The cranberry industry hopes newly funded research will help squash the flea beetle, a pest that’s becoming increasingly harmful to the fruit.
Researchers at University of Wisconsin-Madison have been studying insects that affect cranberries for years, and have found that the flea beetle is becoming more and more problematic.
Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association executive director Tom Lochner says the beetle is becoming more widespread across the state and that for some farmers, the flea beetles can be a serious problem.
“They love eating the cranberry leaves,” says Lochner. “If you see a bed that’s infested with them, it almost has a copper color to it where the leaves have been chewed off and turn brown.”
A $46,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will go towards controlling the flea beetle. The research is funded through the Specialty Crop Block Grant, a program authorized through the Farm Bill.
UW-Madison entomologist Shawn Steffan says they want to find ways to save producers money and cut back on insecticide use by attacking the bug early: “What if we replace all those late season sprays with a single early season soil drench and basically hit the larvae where they’re all consolidated underground?”
The research could also help open up international markets, because some countries don't accept cranberries that have a trace amount of the current insecticide used to treat the flea beetle.
