Cherries have lagged behind other tree fruits in terms of transitioning to organic, but that’s changing. It used to be difficult for organic growers to control cherry fruit fly, a quarantine pest, with sufficient confidence, but a new type of pest control, which became available about five years ago, has made it much easier, notes Harold Ostenson, organic program manager with Stemilt Growers, Inc., headquartered in Wenatchee, Washington. The attract-and-kill insecticide GF-120 (spinosad), which is registered for organic production as well as conventional, has proven to be effective and economical. It can be squirted on trees from an all-terrain vehicle, […]