Southeast Michigan fruit update – July 28, 2026
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EmailFirst grapes are at veraison. Blueberry and peach harvest continues.
Welcome to the 18th in-season fruit article update for southeast Michigan for the 2026 season. Throughout the season these updates will include information about the weather in the past week and the upcoming week, a fruit-by-fruit guide to current conditions with appropriate pest and disease updates, and other relevant observations.
General observations
The last week was similar to the one before where we experienced continued heat and humidity without much rain besides scattered storms. We are expecting the next week to be dry except for some potential rain on Saturday, Aug. 1, with temperatures dropping from the 80s at the end of the week into the 70s on the weekend.
Blueberry harvest continues while peaches are entering their main stretch with the first Red Havens being harvested. Powdery mildew is again the biggest disease risk this week and spotted wing drosophila continues to be a concern in berry crops. At this point in the season for apples, we are continuing the normal pattern of summer cover sprays. Japanese beetle populations are declining but still present in the region. We recently published a new article about controlling the pest in orchards and vineyards.
The cyclospora outbreak in the country continues. While this does not appear to be linked to Michigan farms, this is a good opportunity to review on-farm produce safety guidelines in this MSU Extension video: How to Keep Cyclospora from Ruining Your Season.
MSU Extension educators recently published the 2026 apple maturity prediction dates, including the apple harvest prediction dates for southeast Michigan.
Our weekly video IPM updates have concluded for the season. See the recordings of the weekly fruit meetings for southern Michigan on MSU’s Kaltura Media Space, including the final June 23 meeting.
Fruit-by-fruit conditions
Apples: Apples in the region are starting to take on color. We are in the main pattern of summer cover sprays. The earliest cultivars like Lodi and Yellow Transparent have been harvested. Our main concerns at this time of year are powdery mildew, apple maggot, and codling moth.
Blueberries: The main harvest season continues. Spotted wing drosophila and fruit rot management are priorities.
Brambles: Harvest is starting to wind down in summer raspberries and black raspberries. Some initial blackberry harvest has started. Flowers are just starting to open in fall raspberries. Fruit rots and spotted wing drosophila management are the main concerns for production.
Cherries: Harvest has wrapped up in both sweet and tart cherries at farms that decided to harvest this year. Unharvested fruit can be a reservoir for spotted wing drosophila, so if you have other crops that are susceptible to SWD, like blueberries and brambles, you may want to remove them.
Grapes: Our earliest wine grape cultivar, Marquette, has started veraison.
Peaches and nectarines: Red Haven harvest as started in our warmest areas. For late cultivars there is still time to do some brown rot control, but check your pre-harvest intervals.
New bulletin: “Best Practices for Peach Orchards with Reduced Crop Load”
Pears: Pears are sizing up in the region. Local scouts have continued to report sightings of pear psylla adults in orchards.
Plums: European style plums are starting to color, and Japanese style plums like Early Golden already being harvested.
Strawberries: Harvest is done in the region and most growers have already renovated.
Insect conditions
More in-depth information can be found by watching the latest weekly fruit meetings on MSU’s Kaltura Media Space (these may take a few days to upload after the meetings).
New MSU article: “Don't trust the calendar: Why trapping matters during unusual weather”
New MSU fact sheet: Managing Ambrosia Beetles in Apples
Aphids: Woolly apple aphid populations in apple are moving towards terminals, but populations seem low.
Apple maggot: Continued catches of low numbers have been reported in the region (2-3 per ball) for the last four weeks, but none have been reported in Fennville.
Blueberry maggot: No catch reported in Fennville.
Borers: There is an increased catch over last week of greater peachtree borer and a decrease in lesser peachtree borer have been reported in Fennville.
Cranberry fruitworm: No catch reported in Fennville.
Codling moth: Adult catches are stable regionally and in Fennville, including some sites over threshold.
Grape berry moth: Counts in Fennville have increased.
Japanese beetle: Counts have been declining regionally and in Fennville, though they are still causing problems. Kaolin clay can be a deterrent and perimeter sprays can also be effective for keeping them under control.
Mites: With hot and dry conditions last couple week mites have climbed. European red mites and rust mites are starting to cause some bronzing in orchards. Two spotted spider mites have started webbing in spots that have existing populations.
Oriental fruit moth: Counts have declined at sites in southeast Michigan after intervention from growers. In Fennville counts are consistent, indicating that we are in the next generation.
Pear psylla: Increased adult and nymph activity has been observed in orchards again.
San Jose scale: We are seeing waxed up scales in the region, meaning that the control window has shut.
Spotted lanternfly: Look for nymphs in parts of the state that have documented populations (Detroit, Monroe County, Oakland County).
Spotted wing drosophila: Consistent counts in traps in southeast Michigan and down in Fennville. This pest often prefers fruit to the traps, so low trap counts do not necessarily mean low risk in fruit.
Disease conditions
Apple scab: The RimPro model for Romeo indicates that primary scab season is over. From this point on growers with existing scab infections should focus on controlling secondary scab. We do not anticipate risk this week.
Cherry leaf spot: We do not anticipate risk this week. See this 2024 article on cherry leaf spot management.
European brown rot: Stone fruits are susceptible to infection around three weeks after shuck split and again three weeks before harvest through the harvest period. We do not expect risk this week.
Fire blight: Since we have moved out of bloom there is low risk in apples and pears, however if there is hail damage, growers should spray for fire blight.
Grape black rot: Control for grape black is most important immediately pre-bloom and during bloom. There is not much risk for black rot this week and grape bloom is mostly done. See this 2014 article for grape black rot management options and consult E-154. We do not anticipate risk this week.
Grape downy mildew: We do not anticipate risk this week.
Grape powdery mildew: We are expecting severe risk for the entire week.
Phomopsis: In blueberries, the Phomopsis fungus is active from bud swell until after harvest.
Powdery mildew of apple and pear: You can start to include products labeled for powdery mildew in sprays starting at tight cluster. We are expecting severe risk for the entire week.
Seasonal weather update
In the last week, southeast Michigan has seen an average of 3.9 hours of rain accumulating to 0.3 inches of precipitation.
| Liquid Precipitation Accumulation Mar. 1- July 28, 2026, issued July 28, 2026 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Station (County) | Rainfall Total (in.) Current | Hours with Rainfall Current | Rainfall Total Average (5 Yr.) | Hours with Rainfall Average (5 Yr.) |
| Commerce (Oakland) | 16.2 | 219 | 14.4 | 243 |
| Deerfield (Monroe) | 19.0 | 214 | 14.4 | 233 |
| East Lansing MSU Hort (Ingham) | 16.8 | 230 | 14.4 | 235 |
| Emmett (St. Clair) | 16.8 | 249 | 14.2 | 239 |
| Flint (Genesee) | 15.6 | 228 | 14.8 | 248 |
| Freeland (Saginaw) | 17.2 | 207 | . | . |
| Hudson (Lenawee) | 16.9 | 232 | 14.6 | 239 |
| Ithaca (Gratiot) | 18.3 | 228 | 12.6 | 222 |
| Lapeer (Lapeer) | 15.5 | 238 | 14.8 | 246 |
| Linwood (Bay) | 18.9 | 238 | 12.9 | 224 |
| Pigeon (Huron) | 16.0 | 247 | 12.4 | 235 |
| Richville/Frankenmuth (Tuscola) | 18.3 | 221 | 13.8 | 219 |
| Romeo (Macomb) | 17.5 | 219 | 16.1 | 233 |
| Sandusky (Sanilac) | 15.6 | 220 | 12.6 | 245 |
| Average of stations in this region: | 17.0 | 227.9 | 14.0 | 235.5 |
| Difference in Liquid Precipitation Accumulation from Mar. 1 observed July 21 and July 28, 2026; issued July 28, 2026 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainfall Total (in.) | Rainfall Total (in.) | Hours with Rainfall | Hours with Rainfall | |||
| Station (County) | 21-Jul | 28-Jul | Difference | 21-Jul | 28-Jul | Difference |
| Commerce (Oakland) | 16.2 | 16.2 | 0.0 | 219 | 219 | 0.0 |
| Deerfield (Monroe) | 18.9 | 19.0 | 0.0 | 213 | 214 | 1.0 |
| East Lansing MSU Hort (Ingham) | 16.6 | 16.8 | 0.2 | 228 | 230 | 2.0 |
| Emmett (St. Clair) | 16.6 | 16.8 | 0.2 | 244 | 249 | 5.0 |
| Flint (Genesee) | 15.3 | 15.6 | 0.3 | 224 | 228 | 4.0 |
| Freeland (Saginaw) | 16.5 | 17.2 | 0.8 | 201 | 207 | 6.0 |
| Hudson (Lenawee) | 16.9 | 16.9 | 0.0 | 231 | 232 | 1.0 |
| Ithaca (Gratiot) | 18.2 | 18.3 | 0.1 | 223 | 228 | 5.0 |
| Lapeer (Lapeer) | 15.1 | 15.5 | 0.4 | 235 | 238 | 3.0 |
| Linwood (Bay) | 18.0 | 18.9 | 0.9 | 233 | 238 | 5.0 |
| Pigeon (Huron) | 15.8 | 16.0 | 0.2 | 240 | 247 | 7.0 |
| Richville/Frankenmuth (Tuscola) | 17.4 | 18.3 | 0.8 | 215 | 221 | 6.0 |
| Romeo (Macomb) | 17.4 | 17.5 | 0.1 | 216 | 219 | 3.0 |
| Sandusky (Sanilac) | 15.1 | 15.6 | 0.5 | 214 | 220 | 6.0 |
| Average of stations in this region: | 16.7 | 17.0 | 0.3 | 224.0 | 227.9 | 3.9 |
In the short term, we are expecting fair and dry conditions with temperatures peaking in the mid-80s late in the week and then dropping into the 70s over the weekend. Some showers and storms are possible Saturday. Overnight lows will be in the upper 50s midweek and climb into the 60s by the weekend. In the next month, we are expecting August to exhibit normal to above normal temperatures and normal to below normal precipitation.
Our regional average growing degree day accumulation for the season are about seven days ahead of the long term normals and about three days ahead of the five-year average. In the last week, we accumulated on average 188 growing degree days (GDD) at 42 F, 167 GDD at 45 F, and 133 GDD at 50 F (see table below). Read this Michigan State University Extension article to learn more about degree days: Understanding growing degree-days.
| Station (County) | Degree Days Base 42°F Current | Degree Days Base 42°F Average (5 Yr.) | Degree Days Base 42°F Forecast | Degree Days Base 45°F Current | Degree Days Base 45°F Average (5 Yr.) | Degree Days Base 45°F Forecast | Degree Days Base 50°F Current | Degree Days Base 50°F Average (5 Yr.) | Degree Days Base 50°F Forecast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commerce (Oakland) | 2516 | 2466 | 2725 | 2176 | 2131 | 2364 | 1657 | 1622 | 1810 |
| Deerfield (Monroe) | 2793 | 2645 | 3002 | 2430 | 2297 | 2618 | 1869 | 1769 | 2022 |
| East Lansing MSU Hort (Ingham) | 2595 | 2472 | 2803 | 2248 | 2137 | 2435 | 1715 | 1629 | 1867 |
| Emmett (St. Clair) | 2319 | 2404 | 2514 | 1995 | 2072 | 2168 | 1504 | 1573 | 1642 |
| Flint (Genesee) | 2650 | 2548 | 2860 | 2308 | 2211 | 2497 | 1783 | 1698 | 1936 |
| Freeland (Saginaw) | 2418 | 2420 | 2619 | 2090 | 2093 | 2270 | 1586 | 1596 | 1731 |
| Hudson (Lenawee) | 2685 | 2544 | 2898 | 2336 | 2209 | 2527 | 1801 | 1701 | 1957 |
| Ithaca (Gratiot) | 2595 | 2533 | 2805 | 2257 | 2199 | 2446 | 1737 | 1689 | 1891 |
| Lapeer (Lapeer) | 2478 | 2476 | 2677 | 2148 | 2143 | 2326 | 1643 | 1637 | 1785 |
| Linwood (Bay) | 2205 | 2234 | 2400 | 1886 | 1918 | 2061 | 1408 | 1441 | 1547 |
| Pigeon (Huron) | 2260 | 2265 | 2458 | 1943 | 1948 | 2121 | 1460 | 1471 | 1602 |
| Richville/Frankenmuth (Tuscola) | 2499 | 2471 | 2700 | 2167 | 2139 | 2346 | 1658 | 1631 | 1802 |
| Romeo (Macomb) | 2539 | 2427 | 2743 | 2200 | 2095 | 2384 | 1682 | 1591 | 1831 |
| Sandusky (Sanilac) | 2360 | 2314 | 2554 | 2037 | 1993 | 2210 | 1544 | 1510 | 1682 |
| Average of stations in this region: | 2494 | 2444 | 2697 | 2159 | 2113 | 2341 | 1646 | 1611 | 1793 |
| Difference in Degree Day Accumulation from Mar. 1, 2026 observed July 21 and July 28, 2026; issued July 28, 2026 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Station (County) | Degree Days Base 42°F | Degree Days Base 42°F | Degree Days Base 42°F | Degree Days Base 45°F | Degree Days Base 45°F | Degree Days Base 45°F | Degree Days Base 50°F | Degree Days Base 50°F | Degree Days Base 50°F |
| 21-Jul | 28-Jul | Difference | 21-Jul | 28-Jul | Difference | 21-Jul | 28-Jul | Difference | |
| Commerce (Oakland) | 2327 | 2516 | 188.6 | 2008 | 2176 | 167.8 | 1524 | 1657 | 132.5 |
| Deerfield (Monroe) | 2605 | 2793 | 188.3 | 2263 | 2430 | 167.4 | 1737 | 1869 | 132.4 |
| East Lansing MSU Hort (Ingham) | 2408 | 2595 | 187.3 | 2081 | 2248 | 167.0 | 1583 | 1715 | 132.2 |
| Emmett (St. Clair) | 2140 | 2319 | 179.2 | 1837 | 1995 | 157.6 | 1380 | 1504 | 123.5 |
| Flint (Genesee) | 2446 | 2650 | 204.4 | 2125 | 2308 | 183.4 | 1634 | 1783 | 148.6 |
| Freeland (Saginaw) | 2231 | 2418 | 186.9 | 1924 | 2090 | 165.9 | 1455 | 1586 | 130.7 |
| Hudson (Lenawee) | 2503 | 2685 | 182.3 | 2175 | 2336 | 161.0 | 1674 | 1801 | 126.8 |
| Ithaca (Gratiot) | 2402 | 2595 | 192.5 | 2085 | 2257 | 171.7 | 1600 | 1737 | 136.7 |
| Lapeer (Lapeer) | 2293 | 2478 | 185.3 | 1983 | 2148 | 164.7 | 1512 | 1643 | 130.6 |
| Linwood (Bay) | 2029 | 2205 | 175.8 | 1731 | 1886 | 155.3 | 1286 | 1408 | 121.8 |
| Pigeon (Huron) | 2070 | 2260 | 189.6 | 1774 | 1943 | 169.1 | 1326 | 1460 | 133.6 |
| Richville/Frankenmuth (Tuscola) | 2310 | 2499 | 189.3 | 1999 | 2167 | 168.0 | 1524 | 1658 | 134.0 |
| Romeo (Macomb) | 2343 | 2539 | 195.7 | 2025 | 2200 | 174.9 | 1542 | 1682 | 140.3 |
| Sandusky (Sanilac) | 2172 | 2360 | 187.5 | 1870 | 2037 | 166.6 | 1412 | 1544 | 131.8 |
| Average of stations in this region: | 2306 | 2494 | 188 | 1991 | 2159 | 167 | 1514 | 1646 | 133 |
Watch Jeff Andresen's weekly agricultural weather forecast reports
More information and reports on normal weather conditions and departures from normal can be found on the NOAA Climate Prediction Center website, NOAA U.S. Climate Normals website, NOAA Climate Normals Quick Access Page (which may be searched by region), and Midwest Regional Climate Center website.
This work is supported by the Crop Protection and Pest Management Program (grant no 2024-70006-43569) from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
