Plants, Pets, and Pellets Plant Industries Division Inspectors Are Protecting Your Pets and Your Food What do the gypsy moth, a bag of dog food, a crepe myrtle tree, and cottonseed all have in common? Each seemingly unconnected item, and dozens more, fall under the purview of Arkansas Department of Agriculture Plant Industries Division inspectors. To hear 31-year veteran David Fort tell it, there’s not much related to agricultural consumer protection that state inspectors don’t touch. “We do a little bit of everything,” Fort said. “The biggest part of it is a consumer protection function.” For instance: ● Inspectors monitor traps in late fall and December for the invasive gypsy moth, often imported into the state on Christmas trees from the upper Midwest. The gypsy moth is a dangerous pest that can be lethal to deciduous trees. ● Fort and his fellow inspectors verify nutrition labels on pet food. ● The Plant Board was established more than a century ago to monitor stock in Arkansas’s plant and landscaping nurseries for diseases. This year, Fort said inspectors are trying to stave off a rash of disease in crepe myrtles, called crepe myrtle scales. ● Inspectors evaluate cottonseed and all other agricultural seeds to ensure the germination rate is appropriate and that the state’s farmers are getting the type of seed they expect. “I think these are all very important functions of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture,” Fort said. “Can you imagine a farmer going in to buy seed and it only germinates at a rate of 10%? They won’t harvest a crop. It’s a very important function to make sure farmers get what they pay for.” Fort is based in the southern part of the state, where he oversees several inspectors and also takes on an inspector role himself. There are about 30 Plant Industries Division inspectors across Arkansas, who along with chemists and lab technicians work tirelessly on behalf of agricultural producers and consumers. The Arkansas Department of Agriculture has a seed lab, a chemical lab, and a germination lab at its Little Rock offices.
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