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Missouri bans walnut products from nine states

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In an attempt to halt the devastating spread of thousand cankers disease, which afflicts black walnut trees, the state of Missouri has issued an emergency quarantine banning the importation of “walnut products” from nine Western states. According to Missouri officials, “The ban applies to nursery stock, unprocessed lumber, logs, wood chips, mulch and other products […]

South Carolina rescinds regulation that blocked trade

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Nursery growers in Oregon and California are once again free to ship their plants to South Carolina. Officials in that state have rescinded Regulation 27-78, which imposed state-based rules pertaining to Phytophthora ramorum. The Oregon Association of Nurseries (OAN) and the California Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers (CANGC) sued to overturn the regulation, on […]

Oregon, California growers sue to reopen South Carolina plant market

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Nurseries can’t afford to let disease spread. They take seriously the threat of Phytophthora ramorum, commonly known as sudden oak death – and so does the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). For several years, APHIS has had rules in effect to protect ecosystems and plant material. Nurseries in Oregon and California have […]

New plants added to P. ramorum regulated list

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Officials with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Plant Protection and Quarantine program (PPQ) issued a federal order on Monday (Feb. 22) adding 10 species to the list of plants regulated for Phytophthora ramorum. The plants have been identified them as hosts of the pathogen, and now will be regulated in accordance with […]

APHIS considers regulating wood in shipping

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The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is considering proposed rule changes involving wood packaging material used in domestic commerce, such as crates, pallets and sticks. Nurseries commonly use pallets and sticks when shipping plant material, but such wood material unwittingly could transport unwanted and dangerous hitchhikers, such as the emerald ash borer and […]

A P. ramorum breakthrough

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Researchers probing linkages between the two North American strains and the European strain of Phytophthora ramorum – the pathogen that causes Sudden Oak Death – say they have found important clues to their origins. According to a USDA Agricultural Research service press release: Their evidence showed that the European lineage may be older than the […]

Citrus longhorned beetle fears spur federal order

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The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today issued a federal order (PDF) restricting importation of several plants from several countries (mostly in Asia) due to the threat of the citrus longhorned beetle (pictured; photo courtesy of Wikipedia) and the Asian longhorned beetle. The affected countries include the following: Afghanistan, China, Japan, Indonesia, […]

Online Phytophthora course now in Spanish

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Since earlier in the year, Oregon State University eCampus has been offering an online course for nursery growers on the management of Phytophthora, a genus of pathogens including the notorious P. ramorum, also known as sudden oak death. The course is free and available to anyone, and participants can try for a certificate of mastery […]