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See also: Pest Management - Field Crop Pests for more fact sheets

See also: Weed Management Guides for more resources

See also: Invasive Plants for more resources

In September 2016, Palmer amaranth, Amaranthus palmeri, was found in Minnesota. To date, it has been documented in Douglas, Jackson, Lyon, Redwood, Todd, and Yellow Medicine counties. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA), University of Minnesota Extension, USDA, landowners and other partners are working to eradicate these infestations before they can spread to new areas. Be proactive and prevent Palmer amaranth establishment. Familiarize yourself with Palmer amaranth identification and actively look for it in crop fields, borders, ditches, conservation lands and around dairies. If you suspect Palmer amaranth on your property, immediately call your local U of M Extension Educator or IPM Specialist, crop consultant and/or the MDA’s Arrest the Pest (888-545-6684) to report locations.

When the expansion of the Panama Canal is completed in 2016, giant ships that now must dock at West Coast ports after crossing the Pacific will be able to deliver cargo directly to ports on the Gulf of Mexico and the East Coast. One thing they may be delivering, according to a recent study, is a much larger number of alien species.

See also: Ecological Risk Screening Summaries for more species summaries

Several local and federal agencies today took another step in protecting America's Everglades by releasing an insect reared to combat the invasive Brazilian peppertree. The insects, known as thrips, were reared as part of a joint partnership between the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the National Park Service, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) and the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) to combat invasive plants in South Florida's ecosystem.

The Partners Program provides technical and financial assistance to private landowners and Tribes who are willing to work with us and other partners on a voluntary basis to help meet the habitat needs of our Federal Trust Species.

As climate change reduces the frequency and intensity of killing freezes, tropical plants and animals that once could survive in only a few parts of the U.S. mainland are expanding their ranges northward, a new U.S. Geological Survey-led study has found. The change is likely to result in some temperate zone plant and animal communities found today across the southern U.S. being replaced by tropical communities. These changes will have complex economic, ecological and human health consequences, the study predicts. Some effects are potentially beneficial, such as expanding winter habitat for cold-sensitive manatees and sea turtles; others pose problems, such as the spread of insect-borne human diseases and destructive invasive species.

ARS researchers created a new tool, called Pathogen and Tree Fruit Health Map (PATHMAP), which will connect growers in different states and allow them to share important data regarding tree fruit diseases, disorders, and insect pests. This online interactive tool will enable growers to modify and adjust their pathogen and pest control programs based on real-time data, provide quick access to time-sensitive data, give them access to experts in the field, and provide access to previous years observations and track current diseases, disorders and pests.
See also: Down on the Farm archives