Stink Bugs in Skagit County Pt 2

Stink Bugs in Skagit County Pt 2

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. They are invasive pests that feast on a variety of crops including vegetables, fruits and berries ... and they've made it to the Pacific Northwest. The Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs are working their way north along the I-5 corridor, most recently trapped in Skagit County.

Don McMoran, the WSU extension office director there, says now that the BMSB has been confirmed, they are taking it very seriously ...

DON McMORAN ... "I talked with some growers that went through Brown Marmorated Stink Bug on the east coast and they had crops that were just devastated by the insects. So, we're taking it very seriously. In fact, we just caught another Brown Marmorated Stink Bug so that's two for the area. So, where there's two there's definitely more. So, we're just keeping an eye on it, getting our farmers educated on how to spot for them and then getting recommendations out to them as to how to potentially control it."

McMoran says they're looking into what kind of damage the pest may cause in Skagit County...

DON McMORAN ... "It causes major problems in apple production, which we don't have a lot of in Skagit County any more. But, I know the Blueberry Commission is also very concerned and we don't have a whole lot of data on Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs in blueberries so we just kind of crossing our fingers at this point and hoping we don't have a huge problem."

McMoran says they've also alerted master gardeners in Skagit County so they can come up with ways to combat the Stink Bugs in home gardens.

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