July 2, 2009

Green industry needs to adapt to fire ants

RICHMOND—Virginia’s $1.14 billion green industry hasn’t been damaged yet by a new state fire ant quarantine in 11 Southeast Virginia localities. But it will have to adapt to restrictions and inspections on the movement of plants and other items.

On June 24 the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced a temporary quarantine on the movement of soil; plants with soil attached; grass sod; used soil-moving equipment and farm equipment; hay, straw and pine straw; wood products; and other articles from the lower Peninsula and greater Tidewater regions unless they have been inspected and certified free of fire ant infestation. The quarantine is expected to be made permanent soon by the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

“I’d say at least one-quarter of the larger container nurseries are down in the state there, and there are several large nurseries that still do a lot of in-ground growing as well,” said Jeff Miller, executive director of the Virginia Green Council and the Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association.

“From what I understand, they’re going to have to treat and inspect plants before they’re shipped out of the area. But we don’t know yet” the exact details of that program, Miller said.
The quarantine was announced because VDACS’ Office of Plant and Pest Services determined there is no longer a viable chance of eradicating fire ants in Virginia. There are infestations of the pest in North Carolina, and last year the OPPS was asked to treat 642 fire ant colonies in Virginia, compared to an annual average of 33 colonies in previous years. The first fire ant colonies in the state were discovered in Tidewater in 1999.

According to a 2002 survey by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about 69 percent of the nursery plants sold in Virginia were purchased and raised locally. The growth of the state’s green industry has been one of Virginia agriculture’s success stories in recent years.
“Every nursery stock shipment has to have a certificate certifying that they’re pest-free,” Miller said. Now producers in Southeast Virginia will have to add an inspection and certification process for fire ants to that procedure, he said.

According to Todd Haymore, Virginia’s commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, the state will make every effort to assure the quarantine doesn’t have a negative economic impact on the industry. Products can move within the quarantine area without restrictions, he said, and VDACS is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a compliance agreement that will allow producers to self-inspect and certify their plants as fire ant-free.

Consumers and businesses with questions about fire ants and the quarantine should contact a local agricultural Extension agent or call the OPPS at 804-786-3515. Frequently asked questions are answered on the VDACS Web site at www.vdacs.virginia.gov.
Contact Miller at 540-382-0943; Norm Hyde, VFBF video producer, at 804-290-1146; or Elaine Lidholm, VDACS communications director, 804-786-7686.