2026 Fire Blight Outbreak and the Tree Assistance Program (TAP)

The Tree Assistance Program (TAP) was reauthorized under the 2018 Farm Bill and is proposed for expansion and modernization in the 2026 Farm Bill. TAP provides financial assistance to qualifying orchardists and nursery tree growers to replant or rehabilitate eligible trees, bushes, and vines damaged by natural disasters. Plantings eligible for TAP include trees, bushes, and vines from which an annual crop is produced for commercial purposes and fruit, nut, ornamental, and Christmas trees produced for commercial sale. Many growers have experienced losses over the past year due to wet weather, winter injury, insect damage, and disease. TAP could help you reduce the costs associated with replanting.

To qualify for TAP assistance, eligible fruit growers and nurserymen must have tree, bush, or vine losses in excess of 15 percent for the stand (adjusted for normal mortality) from an eligible natural disaster.  Mortality loss on a stand of eligible trees, bushes, or vines is based on each eligible disaster event, except for losses due to plant disease, where the time period for when the stand could be infected is determined by the USDA-Farm Service Agency (USDA-FSA). Losses must not have been preventable through reasonable and available management practices and must be visible and obvious to the USDA-FSA inspector.  If the loss is no longer visible, USDA-FSA may accept other evidence of the loss and determine whether it substantiates that an eligible loss occurred. USDA-FSA may require information from a qualified expert to determine the extent of loss in the case of plant disease or insect infestation.

If USDA-FSA rules that you are eligible for compensation under TAP, you must replace the trees, bushes, or vines within 12 months of the date the application is approved. For tree, bush, or vine replacement, TAP payments kick in when mortality exceeds 15 percent (adjusted for normal mortality) and are set at 65 percent of the actual cost of replanting or 50 percent of the actual cost of rehabilitation. An individual or entity is eligible for payment under TAP if the average Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of the individual or entity is less than $900,000. Changes to the program under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 removed the per-person and legal entity program year payment limitation ceiling of $125,000 and increased the acreage cap to 1,000 acres per program year.

The final date to submit a TAP claim is 60 calendar days after a declared disaster event or 90 calendar days of the disaster event or the date when the loss is apparent to the producer. For more information on TAP or to file a claim, contact your local USDA-FSA office.

Managing fire blight in 2026

The 2026 bloom experienced severe fire blight conditions, and growers have been struggling with numerous outbreaks because their bloom protection may not have been sufficient this year. Continue scouting your orchards for fire blight. The plant regulator Prohexadione calcium (ProCa; Kudos or Apogee) is highly recommended to help slow infections. Use the highest ProCa label amount to shut down the tree's growth and limit continued infection. ProCa is a plant growth regulator that thickens plant cell walls and hardens off the shoots. It takes 10-14 days for the effect to occur in the tree, and repeated applications may be necessary to help control potential shoot blight that may arise from blossom infections, or leftover cankers in the trees (i.e. canker blight).

With recent reports of fire blight incidence in orchards, one option growers may want to consider is FungOUT (AEF Global Biopesticides), a 1.07% citric acid product that is considered a fungicide and bactericide. Anecdotal reports indicate growers have found success with this product when active fire blight infections are present. Consequently, at Penn State FREC, we decided to evaluate FungOUT this year in our fire blight research apple block. We hypothesize that this product should be effective against fire blight because Erwinia amylovora dislikes acidic conditions. According to the label, use FungOUT at 1.4% v/v every 2-3 days, and adding a spreader may improve quality. Growers are to use this product at their own discretion, as this is the first year we are testing it, and we do not know for certain whether it will be effective in stopping an active fire blight infection in its tracks.

If you encounter fire blight while scouting and choose to prune, we recommend a "triage" method when it comes to pruning decisions once fire blight has struck, going from highest to lowest priority:

• Young orchards 3 – 8 years old with just a few strikes. (highest priority)
• Young orchards 3 – 8 years old with many strikes.
• Older orchards with a few strikes.
• The "walk away" group: orchards with so many strikes that most of the tree would need to be removed; severe pruning can stimulate new growth that can become infected. (lowest priority)

Folks have been told all along to prune out fire blight when they see it; however, there can be too much of a good thing. It is very important to avoid excessive cutting when pruning out fire blight. Excessive cutting will encourage more shoot growth, worsening your fire blight problem. This is especially true for older orchards where old fire blight cankers may be lurking about in the tree. 

Items to keep in mind when pruning out fire blight infections 

• Do not cut out infections during wet weather since bacteria move via water.
• Cut out active infections early - before necrosis develops (limits the spread of bacteria).
• Pruning is most effective when incidence is low.
• Focus on salvaging tree structure and young high-density plantings when incidence is high.
• Bacteria can invade healthy tissue up to ~3 feet in advance of visible symptoms, which makes tool sterilization ineffective.
• Practice the ugly stub method: cut 6 -12 inches below the margin of visible infection and remove later during winter pruning.
• Ideally, infected tissue should be removed from the orchard and burned. However, if pressed for time, prunings can be left in the row middles to dry out and subsequently chopped with a mower.

If you are pruning trees to remove infections, consider using the "Actigard Paint" method when cutting out fire blight. After cutting out the fire blight, apply a high-concentration spray of Actigard to the cut and 1 meter of the trunk below the limb with the fire blight. According to the label, mix 1 oz of Actigard in 1 quart of a 1% penetrant. The penetrant suggested on the label is Pentrabark (an organosilicone); however, a similar penetrant can be used. Use a one-gallon handheld sprayer for this method, and avoid spraying the leaves when spraying the cut and trunk. The leaves will be adversely affected by the high concentration of the solution. One quart will treat approximately 500 cuts. Do not apply within 60 days of harvest.