The UW Extension has a couple of great publications on growing apples:
"Growing Apples in Wisconsin" & "Apple Pest Management for Home Gardeners."

I prefer to use no or little pesticides in my garden, but considering
everything I know about growing apples, I think the trade off to cut way
back on chemicals is your time, e.g., hanging bait traps, monitoring for
pests, etc.

Also, I think one of the reasons it's especially difficult to grow pest-free
apples -- in comparison to other fruits-- is that it's probably one of the
most abundant fruit plants that's grown, which contributes to the
monoculture effect -- plenty of host plants to provide a "banquet" for
insects & disease.

Suzy O
Wisconsin, Zone 5

"Ron H" wrote in message
...
OK, It's a moderately nice January day and I finished pruning the apple
trees. Looks like it's going to be a great year for apples but I need to
know the what, when, where, and how much of spraying apples trees to fend
off both predator and disease!

Any advice, references, etc???

Ron H.
West Central Wisconsin