MADISON, WI (WTAQ) - The state will wage its annual battle against the gypsy moth in western Wisconsin this year.

Agriculture officials say aerial spraying treatments will begin late this spring or early summer, depending on the weather.

They’ll last for about a month in around a-third of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. Crews will start in southern Wisconsin and work their way north.

The gypsy moth has long been a threat to the state’s timber industry, with its appetite for trees and shrubs.

The spraying program will be discussed at open houses March 12th through 14th in Madison, Black River Falls, and Superior.