SHELTON, Conn. — As the Spotted Lanternfly continues its migration through the state, experts say it will have the most economic impact among Connecticut agriculture on honey and vineyards.
There are dozens of vineyards spread all over the state countryside, including the Jones Family Farm in Shelton. Joe Patrick, chief winemaker, said it’s a seventh-generation farm that has been active since the late 1800s.
The farm is open year-round, bringing people in for fresh strawberries and blueberries in the summer and pumpkins in the fall.
There is a draw for adults too, as the Jones family grows their own grapes, makes their own wine and hosts wine tastings with charcuterie boards and live music on the patio. This part of the revenue brings in a third of their retail sales through the year.
Unfortunately, a pest creeping into the state poses a threat to the long-standing 15-acre vineyard.
“There’s reports that show if a grape vine has a serious Lanternfly population that can impact the chemistry of wine and you get a lower quality wine,” Patrick said. “If your vine is infected and fruit isn’t ripe, the vine is struggling, that’s not a good thing. It’s a sharp change in a few short years if this came to be but hopefully we can manage it.”
Experts say the Spotted Lanternfly is attracted to the sugars and nutrients found in a grape vine, meaning if the bug attaches to a vineyard, the entire crop could be killed from the inside out.
Chief winemaker Joe Patrick said the vine would not turn overnight, but fall to a slow death.
“When they are on it, the sugars are removed from the vine, it’s essentially like putting bad gas in your engine, it’s not helping the vine, it is pulling power away. It won’t immediately kill it or poison it, it’s not hurting it aggressively, but really removing the life source at a dramatic rate and if you have enough of them on a vine, it will kill it,” Patrick said.
Those who spend sun up to sundown on this land say preparation is key to survival.
“Once they’re here, there’s not much we can do besides trap them, destroy egg masses and physical removal. Luckily, there’s only one to two generations per year for that insect, so it’s easy to get rid of them if you’re on top of it,” Patrick said.
State Entomologist Victoria Smith has been watching the slow migration of the bug for years. It has been found in 17 states from North Carolina to Illinois and was reported in all eight Connecticut counties in 2023.
“We are the ones who bring it places, it is known as a hitchhiker and stowaway. It exploits transportation corridors, if you look at early maps of how the Lanternfly spread from Pennsylvania, it's spreading along railways and highways, that has been the pattern of every state it goes to,” Smith said.
Now that the Spotted Lanternfly is here, she says winemakers need to act fast, as this could be a major issue anytime between now to three years.
If an infestation were to take over a vineyard, Patrick said there is a snowball impact that would take place.
“We would have to pull in outside fruit from other states, which we don’t want to do. It’s expensive to do that. You also can’t replant an entire new vineyard if your current one has an infection, that would defeat the purpose. So we would have to outsource fruit and hire more people to help control the bug. Our prices go up from the reasonable rate they are now, it’s not good for us or the economic system,” Patrick said.
Even though the bug poses no physical threat, it could pose a threat to people's wallets.
Experts say to remember to kill Spotted Lanternflies if found and to always check for any stowaway bugs on cars during summer road trips.
To report a Spotted Lanternfly spotting, click here.
Brooke Griffin is a reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at bgriffin@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
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