took a sabbatical in Switzerland, where he worked with entomologist Dr. Pierre Char- millot, who had been experimenting with putting rub- ber tubes containing codling moth pheromone out in orchards. The idea was to put enough pheromone out in the orchard to confuse the males so they couldn't find females and mate. "I thought it was an interesting technology, but there was obviously a lot to learn," Brunner reflected. The first commercial pheromone dispensers for cod- ling moth came onto the U.S. market in 1991. It was not just growers who were skeptical about this new nonkill strategy. "I think there was even skepticism on our part," Brun- ner said. "I think that's a good approach for a scientist to be skeptical about new technology and to challenge it." Working with Dr. Larry Gut, then a postdoc at WSU, he conducted three years of trials in commercial orchards and found that if beginning codling-moth pressure was high, relying only on mating disruption (pheromones) alone was not sufficient, and fruit injury increased. But, if pressure was low, mating disruption worked well. Mating disruption was conceived as a foundational tool for a codling moth management program, not a standalone product, which meant that supplemen- tal pesticide applications would be needed where pest pressure was moderate to high. And the dispensers were relatively expensive. "In 1990, most of the pesticides cost $20 to $30 per acre, so they were pretty cheap," Brunner said. "When you added $100 per acre for one pest and one product— even though it lasted the entire season—it was a challenge." The Food Quality Protection Act of 1996, which man- dated the review and reregistration of all pesticides, 10 MARCH 1, 2014 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com Pest Management New pests threaten IPM Pest management programs have become softer and more stable over the past few decades, but new invasive pests could change that. by Geraldine Warner Spotted wing drosophila has forced cherry growers to abandon a soft pest management program. Jay Brunner C odling moth has been plaguing Washington State apple orchards for well over a century, and the only reason it might drop from its status as grow- ers' number-one pest is if a new invasive pest comes along, says Dr. Jay Brunner, director of Washington State University's Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center in Wenatchee. "Brown marmorated stinkbug will make us quit worrying about codling moth because everyone will be focused on it," he said. Codling moth is well adapted to the dry eastern Washington environment. Even at low populations, the moths can easily find each other and mate, and they have a relatively high reproduction rate. The pest has no natural enemies that alone can keep it below levels where it causes significant economic losses in apple and pear. For many years, growers resorted to a series of different pesticides to prevent codling moth injuring their apples. By the 1970s, they were typically applying the organophosphates Guthion ( azinphos-methyl), Penncap ( methyl-parathion), and Lorsban (chlorpyrifos). "I think resistance is probably the Holy Grail." —Dr. Jay Brunner