Let's talk about IPM in cranberry. IPM means integrated pest management, covering insects, weeds and diseases. Pest management procedures developed in our programs improve the timing of pest controls to coincide with crucial parts of the pest lifecycle. As pest managers our goal is to offer options for control. We believe that cultural practices like sanding pruning, mowing along with chemical measures can and will control our pests without economic loss.
Biological controls are encourages when the opportunity presents itself.
We have Bt products, nematodes, mating disruption and more products on the horizon. We are hearing rumors of cutting rates, reducing applications and halting fungicide programs because the price of our product is down and we are trying to save money. Listen, IPM is more important right now than ever before. Our whole philosophy has been, and always will be, timing the applications appropriately so that we not NOT have to use more and more products. We, as an industry, are proud of our specialty crop and want it to be the best it can be for the consumer.