Pheromone-dispensing puffers, around for a decade, have an extensive reach in California where they are used for mating disruption in a variety of tree fruit crops. Though usage in the Pacific Northwest has lagged behind, it now is growing, fueled in part by the technology’s labor-savings potential. During the International Fruit Tree Association’s field tours held recently in California’s San Joaquin Valley, it was observed that puffers were commonly used by apple growers, perhaps more so than in other tree-fruit-growing regions. The Puffer CM, manufactured by Suterra for codling moth control, sprays repeated pheromone doses on a 12- or 24-hour […]