Cranberry Station Outreach

Developing and promoting Best Management Practices
Carolyn DeMoranville, Plant Nutrition, and Hilary Sandler, IPM Coordinator, developed a Best Management Practices Guide for Massachusetts Cranberry Production. Topics covered included everything from protection of water resources, to pest management and bog renovation, to the safe handling of pesticides. A unique aspect of the guide is that it is 'grower-tested' -- all of the practices are field-tested and readily accomplished by farmers. Efficient and effective management is of vital concern to cranberry growers both from a financial and an environmental point of view. The guide has been well received and heavily used by Massachusetts cranberry growers, farm planners, and other officials. With new pressure from urbanization and competition for resources in Southeastern MA, the need for this information is critical. This 'living' document is revised regularly and contains recommendations for how to raise cranberries efficiently, economically, and with minimal negative impact to the surrounding environment. In conjunction with this project, we have participated in workshops designed to inform local boards about how cranberries are grown and the steps growers take to protect the surrounding environment.

Saving the Osprey
Joey Mason, of the Cranberry IPM Program, has developed the Raptor Retrofit Project, providing information and equipment so that cranberry growers can prevent bird electrocutions due to contact with utility wires. The project is funded by the Cranberry Research Foundation, USDA, The Norcross Wildlife Foundation, and the Nuttall Ornithological Club, as well as from individual donors and Kaddas Enterprises, Inc., a manufacturer of wildlife protection devices. Raptors, particularly osprey, consider utility poles, especially those near cranberry reservoirs or other wetlands, excellent nesting sites. Cranberry growers have encouraged the return of osprey in the region by providing nesting structures for the birds adjacent to fresh-water reservoirs, used by the birds as fishing grounds. Unfortunately, proximity to electric lines has resulted in danger and even mortality for the birds. As part of the Raptor Retrofit Project, growers are provided with the funds and materials for retrofitting dangerous utility poles with anti-nesting devices, providing alternative perching areas on poles, and establishing alternative nesting poles nearby, in order to continue to provide essential osprey habitat while protecting the birds from the danger of electrocution.

Cranberry Entomologists Fight Insecticide-Resistant Weevils - The Making and Breaking of an Insect Calamity
Anne Averill, cranberry entomologist, had been anticipating and preparing for cranberry weevil insecticide resistance for a decade and by 2000, had documented problem areas. This weevil is among our most challenging pests, and unfortunately, it occurs only in Massachusetts cranberry, leaving us with no research partners. It is closely related to boll weevil, a scourge of the cotton industry. In 2001, the resistant population affected approximately 1,500 acres (approximately 10%) of cranberry production, in some cases causing complete crop loss. By 2002, resistance had spread to the vast bulk of Massachusetts cranberry acreage. Although we were unable to devise a non-insecticidal strategy, we felt that in 2002, we were fully prepared with a low-risk insecticide alternative. However, permission to use the compound was unexpectedly denied.
As the weevil became active in the uplands, Marty Sylvia (entomology technician) collected adults and she and Anne quickly evaluated nearly a dozen compounds in the lab. They worked within a team of cranberry leaders and MA-DAR but could move none of the efficacious compounds forward at US-EPA. As hordes of resistant weevil moved onto a number of cranberry bogs, including our own State Bog, Marty lab-evaluated a long-shot but low-risk compound that was suggested by EPA. The lab trial was done on a Monday at the end of May. It looked outstanding. On Wednesday, Marty and Anne raced to get a chemigation field trial out, lined up the registrant and MA-DFA, submitted a Section 18 crisis exemption, developed labeling and distribution, and by Friday at 3 PM, one of the worst-hit growers legally bought Avaunt, a highly-effective insecticide, with low human toxicity. When all was said and done, industry leaders estimated that losses of $6-10 million were averted in 2002. Similar losses were averted in 2003 through the continued use of this compound. In the meantime, research continues to identify additional control measures to alternate with Avaunt, to delay resistance to the new material.
[Cranberry weevil research has received financial support from the Cranberry Research Foundation and the Specialty Crop Program of MA-DAR (application sponsored by Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association).]