South Dakota Nursery and Landscape Association

Looking for a Female Landscape TV Personality

March 20th, 2010

Engel Entertainment is an Emmy-award winning production company based out of New York City. We produce programming for a wide variety of networks such as: A&E, PBS, TLC, MSNBC, National Geographic Channel, Lifetime, Discovery, Style, DIY, HGTV, Animal Planet and many others.

We are casting female landscapers to host a major home and garden renovation-based cable network series.

For more information on the show and how to apply, please visit our website: http://landscapingshow.wordpress.com/

We can be contacted at landscapingshow@gmail.com – we’re looking forward to receiving the replies. Thank you very much!

Best regards

Jamie Bennett
Development Researcher
Landscaping Show
landscapingshow@gmail.com

Colorado Rules on Japanese Beetle

March 16th, 2010

The State of Colorado has implemented new quarantine rules pertaining to Japanese beetle. The new rules went into affect in December, 2009. These new rules will apply to any plant or product that may harbor the Japanese beetle. Shippers from the entire state of South Dakota are bound by these rules.

A Phytosanitary Certificate is required for each shipment. In general, with a couple of differences, the Colorado requirements follow the Japanese Beetle Harmonization Plan sponsored by the National Plant Board for a Category 2 state. The available options for certification can be found on the web site listed below. These options need to be officially conducted or monitored. It is recommended that shippers of plants to Colorado contact the South Dakota Department of Agriculture to review the certification options allowed by Colorado.

The Colorado rules allow for return, treatment, or destruction of shipments found out of compliance by inspectors. Not only is the producer liable for the costs, but there is a provision for a possible civil penalty. It is not recommended that shippers try to “sneak in” shipments, because violations can be determined by the lack of the appropriate paperwork later.

The Colorado quarantine rules can be obtained at this web address:

http://www.sos.state.co.us/CCR/Welcome.do. Search for Rule Number 8 CCR 1203-21.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture, Plant Industry Division, can be contacted at: 303.239.4140.

The South Dakota Department of Agriculture can be contacted at 605.773.3796.

Crop Insurance: A Risk Management Tool for South Dakota Nurseries

February 18th, 2010

Press release from USDA Risk Management Agency:

There are almost 500 licensed nursery dealers and growers in South Dakota and in 2009 they insured $494,338 worth of product. Nationally, nurseries insure more than $3 billion making it one of the largest value crops covered in the U.S. The 2007 NASS Ag Census showed South Dakota sales in the nursery, greenhouse, floriculture and sod sector were $19,984,000.

Multi-peril crop insurance is available for nurseries that receive at least 50% of their gross income from wholesale sales and covers both plants grown in standard containers or in the field. It provides producers with protection against natural causes of loss, such as adverse weather, failure of irrigation supply, fire and wildlife damage. Coverage can be designed to fit your particular business plan with various coverage levels and several endorsement choices. Here are some features that may be of interest to South Dakota growers:

• Choose either a catastrophic (CAT) coverage level (50% coverage) or optional buy-up coverage (up to 75% of inventory value).
• Different plant types can be insured individually when purchasing buy-up coverage.
• Inventory value is determined by the producer’s catalog and price lists (limited to a maximum published in the Risk Management Agency’s plant price schedule).
• Inventory values can be adjusted several times during the year to take into account normal fluctuations. A “Peak Inventory Endorsement” is also available for additional flexibility.
• Unlike most other multi-peril crop insurance policies, nursery crop insurance will cover multiple insurable losses during the crop year up to the amount of insurance purchased.
• The Federal government subsidizes premiums based on the coverage level chosen. Premium rates are reasonable for buy-up coverage. The only cost for CAT coverage is an administrative fee of $300.

You can purchase nursery insurance any time, with a 30-day waiting period before insurance attaches. Read more about nursery insurance on our fact sheet at http://www.rma.usda.gov/pubs/rme/nursery.pdf. You should submit your application by May 1 to ensure that you are covered for the whole year. Visit a local crop insurance agent for more details.  You can find a local agent using the Risk Management Agency’s Agent Locator at http://www3.rma.usda.gov/apps/agents/.

Emerald Ash Borer

January 17th, 2010

The two latest discoveries of emerald ash borer, one on the Minnesota and Wisconsin border and the second, more recent, in the Twin Cities, underscores the looming threat of this insect to the ash resources of South Dakota.  This phloem-feeding insect was first discovered in Michigan back in 2002 though  later investigations indicated it probably was present in the state as far back at the mid-90s. It was probably introduced from northeastern China, an area where this is an insignificant insect only infested dying ash.  Since that time infested ash trees have been found in Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin.   Generally once an infestation is discovered, it is found that the infestation has been in place for three years or more and has already spread too far for effective containment.   The infestation in the Twin Cities was initially found in three trees but a survey of the two blocks surrounding these trees yield more infested trees and there is a high expectation that more will be found in the area as the season progresses.

The emerald ash borer can successfully attack and kill healthy or stressed ash as small as 1-inch in caliper and there are no known ash species or cultivars that have resistance or tolerance to attack with the possible exception of Manchurian ash.  However, there has been a problem with trees being misidentified as Manchurian ash so hybrids thought to contain their genes may in fact not.  Currently there are no white, green, black or blue ash, or their hybrids, that can be considered resistant or tolerant to attack by this insect.

The threat of emerald ash borer is a particular concern in South Dakota as the people in our state have invested heavily in its planting with approximately one-third of all the trees in our community forests, both home landscape and city streets and parks, being ash.  While there are treatments that can prolong the life of an ash – if started before the tree is attacked – most people will probably not elect to protect their trees and we can expect that the removal costs in a community will be very high once the insect becomes established as the population of beetles builds very quickly.  Probably our best means of maintaining our community forests is to begin diversify them by encouraging the planting of trees other than ash and recommending an array of possible trees so that we do not continue the problem started with the loss of elms to Dutch elm disease where ash became the most common replacement.  Rather than promote one tree as the replacement for ash, we need to encourage people to plant a wider range of trees that are adapted to their particular growing environment.