No Targeted Winter Aerial Operation Today

There will be NO targeted winter aerial operation, against the painted apple moth, today (Thursday 31 July 2003). Today’s operation due to take place in the 5 small winter target areas has been postponed due to forecast rainy conditions.

The current operation has been on hold since Tuesday due to unfavourable weather predictions. The situation will be carefully monitored for the next 24 hours and a decision regarding an operation on Friday 1 August will be made tomorrow,

“We plan operations early on in the week to allow for weather delays and ideally we aim to minimise inconvenience for people by completing winter operations in a day and before the weekend. In this case the unsettled weather has reduced those options. To stay within the moth’s biological window we need to spray within the 21 – 28 day cycle. If Friday is not suitable for an aerial operation then unfortunately a weekend operation is likely,” says Robert Isbister, General Manager Painted Apple Moth Operation.

The public can listen to More FM (91.8FM) or Newstalk ZB (1080AM) from 6.30am tomorrow for status updates or call 0800 96 96 96 for information. People can also visit www.maf.govt.nz/painted-apple-moth to view a map of the winter target areas and for general information about the programme.

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