Pest Management

Michigan State University’s mifruitdecision.com, a new website where growers can access pesticide timing and efficacy data. Apples are the only fruit crop on the website so far, but researchers plan to add more crops. (Courtesy Michigan State University)

New digital tool for pesticide decisions in Michigan

May 13, 2026

From left, Washington State University’s Karen Lewis and Stefano Musacchi laugh with grower Scott McDougall during a preharvest field day for WA 38 apples in Quincy in 2022. While field days are part of the job for extension specialists, it was Lewis’ repertoire and relationships with growers that served her well throughout her career. (Kate Prengaman/Good Fruit Grower)

Changing hands and changing times for tree fruit extension team

May 5, 2026

Looking for rootstock big shots

April 28, 2026

Rhizomorphs, the black shoestring-like strands attached to the trunk of this blueberry bush, are a symptom of armillaria root rot. The fungal disease is uncommon in Michigan blueberry fields but was found infecting bushes in a field where oak trees previously grew. (Courtesy Tim Miles/Michigan State University)

Bouts with different blueberry diseases

April 14, 2026

Check the fruit first to fight the flies

April 8, 2026

Trunk diseases spread slowly, eventually stopping the grapevine from growing and giving the growers their first clue of a problem, years after infection. (Courtesy José Ramón Úrbez-Torres/Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

Take action on trunk diseases

March 27, 2026

A female Andrena regularis, also known as the regular miner bee, visiting apple flowers at Cornell Orchards in Ithaca, New York. This ground-nesting native bee is an effective apple pollinator. (Courtesy Bryan Danforth/Cornell University)

Winning with home-team pollinators

March 25, 2026

Central Washington growers urged to monitor and test for blueberry scorch virus

March 12, 2026

Extensive codling moth damage in an unsprayed research block at Washington State University’s Sunrise Research Orchard last July. A partial drape netting treatment offered effective control of codling moth and allowed natural enemies to keep secondary pests, such as woolly apple aphids, in check. (Kate Prengaman/Good Fruit Grower)

Moth block, aphid access

March 12, 2026

Washington State University’s Stefano Musacchi walks through a block of crab apples under evaluation for their potential as pollinizers at Sunrise Research Orchard in Rock Island in May 2022. (TJ Mullinax/Good Fruit Grower)

Alternative apple pollinizers identified

March 11, 2026