WAVEx webinar to highlight spotted lanternfly threat

The Washington State Wine Commission (WSWC) and Washington State University invite winegrape growers to register for an upcoming webinar on the havoc that can be caused by the spotted lanternfly, an invasive species that continues to spread across the U.S. toward West Coast wine grape production areas.

The Spotted lanternfly: What have we Learned? webinar is scheduled for Dec. 6 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Michela Centinari, an associate viticulture professor at Pennsylvania State University, has teamed with WSU Extension and the Washington Wine Commission to share the impact of spotted lanternfly on East Coast vineyards.

She has been on the pest frontlines to help growers learn how to control and manage the pest. Thus far, eradication efforts have proved futile. Centinari will discuss the management successes and failures they have experienced with pest management strategies replanting scenarios.

The spotted lanternfly was first detected in 2014 in Pennsylvania. Since then, it has spread to 14 states along the East Coast, with recent finds in Tennessee and Illinois. It has not yet been found in Washington, though the pest is an adept hitchhiker and has spread faster than other invasive species.

Washington state officials and agencies have prepared an action plan and have launched a public education effort, but growers need to be on the lookout for the insect in their vineyards.
Pesticide license recertification credits (1.0) have been requested from the Oregon and Washington departments of agriculture.

Washington Advancements in Viticulture and Enology (WAVE) is the Washington State Wine Commission’s seminar and webinar series focused on wine research. WAVEx is the condensed, shorter webinar series. WSU is a co-sponsor of the WAVE and WAVEx events.

Register for the free WAVEx webinar here.

The WSWC represents every licensed winery and winegrape grower in Washington. Guided by an appointed board, WSWC provides a marketing platform to raise positive awareness about the Washington wine industry and generate greater demand for its wines. Funded almost entirely by the industry through assessments based on grape and wine sales, WSWC is a state government agency, established by the legislature in 1987.