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The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has established a quarantine for European cherry fruit fly (ECFF) in New York. A portion of Niagara County was quarantined for the invasive fruit fly following the detection of 51 flies in 2017. As of January 2020, the quarantined area has been expanded to include all of Niagara, Erie, and Orleans Counties. APHIS and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYSDAM) are working collaboratively on this detection.
See also: Fruit Flies Quarantine for additional information.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is awarding $16 million in strategic investment in more than 100 projects in 37 states and two territories to combat the spread of invasive species threatening ecosystems. Thanks to the Forest Health provision of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Forest Service has invested $56 million to combat invasive species since 2022.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service has published a report that provides a snapshot of current U.S. forest and rangeland conditions and projects conditions 50 years into the future. The Resources Planning Act Assessment report uses a mixture of scientific, climate and economic projections to identify drivers of change, resources and trends across all land ownerships, as well as summarize probable outcomes for nature-based economies.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service Eastern Region is requesting applications for the FY 2021 Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR) competitive grant program. The LSR program encourages collaborative, science-based restoration of priority rural forest landscapes and support for priorities identified in State Forest Action Plans while leveraging public and private resources. The Eastern Region has distributed nearly $20 million in funding for LSR projects since 2016. Objectives for the Landscape Scale Restoration Program:

• Reduce the risk of uncharacteristic wildfires;
• Improve fish and wildlife habitats, including for threatened and endangered species;
• Maintain or improve water quality and watershed function;
• Mitigate invasive species, insect infestation, and disease;
• Improve important forest ecosystems;
• Measure ecological and economic benefits including air quality and soil quality and productivity.

Visit the LSR website to learn more about the program and how to apply. Applications must be received in Grants.gov by 6 p.m. EST on September 17, 2020, with additional draft deadlines outlined on the LSR website.

The USDA Forest Service Eastern Region is accepting applications for the FY 2022 Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR) competitive grant program. LSR grants achieve the shared priority goals of the Forest Service, states, and sovereign Tribal nations to protect and restore forested landscapes across jurisdictional boundaries.

LSR grants provide vital benefits to the American public. They reduce risk of catastrophic wildfires, improve water quality, restore wildlife habitat, and mitigate damaging insect and disease infestation. State forestry agencies, nonprofit organizations, universities, units of local government, and sovereign Tribal nations are eligible to submit applications. All applications require state forester sponsorship except those submitted by Tribes. Visit the LSR website to learn more about the program and how to apply. Applications must be submitted through grants.gov by November 5, 2021, with additional draft deadlines outlined on the LSR website.

USDA's APHIS leads efforts to keep U.S. plants and animals healthy. Each year, APHIS distributes millions of dollars to producer organizations, State and Federal agencies, Native American Tribes, universities, and others nationwide to support projects that help strengthen our Nation's safeguarding system and prevent, control, or mitigate pests or diseases. Provides current open funding and other funding opportunities available throughout the year. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is hosting its fourth African Swine Fever (ASF) Action Week this week (October 28-November 1, 2024). We are encouraging U.S. swine producers, small farms and owners of all types of pigs to join us to learn about ASF and what they can do to help protect the U.S. swine herd.
See related resource: Protect Our Pigs: Fight African Swine Fever

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $11.65 million in 14 projects to help agricultural producers and private landowners trap and control feral swine as part of the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program. This investment expands the pilot program to new projects in Alabama, Hawaii, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. This pilot program is a joint effort between USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

This second round of funding is for partners to carry out activities as part of the identified pilot projects in select states. "These awards enable landowners to address the threat that feral swine pose to natural resources and agriculture," NRCS Acting Chief Kevin Norton said. "The projects we have identified will be key to addressing the feral swine problem."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) today announced four grants totaling more than $13.6 million to combat a scourge on the nation's citrus industry, citrus greening disease, aka Huanglongbing. The funding is made possible through NIFA's Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) Citrus Disease Research and Extension Program, authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill.

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has announced new efforts to help prevent the introduction and spread of African swine fever in the U.S. Through an outreach and awareness campaign called “Protect Our Pigs,” APHIS will support commercial pork producers, veterinarians, and pig owners with information and resources to help safeguard America’s swine population and the pork industry.

APHIS is deploying a variety of outreach efforts to support critical stakeholders. The new Protect Our Pigs website will house materials such as downloadable fact sheets and posters, instructional videos, shareable social media graphics, a new interactive biosecurity guide, and offer the latest disease updates. If African swine fever is detected in the U.S., APHIS will also be ready to respond immediately with actionable information and resources for pig owners and the public.

USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is using emergency funding to respond to the threats associated with growing outbreaks of exotic fruit flies and New World screwworm. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack approved the transfer of $213.3 million from the Commodity Credit Corporation to APHIS to directly support emergency response efforts domestically and internationally to protect fruit, vegetable and livestock industries and producers.

"Increasing our response efforts to exotic fruit fly and New World screwworm outbreaks is critical to minimizing their potential impact on our nation’s agriculture and trade," said USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt. "This funding will enable us to swiftly prevent both populations’ further spread before they become established and harder to eradicate."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has released Fruit Fly Exclusion and Detection Program Fiscal Years 2024-2028 Strategy [PDF, 1.2 MB]. APHIS worked with members of the National Plant Board to develop a unified roadmap for USDA and its partners to protect American agriculture from the threat of invasive fruit flies and measure our progress along the way.
See also: Exotic Fruit Flies for more information

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing $502 million under the Animal Health Protection Act to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to prepare for potential additional detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the United States.

USDA continues to successfully combat HPAI in the United States. In May 2022, there were a total of 18 commercial poultry HPAI detections. In May 2023, there were 0 commercial poultry detections, a decrease of 100% from the previous year. Additionally, there has not been a case of HPAI in commercial poultry since April 19, 2023 or in backyard poultry since May 18, 2023.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is allocating more than $70 million to support 350 projects under the Plant Protection Act’s Section 7721 program as part of a nationwide effort to strengthen the country’s infrastructure for pest detection, surveillance, and mitigation, as well as protect the U.S. nursery system. Universities, states, federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, nonprofits, and Tribal organizations will carry out selected projects in 48 states, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

With cases of a strain of what is known as bird flu recently found in dairy cattle, USDA and other stakeholders have been busy monitoring the situation and implementing measures to protect our nation’s dairy cattle. Rod Bain and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack looks at what has so far transpired in this edition of “Agriculture USA”.
See related resource: Avian Influenza

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is recognizing National Pollinator Week (June 19-25, 2023) through the continued commitment and support for pollinator health and research. Pollinator species, such as bees, other insects, birds and bats play a critical role in producing more than 100 crops grown in the United States. Honey bee pollination alone adds more than $18 billion in value to agricultural crops annually.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Spotted Lanternfly Strategic Planning Working Group has released the Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) Five-Year Strategy for fiscal years 2024-2028 [PDF, 4.47 MB]. APHIS brought together the working group in August 2022 with representatives from APHIS, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) and the National Plant Board (NPB). The working group developed a unified approach to reduce the spotted lanternfly’s spread and impacts through the effective use of available State and Federal resources.

As winter approaches, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is reminding the public not to move wood out of areas quarantined for the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB). It is important that people follow state and federal laws, which restrict the movement of woody material, to keep the tree-killing pest from spreading outside of quarantined areas in Massachusetts, Ohio, and New York.