The Washington State University Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center announced in a news release a series of workshops and webinars focused on the latest fire blight information from a national research project involving Michigan, North Carolina, New York, California, Oregon and Washington, funded by the Specialty Crop Research Initiative.

Workshops

Fire Blight Fruit School

—Feb. 23, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Pacific Time) in Wenatchee, Washington, and online. 

—March 1, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Eastern Time) in Traverse City, Michigan, and online.

Topics include: 

—Introduction to the pathogen.

—The basics of bloom infection prevention with antibiotics.

—Antibiotic resistance.

—Biopesticide efficacy.

—Using prohexadione calcium and Actigard for shoot blight management.

—Managing fire blight infections with pruning and sanitation.

—Using systemic acquired-resistance products during tree removal.

Three pesticide recertification credits will be available, with agency approval. 

For more information and registration links, go to: 

—Feb. 23 (WA): http://treefruit.wsu.edu/event/fire-blight-workshop.

—March 1 (MI): https://events.anr.msu.edu/Fireblight_SCRI.

Webinars

Also, plan ahead for this continuing series of webinars on fire blight:

Biopesticides for Fire Blight Management

March 15, 2023, at 4 p.m. Pacific Time (7 p.m. Eastern)

Ken Johnson, Oregon State University, will discuss effective use of biopesticides for fire blight control. 

Fire Blight Pruning and Sanitation

June 13, 2023, at 4 p.m. Pacific Time (7 p.m. Eastern)

Tianna DuPont, Washington State University, will discuss new trials on pruning and sanitation for fire blight management. 

Using Weather and Environmental Conditions to Optimize Biologicals and Biopesticides for Bloom Protection

October 18, 2023, at 4 p.m. Pacific Time (7 p.m. Eastern)

Sara Villani, North Carolina State University, will lead a discussion on how to use weather and environmental data to optimize timings of biologicals and biopesticide applications for effective fire blight control. 

One pesticide recertification credit will be available per session, with agency approval.

For more information and registration links, go to: https://events.anr.msu.edu/Fireblight_SCRI_Webinar_Series or contact Nikki Rothwell by email at: rothwel3@msu.edu or by phone at: 231-946-1510.

—by Jonelle Mejica