CORVALLIS, Ore. — Alexander Butcher’s passion for food — which led him to culinary school and a decade-long career as a professional chef — has now brought him to Oregon State University, where he is pursuing a doctorate in entomology.
The career shift, he said, is rooted in concern about food waste.
“Working in the restaurant industry, I noticed so much food waste, and it really started to bother me,” Butcher said. “That led me toward agriculture and pest management and trying to reduce food waste.”
Pest management plays a significant role in food loss, he said, beginning in fields and orchards.
“Pests destroy crops, causing agricultural waste,” Butcher said. “Beyond that, insect damage affects quality. Food spoils faster, it’s less visually appealing and it doesn’t taste as good.”
All of that increases the likelihood that food ends up uneaten and discarded.
Research rooted in sustainability
Butcher’s research focuses on sustainable — both economically and environmentally — pest management strategies for mealybugs in vineyards. He works in the laboratory led by Vaughn Walton, an Oregon State University Extension entomologist.
His goal is to help growers manage pests while reducing reliance on chemical controls and minimizing food loss throughout the supply chain.
What is a mealybug?
Mealybugs are common insect pests that affect many crops, including wine grapes. They feed on plant phloem and excrete a sugary substance called honeydew onto leaves and grape clusters. That honeydew can lead to mold growth, which interferes with photosynthesis and degrades fruit quality.
Mealybugs can also transmit grapevine leafroll virus, a major concern for vineyards.
The grape mealybug is the most common species found in Oregon. Unlike the invasive vine mealybug, it is often viewed as less threatening.
“That perception makes it dangerous,” Butcher said. “Because it doesn’t immediately harm the plant, it can go unnoticed.”
Once populations cross a threshold, however, the damage becomes difficult to manage and can significantly affect production.
“There’s good evidence that mealybugs alter the phenolic compounds in grapes,” Butcher said. “That means the quality of the wine produced from those grapes is changed.”
Rethinking mealybug management
Current mealybug control relies heavily on insecticides. While effective in the short term, Butcher said chemical control is not a sustainable long-term solution.
Federal regulations continue to tighten on certain pesticide chemistries, and insects can develop resistance, requiring continual investment in new products.
“That cycle creates a lot of waste in money, resources and time,” Butcher said.
Sustainability is also a priority for Oregon’s wine industry, particularly for vineyards that are certified organic or biodynamic.
Testing mating disruption
Butcher is studying mating disruption, an organic pest management technique that interferes with insects’ ability to reproduce. The approach uses synthetic pheromones to confuse male insects, preventing them from locating females and reducing population growth.
“Even if an insect develops resistance to a pesticide, it can’t become resistant to not finding a mate,” Butcher said.
While mating disruption has been used in some Oregon fruit crops, it had not been researched for wine grapes in Oregon until Butcher began his work.
He partnered with four vineyards in Roseburg, Newberg, The Dalles and Milton-Freewater to test the approach. The results have been promising.
“Our most effective site also had the heaviest infestation,” Butcher said. “We saw about a 70% reduction using roughly one-tenth of the dose reported in other studies.”
From research to the field
Butcher is now working with industry partners to make mating disruption dispensers for grape mealybug commercially available.
“Within this year or next year would be a reasonable estimate,” he said.
He plans to replicate the trials next growing season and publish the results in late 2025. In parallel, he is developing a biological control option involving nematodes that act as a pathogen to mealybugs.
“That’s another organic tool,” Butcher said. “It offers faster control but is further from being ready for widespread use.”
Previously titled OSU researcher trades chef uniform for lab coat to tackle wine grape pest
