The annually revised “Pest Management Guide for the Willamette Valley” has been updated for 2014 and is now available online at: https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/46871/em8538.pdf. It is free, can be accessed and used online, or can be printed. The guide is arranged by crop stage, highlighting which insects and diseases you may encounter at a particular crop's stage, and contains recommendations for control at each stage. This guide, together with the PNW Insect and Disease Management Handbooks, will provide growers with up-to-date management recommendations. The PNW Handbooks are also available online at http://pnwhandbooks.org/insect and http://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease. The online versions can be accessed and used for free; hard copies are available for sale and can be ordered at the same website.

Tavano 5% SC Now Registered
This recently registered fungicide (active ingredient = polyoxin-D) by Certis provides control of Botrytis blight, Alternaria and anthracnose (suppression only). Strawberry growers may be familiar with this active ingredient, as it has been registered for several years in strawberries as PH-D by Arysta LifeSciences. Jay Pscheidt, OSU Plant Pathology Extension Specialist, has tested Tavano in Oregon blueberries and states that its efficacy in controlling Botrytis blight is comparable to Captan (but not as good as some other blueberry fungicides). We don’t have experience or data from the Pacific Northwest regarding efficacy in controlling Alternaria or anthracnose. Tavano may have a place as a rotation partner in a disease management program as it is in FRAC #19, which is different than currently registered blueberry fungicides. PHI is 0-day; REI is four hours.

Exirel Insecticide for SWD
I recently reported that Exirel (cyantraniliprole) insecticide is now registered for use in blueberries, and that it has been shown to provide control of Spotted Wing Drosophila. I also mentioned that it would likely be high-priced. We just found out that the cost of one application of Exirel will be $80/acre. Hence, it is unknown how widely used this product will be.

WSU data shows that Exirel is very effective in killing SWD when adult flies come in direct contact with the spray solution but that the product has only about a three-to-five day residual in the field (including an NIS in the spray tank is important). Data from research trials conducted in Florida, Michigan and North Carolina show that there were fewer pupae in the fruit and less larval damage to the fruit with the Exirel treatments. This new insecticide may have a place in the pest management toolbox for some growers, but I’m not sure it’s going to change the face of SWD management in Oregon and Washington at this time. In addition, being that this is a new USA registration, there are currently very few MRLs established in other countries (Canada and Mexico = 4 ppm, is the same as the USA’s; Korea = 0.1 ppm; Australia= 0.05 ppm).