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April 2, 2013
12:25 PM ET
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Posted by:
On March 27th, USDA-APHIS posted online the long awaited results of the Farm Bill Section 10201 funding requests. This section of the Farm Bill is broadly defined as being dedicated to the identification, mitigation, and management of pests and diseases of specialty crops, which include fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, nursery and greenhouse crops. The release of these funds was delayed, largely due to concerns over the optics of funding Farm Bill programs at a time when budget cuts may mean staff furloughs. A week before the funds were released ANLA met with Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Edward Avalos, to encourage the release of the funds describing the need as immediate.
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March 28, 2013
10:30 AM ET
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Posted by:
On March 27th the USDA-APHIS announced the spending plan for section 10201 of the Farm Bill – funding intended to tackle pest and disease prevention and management issues impacting specialty crops. Through collaboration and advocacy efforts ANLA successfully highlighted the threats boxwood blight and impatiens downy mildew pose to the industry and helped to guide over $1 million in research funds to address them. The $385,000 awarded to Impatiens Downy Mildew research efforts represents new funding and the first time that Farm Bill dollars will be provided to deal with this particular disease. The $660,000 given to two coordinated projects on Boxwood Blight is a continuation of the collaborative effort that began last year with $550,000 in Farm Bill support.
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March 12, 2013
11:28 PM ET
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Posted by:
The pathogen Boxwood Blight (Calonectria pseudonaviculata) has shown an ability to infect every species of the family Buxaceae that has been evaluated, thus far. A recently published article includes the native Allegheny spurge (Pachysandra procumbens), which is found in isolated pockets from Florida to Pennsylvania, as a potential host. Although not as commonly planted as Japanese spurge (Pachysandra terminalis), it too is used regularly as an ornamental ground cover plant.
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March 6, 2013
09:30 AM ET
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Posted by:
On February 25, ANLA hosted a webinar regarding new insights into Boxwood Blight. Over the course of ninety minutes the participating scientists from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, North Carolina State University, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, and IR-4 at Rutgers, shared with the participants new developments in our understanding of the disease. They described some of their efforts currently underway and shared their plans for future work, pending additional funding through Section 10201 of the Farm Bill, which is administered by USDA-APHIS.
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February 12, 2013
04:43 PM ET
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Posted by:
HRI raised $15,000 from green industry members and the Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association in 2012 in support of Boxwood Blight research. These funds were distributed to Drs. Kelly L. Ivors at North Carolina State University and James LaMondia at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Research Foundation, Inc. Dr. LaMondia will also receive FY2013 funding through the HRI competitive grants program.
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