ANNAPOLIS, MD — The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) has detected the invasive, highly destructive emerald ash borer (EAB) beetle in Montgomery County — the seventh county in the state to have a positive identification of the pest. Last summer, MDA concluded that the pest was likely present throughout the western shore and imposed a quarantine on all 14 counties west of the Chesapeake Bay and Susquehanna River, making it illegal to move ash products to the Eastern Shore. MDA reminds residents and businesses that it remains illegal for anyone to move regulated EAB material to the Eastern Shore. Those materials include: all ash wood with the bark and sapwood remaining, ash nursery stock, all hardwood firewood, and hardwood chips larger than 1 inch in two dimensions. Historically, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has treated EAB quarantine areas (also called “regulatory areas”) in different states as individual quarantines, even if the adjoining states were also quarantined. Moving ash products from one area to the next required a federal permit. APHIS, however, has issued a Federal Order (or policy change), effective July 1, that treats contiguous quarantine areas as a single quarantine area, even if it crosses state borders. This change in policy allows companies and people to move ash materials within the quarantine area, including across state
lines, as long as the entire trip, from start to finish, remains within a contiguous federal quarantine boundary. If, at any point, the trip leaves a quarantine area, the shipment will need a permit. A map of the expanded quarantine area can be found at www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/pla nt_pest_info/emerald_ash_b/downloads/eab_quarantine_map.pdf Moving ash materials from a quarantined area to a location outside the quarantine area, like the Eastern Shore, may only be done with a properly issued federal certificate or limited permit. “The ash tree is one of the most important urban trees in Maryland and an important woodland tree in the Chesapeake Bay watershed,” said Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance. “The emerald ash borer is destroying these trees all across the state. This new federal quarantine will make it easier for those in the nursery industry — our second largest agriculture sector — to move within the quarantine area more freely while still protecting those areas, like the Eastern Shore, that, as far as we can tell, are still free of the pest.” Entomologists with MDA and USDA positively identified the pest in Charles, Prince George’s, Howard, Anne Arundel, Washington and Allegany counties before finding it in Montgomery County in June. The state quarantine is designed to protect the Eastern Shore ash trees from becoming infested. MDA works closely with APHIS to
manage the invasive EAB using the best science and tools available, with emphasis on activities that are most effective in stopping/slowing the spread of EAB to new areas. APHIS is modifying its policy to focus its regulatory efforts on the perimeter of quarantined areas. In Maryland those areas include the nine Eastern Shore counties, as well as St. Mary’s, Calvert, Anne Arundel, and Harford counties. This will allow for the best use of available resources and reduce the complexity of the requirements for affected stakeholders. EAB is an invasive wood-boring beetle, native to China and eastern Asia, which targets ash trees. EAB probably arrived in North America hidden in wood packing materials commonly used to ship consumer and other goods. It was first detected in the United States in July 2002 and has since been found in 15 states. It arrived in Maryland in 2003. Everyday human activities can facilitate the spread of EAB and expand the extent and range of the infestation in North America. For this reason, MDA continues to encourage homeowners, campers, vacationers, and outdoor enthusiasts not to move firewood. The movement of untreated wood products made of ash has been found to advance the spread of EAB, which has been responsible for the death and decline of tens of millions of ash trees in the United States. In May, Governor Martin O’Malley
declared May 20-26 EAB Awareness Week while MDA began releasing biocontrol agents in Anne Arundel, Charles, Howard, Prince George’s, Washington and Allegany counties to help kill the invasive pest. For more information, see: www.mda.state. md.us/article.php?i=38919 USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) designated April “Invasive Plant, Pest and Disease Awareness Month — the same month MDA began hanging EAB traps, which are used to track the movement of the invasive pest. For more information, see www.mda.state.md. us/article.php?i=38651. For information about EAB in Maryland, see www.mda.state.md.us/plantspests/eab/. For more information on APHIS’s EAB program, see www.aphis.usda.gov.
milk powder. Back on the home front and always a concern to dairy producers are feed prices. Much of the recent strength in corn has been associated with very hot dry conditions in the central and eastern Corn Belt, with indications that yield prospects have been reduced substantially in those areas, according to Darrel Good, University of Illinois ag economist and reported by DPW. As the market continues to try to determine production prospects, it’s also assessing the likely strength of demand. Corn exports continue to lag the pace needed to reach previous USDA projections. Ethanol production is now slowing, as the combination of lower gasoline prices and higher corn prices has squeezed margins. Due to an early spring, and early harvest (pre Sept. 1) will skew domestic use figures. The dilemma is it is far from clear how much corn will be available next year, warns DPW. Based on recent and upcoming weather, there is considerable risk that the yield will be below forecast levels. If so, even higher prices are possible. In dairy politics; the House of Representatives Thursday made available its Discussion Draft of the 2012 Farm Bill. As expected, the dairy title contains provisions of the Dairy Security Act, authored by Rep. Peterson (D-MN) and based on National Milk’s “Foundation for the Future program.” Processors continue to oppose its supply management provisions and, in
a press release this week stated that the stabilization program is “designed to limit milk supplies and to periodically raise milk prices. It will reduce dairy farmers’ incomes at the same time that a new subsidized revenue insurance plan enhances their incomes. Taxpayer organizations, consumer groups, dairy food manufacturers, and many dairy producers, including the second largest dairy coop in the country, have all spoken out against supply management programs.” The International Dairy Foods Association urged the committee to “provide revenue or margin insurance for dairy farmers without also mandating that they participate in a program that will impose government control over the supply and demand for milk. National Milk praised the Farm Bill Draft and said “The bill reflects the best-possible outcome for America’s dairy farmer community, which is in great need of a better federal safety net than what we have now.” The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the growth hormone rBST (bovine somatotrophin) for use in 1994. Six years after adoption, approximately 18.3 percent of the U.S. dairy herd was treated with rBST, according to USDA survey data and reported in the June 29 issue of the Daily Dairy Report. Since then, the percent of U.S. dairy cows treated with rBST has fallen from 15.5 percent in 2005 to 8.8 percent in 2010. USDA tracks rBST use along with milking frequency and
organic milk production as part of the periodic Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS). The 2010 ARMS data provided rBST use by herd size and state. While rBST is used on farms of various sizes, it is not used in every state. For example, 2 percent of the cows in herds with less than 50 cows were treated with rBST. However, it might be more surprising to learn that the greatest use of rBST at 21.9 percent occurred on dairies with 500 to 999 cows, while just 6.8 percent of cows in herds of more than 1,000 received rBST. Kansas had the most prevalent use of rBST in 2010 with 31percent of the state’s herd treated followed by Wisconsin with 21.5 percent. However, Pennsylvania ranked third in rBST use with 20.4 percent of the state’s herd treated. Minnesota was fourth in use and New York was fifth, with 18.6 percent and 13.4 percent of the cows treated, respectively. Iowa roundedout the states with double-digit rBST use at 13.3 percent. California, the largest milk-producing state, reported that 5 percent of its herd received rBST in 2010. States that reported no use of rBST include: Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington. Analyst and Editor, Mary Ledman, discusses the study in the “Daily Dairy Discussion audio file at www.dailydairyreport.com.
Mielke from 18 enough moisture, and hot, record setting, temperatures. All of these factors have occurred in various areas from coast to coast at varying rates during the past week causing milk production to be irregular for all Class needs. I got a personal reminder of how hot it can get in the Midwest, making a quick trip to Wisconsin to visit family this week. Temperatures topping 100 sent me packing for my cooler and greener home in the Pacific Northwest. Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) accepted 14 requests for export assistance this week to sell a total of 2.2 million pounds of cheese to customers in Asia-Pacific, North Africa, Central America and the Middle East. The product will be delivered through October and brings CWT’s 2012 cheese exports to 66.3 million pounds, plus 45.2 million pounds of butter and anhydrous milk fat. Speaking of the world dairy market, FC Stone’s July 3 eDairy Insider Closing Bell reports that GlobalDairyTrade (GDT) prices dropped this week, with the trade-weighted average for all products and contract periods down 5.9 percent. Anhydrous milk fat led the declines, down 10.4 percent across all contracts, and skim milk powder prices dropped an average 9.8 percent. Average prices fell 4.1 percent for whole milk powder, 4.5 percent for rennet casein, 3.8 percent for lactose, 3.6 percent for milk protein concentrate, and 0.7 percent each for cheddar cheese and butter
Page 19 • MID-ATLANTIC COUNTRY FOLKS FARM CHRONICLE • July 16, 2012
Emerald Ash Borer discovered in Montgomery County