Missouri Names New Agriculture Director

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt has appointed Don Steen to lead the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Mr. Steen replaces Katie Smith, who is stepping down in anticipation of an expanding family.

Mr. Steen, 58 of Eldon, was born and raised in Missouri and continues working on the same farm where he grew up and where he raised his family. His family has been in the turkey business for 35 years and also raises cattle. Mr. Steen has a bachelor’s in animal science from the University of Missouri and continued his education at Ozark Christian College. From 1990 to 1998 Mr. Steen served the people of Cole, Camden and Miller Counties in the Missouri House of Representatives.

While keeping up an active and productive farm, Mr. Steen also made time to volunteer and advocate on behalf of Missouri farmers. He is an elder and active leader at Ninth Street Christian Church and serves on the Board of Trustees for Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Mo. Mr. Steen has served as an advocate for agriculture working in conjunction with the Missouri Farm Bureau. Steen, and his wife of 35 years, Alisa, have four children and eight grandchildren which live in Missouri, all very near the family farm.

Mr. Steen’s appointment is subject to Senate confirmation and is effective July 7, 2008.

Virginia Tomatoes Available Now

For Release: June 23, 2008

Contact: Elaine Lidholm, 804/786-7686

SAFE, FRESH VIRGINIA TOMATOES AVAILABLE NOW

Virginia tomatoes are on the Food and Drug Administration’s “safe source” list, but until now, they weren’t always available. This week the Virginia tomato harvest began in earnest, and consumers concerned about tomato safety may now rest easy as safe, fresh Virginia tomatoes appear in grocery stores, roadside stands, farmer’s markets and farms.

“Just because you buy a tomato in Virginia doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a Virginia tomato,” says Todd P. Haymore, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS). “Now that our harvest has begun, shoppers will see a lot of Virginia tomatoes, and many times stores will indicate that tomatoes are Virginia Grown or locally-grown. Of course, if you buy directly from the farmer at a roadside stand or on the farm, you know you’re getting a genuine Virginia tomato.”

Haymore reminds consumers that Virginia tomatoes were never associated with the recent outbreak of salmonella. “In fact,” he said, “when the outbreak occurred, Virginia tomatoes were still in the field. But they’re ripening quickly and our growers are picking them every day.” If stores or restaurants do not identify tomatoes as Virginia Grown, he encourages consumers to ask managers about the source of their product. If they’re not from Virginia or another approved source, he suggests they not buy or eat them.

To find sources for fresh, Virginia tomatoes and other produce, go to www.virginiagrown.com. For more information on tomatoes and food safety, visit VDACS’ Web site at www.vdacs.virginia.gov and click on the tomato button.

Chaney, Hinton named to head agritourism council.

Carl Chaney and Jeremy Hinton have served as regional representatives on the council since its formation in 2002... more

Visit KDA's Agritourism Division here.

The Great Utah Agriculture Survey

The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food sought comments from local elementary school students about the importance of agriculture in their lives.
Here's what a few of them said during National Agriculture Day, 2008.

Colorado: Little Bugs Making a Big Difference

(Information on this amazing bug can be seen below the article)

The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) took an innovative approach to biological pest control over 60 years ago and established the Palisade Insectary.

To this day, the Insectary is among only a handful of programs across the U.S. that provides farmers, ranchers and resource managers with dozens of species of beneficial insects and mites as tools for use in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs.

The CDA is committed to IPM to combat weeds and insect pests in an economical and environmentally sound way, and as part of that commitment the Insectary leads the way in biological pest control.
The Insectary, located in Palisade, Colorado, produces and releases about 30 different species of biological control agents. These agents are used against insect pests such as the alfalfa weevil and cereal leaf beetle, or weeds such as leafy spurge, field bindweed, purple loosestrife, musk thistle, diffuse knapweed, and most recently the water-using invasive tree, tamarisk. The Insectary has greenhouses and insect rearing rooms as well as facilities for storage and shipping of biocontrol agents.

Insectary staff grows plants, such as the toadflaxes, with their beautiful snapdragon-like flowers, and feed them to insects, such as the toadflax weevil. Don’t feel sorry for the toadflaxes though, they are unpalatable to livestock and wildlife and degrade and devalue rangelands. Fortunately the little black weevils have brought infestations of Dalmatian toadflax under control in western Colorado.

The Insectary started as a local insect rearing facility but has expanded to become an important state and region-wide biocontrol center dedicated to producing and releasing biocontrol agents but also to formulating recommendations and procedures for effective use of biological control in IPM programs.

For more on the Palisade Insectary, visit our website or call (866) 324-2963.

Photo: Oberea erythrocephala

Leafy spurge is a highly invasive, deep rooted perennial that may cover meadows and grasslands with a dense monoculture of waist-high plants; choking out other vegetation and providing little or no forage for livestock. Fortunately there are several biological control insects that are very effective at suppressing the invasion.

Most common are the leafy spurge flea beetles, but in some settings they are getting help from the red-headed leafy spurge stem borer, Oberea erythrocephala (big names for a small beetle).

The stem borers are in the family Cerambycidae (long horned beetles, named for their long antennae), and the adults are dark, elongate, active fliers while the larvae are pale yellow and spend their time within the stems of leafy spurge. Adults are collected in June and July when they are actively seeking out spurge plants, where they lay eggs high in the stems. Larvae hatch and bore down through the stem to the root crown; seriously weakening the plant and stopping seed production. This insect does not reach high numbers and so will not provide control on it’s own but may be very useful in combination with the spurge flea beetles.

COSDAnauts Launch Into The Blogosphere

Welcome to the exciting new COSDA blog. Here we can trade ideas, keep in touch and offer each other up to the minute information. There are no rules, no right, no wrong, just a chance to express thoughts, seek insight and promote the great things each of you are doing.

Hopefully this blog will become a valuable resource that will benefit our individual state's agricultural industry and collectively improve agriculture globally. Using this blog we can post text, audio and video files, plus set up links to other news and information sites.

I want to thank Becky Ozuna, our E-Communications Specialist here at the Texas Department of Agriculture, for setting up the site and making it user friendly. All of you will be receiving an email from her on how you can begin publishing on the site. Enjoy.

Bryan Black
Assistant Commissioner for Communications
Texas Department of Agriculture

President's Letter

Fellow COSDAnauts –

If you are anything like me, you stay busy keeping abreast of news involving agriculture and politics. Knowing who said what is crucial when a local reporter calls to ask what your boss thinks about this, that, or the other. But media monitoring is only part of my job. I am also responsible for developing key messages and communication tools at the drop of a hat, which would be a snap if it didn’t frequently involve issues that are evolving or about which little information is available.

Fortunately for communicators like you and me, there’s an organization whose members face the same daily challenges -- the Communication Officers of State Departments of Agriculture. Time and again, COSDA members show they are willing to help a fellow member with an issue the communicator feels he or she is trying to address alone. We all know how good it feels to get messages, feedback and communication advice from another communicator who’s faced a similar challenge.

We’re lucky that technology has evolved to the point where we can share scads of information with a simple mouse click. But, if you’re like me, you want to find ways to use technology more effectively. That’s why I’ve arranged for Chuck Zimmerman to provide our professional development at “Kansas 2008: COSDA ‘til the Cows Come Home.”

Chuck Zimmerman is president of ZimmComm New Media, which specializes in blogging and podcasting, two communication techniques I’d like to know more about. He will explain why these techniques are useful, and he will train us how we can incorporate them into our existing communication strategies.

Information posted on www.ZimmComm.biz show how blogging is changing the way we communicate:

• More than 147 million Americans use the Internet and more than 57 million read blogs.
• Of companies surveyed, 89 percent think blogs will be more important in the next five years.
• Twenty-two of the 100 most popular websites in the world are blogs.
• Blog readers average 23 hours online each week.

Podcasts, on the other hand, are media files that are distributed on the Internet for playback on portable media players or personal computers. Just last week I received an email from USDA announcing that U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is offering 30-second PSAs to educate folks about how to say safe and cope with the stresses of flooding. The PSAs are available to the media for broadcast, or they can be downloaded for playback by individuals.

Technology is changing the way we communicate, and COSDA members need to keep pace. Plan to attend our meeting October 19 to 22 in Topeka, Kansas, so you, too, can learn how to use these new communication strategies.

Lisa Taylor
COSDA President
Kansas Department of Agriculture

Texas: Commissioner Staples' Historic Trip to Cuba a Big Success

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples returned from a historic trade mission to Cuba with two contracts signed and the confidence the contacts made on this trip will payoff with big dividends down the road.

“This trade mission exceeded our expectations and was a major success. There is a huge potential for exporting Texas products to Cuba, and the mission has set the table for a long-term business relationship with our neighbors in the Caribbean,” Commissioner Staples said. “The Cuban buyers were very accommodating and made it clear they are ready to do business with Texans.”

Commissioner Staples became the first statewide elected official from Texas to visit Cuba on state business in more than 45 years. The Commissioner led a delegation of 24 Texans, including farmers, ranchers, commodity suppliers and port representatives. The group met with Cuban government officials who procure agricultural products and visited three Cuban farms and food markets to identify food needs not met by domestic production.

For additional information on the trip check out the Commissioner's Cuba blog.


Check out a slide show:

News Clips of the Cuba Trade Mission

North Texas e-News June 6th

Dallas Morning News May 31st

Dallas Morning News May 29th

Gulf Times May 29th

KVUE.com May 28th

Dallas Morning News May 28th

Amarillo Globe News May 26th

Austin American Statesman May 18th

Texas Cattle Exported to Mexico for First Time in Over Four Years

For the first time in over four years, Texas began exporting live breeding cattle to Mexico. The re-establishment of cattle trade with Mexico came just two months after Commissioner Staples engaged partners in New Mexico, Arizona and California in coordinated efforts to expedite this border re-opening.

Watch a video package of the news conference here:

GO TEXAN Restaurant Program a Success

Commissioner Staples held a press conference at the historic Driskill Hotel in Austin to spread the word to the media about the success of the GO TEXAN Restaurant Program.

The Driskill Hotel's Chef Jonathan Gelman cooked up some creative dishes using fresh foods grown in Texas.

Commissioner Celebrates USDA SilverSchool Status with Students

On May 14th, Commissioner Todd Staples went to K.E. Little Elementary in Dickinson ISD to help recognize the school’s achievement of Silver Status in the HealthierUS Challenge — an award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recognizing schools that are creating healthy school environments by promoting good nutrition and physical activity.

Along with the school principal and cafeteria staff, the Commissioner joined the administrator from USDA’s Southwest Regional Office and representatives from Dickinson ISD, the Texas Legislature, and the State Board of Education to celebrate K.E. Little’s achievement as one of only 11 schools in Texas to earn this distinction.

Visit SquareMeals.org and look under “For Child Nutrition Professionals” to read more about the HealthierUS School Challenge.

Commissioner Staples Tours East Texas for BioEnergy Symposium, Caddo Lake Tour & Summer Food Service Kickoff

On June 6th, Commissioner Staples attended the Northeast Texas Woody BioEnergy Symposium in Jefferson. He then joined Rep. Brian Hughes for a tour of Caddo Lake.

Caddo Lake is the largest fresh water lake in the South. It is also one of the best examples of a bald cypress forest in the South. Learn more about Caddo Lake HERE.

On June 9th Commissioner Staples joined USDA Undersecretary Nancy Johner to kick off the Summer Food Service Program in East Texas.

News Clips

Ag Officials Help Kick-off Summer Food Program, KTBB.com. June 10

East Texas Food Bank Begins Providing Free Lunch For Children, Tyler Morning Telegraph, June 10

Food Bank Offering Meals To Local Children Who Might Not Eat Otherwise, KLTV 7 ABC, June 9

Summer Lunch Program, KYTX 19 CBS, June 9

Connecticut: Agricultural Leaders Meet for Conference

This month commissioners and officials from departments of agriculture throughout the Northeast convened in Connecticut to discuss agricultural issues. The conference ran Sunday, June 8 through Tuesday, June 10 and was the first time in a decade Connecticut hosted the annual event.

“We were honored to welcome our peers from around the region,” said F. Philip Prelli, Connecticut Commissioner of Agriculture. “It was a terrific opportunity for agricultural leaders to exchange ideas about challenges and concerns that we share here in the Northeast, such as skyrocketing energy and production costs.”

The conference kicked off Monday morning with a welcome by Commissioner Prelli and USDA Deputy Under Secretary J. Burton Eller, Jr., followed by several breakout sessions. A special session focused on the new federal Farm Bill and its impact on the region.

Attendees also toured three of Connecticut’s agricultural icons: Westford Hill Distillers in Ashford, the state’s only distillers of CT fruit spirits; Monsanto, Inc. a worldwide agri-biotechnology firm with a facility in Mystic; and the Stonington docks, home of the state’s last remaining commercial fishing and lobstering fleet.

Throughout the conference, participants enjoyed The Local Flavor with scrumptious meals comprised of CT Grown ingredients.

Additional conference information and a complete agenda are available online at http://www.nasda.org/neasda2008/ .

Oregon: Noxious Weed Control Program Takes to the Skies

To the casual observer, it probably looked like someone in a helicopter who had finished their 16 ounce soft drink and simply discarded the paper cup by throwing it out the window. But what appeared to be aeronautical littering was actually the release of tiny beneficial insects with an appetite for the invasive noxious weed Scotch broom.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture teamed up with the Bonneville Power Administration late this spring to reunite Scotch broom with a natural enemy? Brichidius villosus, otherwise known as a seed beetle. It is estimated that Scotch broom costs Oregon $47 million annually in lost timber production and by its impact on other natural resources.

For BPA, controlling the broom keeps the rite-of-way located under transmission lines clean and clear. For ODA, the beetle release is another example of biological control of an invasive and unwanted plant species. More than 30 bio-degradable soft drink containers each containing 100 of the beetles were tossed from a BPA helicopter over targeted patches of the yellow-flowered weed. Holes punched in the bottom of the cups allow the beetles to eventually crawl out and onto the broom. It's a low tech application of a highly specific tool that only impacts the invasive plant.

While it may be too late to eradicate Scotch broom from Oregon, biocontrol is helping to manage the problem and slow its spread. ODA is a leader in using biological control agents on targeted weed species. The aerial assault on Scotch broom is just one of the latest in a long line of projects that show promise.

Florida: Ride Along with Plant and Insect Experts

I don’t know about other public information offices, but we at the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services’ Division of Plant Industry have a heck of a time getting our good news stories covered. Of course, the stories have to be told in order for them to be covered.


And, being a member of the Florida Public Relations Association, I am always thinking about Golden Image Award entries also – you know, win/win stuff.

So once the canker eradication program ended and there was actually some time to be pro-active, we started discussing ways to engage the media by educating them about the wide range of important work that DPI does on a routine basis.

We thought if we could bring the media to our headquarters facility in Gainesville where we have all sorts of cool stuff like one of the world’s largest arthropod museums including over 8.5 million pinned specimens; a biological control facility that rears insects like phorid flies that parasitize fire ants, eventually causing the ants’ heads to fall off; and many experts in the fields of botany, plant pathology and entomology, that we might attract reporters from around the state with promises of great story ideas and photo ops.

Using the textbook public relations’ criteria for strategic planning, we started with research. We sent out a survey via Survey Monkey to over 200 garden and ag business reporters. We received a respectable 15% response and learned that travel time and tight budgets would probably prevent most from attending – though there was considerable interest in learning more about DPI.

We then thought if they can’t come to us, how about if we go to them. That’s how the idea for Ride Along with Plant and Insect Experts was born. We have plant and apiary inspectors, plant pathologists, entomologists and botanists throughout the state that could spend one-on-one time with reporters and take them along as they go about the business of protecting Florida’s agricultural industry and natural areas.

The Division certifies over 9,000 Florida nurseries, catalogues Florida’s native, endangered, and invasive plants, finds natural solutions to plant pest and disease problems through the rearing and release of biological control methods, certifies and inspects over 200,000 honey bee colonies, protects Florida’s valuable citrus germplasm for the production of horticulturally superior citrus trees, and provides oversight of ports and road guard inspection stations to observe first hand how cargo entering the state is inspected for pests and diseases.

The intent of our Ride-Along Program is to provide ‘vehicles’ to further educate the public about plant pests and diseases. Scientists estimate that one new plant pest or disease is introduced into Florida every month. An informed and observant public can help us prevent future introductions and notify us if they see any unusual plant pests or plant disease symptoms.

The Ride Alongs are being offered on a regional basis, providing story material that is relevant to local audiences.

We sent the initial invitation out (via email) the first part of June. The response has been slow so far, but we will not be deterred. We will follow up with calls and are determined to sign up a minimum of 5 reporters (one from each region of Florida) that will hopefully result in 10 stories in major publications over a six month period (measurable goals). We could shoot higher, but I’d rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed. Wish us luck, we’ll keep you posted.
-- Denise Feiber

California: Department of Food and Agriculture on YouTube

The California Department of Food and Agriculture recently uploaded its first videos to youtube.com, joining other state agencies in realizing the Web site is a helpful outreach tool.

At the moment, there are four videos on the site, discussing the Light Brown Apple Moth program, sniff dogs that help with pest exclusion at parcel facilities, dairy food safety, and an overview of the bounty of California. The videos may be viewed at http://youtube.com/user/CDFAtoday

Utah: The Great Utah Agriculture Survey

Utah Agriculture Commissioner Leonard Blackham has successfully brought together heads of 17 state and federal land management agencies to improve watersheds and livestock grazing conditions in the state. The Utah Partnership for Conservation and Development (UPCD) has leveraged several million dollars to fight invasive grasses such as "Cheatgrass"and make other improvements to rangelands here. The partners work together rather than separately on this common issue of range and watershed improvement.

Aside from this we are undertaking a survey of our stakeholders in Utah, as the department works to update its strategic plan. We are asking industry, conservation district leaders and the like, and the public about their perceptions of our agency and agriculture in general.

Utah is continuing to take comments for "The Great Utah Agriculture Survey". The survey can be found on our Web site and made news in the local press.

The survey is a chance to speak up about Utah agriculture, and the comments are posted on the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food Web site. We’re looking for stories about agriculture. What farming and ranching mean to our residents. Many of the messages will be posted to the department’s Web site.

New Jersey: Agricultural Education Web site Launched

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture today announced the launching of www.jerseyageducation.nj.gov, a new Web site geared toward students interested in careers in agriculture and those either already teaching or who would like to teach agricultural education.


“We know that there will be a great demand for new graduates in the food, agricultural and natural resources fields in the next few years,” said New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Charles M. Kuperus. “Now is a good time for young people to consider these fields and our new Jersey Ag Education web site is a great resource for those who have an interest in these important industries as a profession.”

New Jersey Agricultural Education serves 60 certified agriculture teachers and more than 2,500 students in 44 school districts. The mission of New Jersey Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Education is to prepare people for leadership and careers in the science, business and technology of agriculture.

“Agriculture is a significant part of New Jersey’s working landscape with 9,800 farms on about 800,000 acres, but highly skilled workers are needed to sustain the agriculture industry,” said Secretary Kuperus. “Those visiting the Jersey Ag Education web site will find all the information they need to pursue a career and be a leader in this field or inspire students to enter the industry through teaching any number of occupations, including ag education.”

West Virginia: New Bees Arriving in 2nd Stage of Apiary Assisitance Program

The first shipment of state-funded replacement bees arrived in West Virginia Wednesday, April 23. The shipment is intended to help state apiarists recover from prolonged drought and a late freeze that sent commercial bee numbers down two to three times the rate of typical winters.

The West Virginia Legislature passed a bill providing $200,000 for apiary assistance in the 2007 session. The program is administered by the West Virginia Department of Agriculture’s (WVDA) Marketing and Development Division.

“I am very grateful to the Legislature for the funding they provided to our beekeepers. When replacement bees are delivered, the state should have 20 percent more bees than it did to start 2007,” said Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass. “Not only will this help ensure honey production levels, it will put our beekeepers in a stronger position to use their colonies for out-of-state crop pollination, which can be more lucrative than selling honey.”

Commercial honeybees are also critical for pollination within West Virginia because they pollinate some of the state’s most important trees, including tulip poplar, the most popular timber in the state, and black cherry, the most expensive. Wild bees cannot do the job, because their numbers were decimated in the late 1980s by mites and disease, problems that persist without the medicine and management programs WVDA provides to beekeepers.

Virginia: Winery Distribution Company Launched

On April 17, 2008, the Commonwealth of Virginia launched operations of the Virginia Winery Distribution Company (VWDC). The new company is the result of action by the Virginia General Assembly to provide Virginia wineries and farm wineries an alternative to using independent wine wholesalers. Any Virginia winery that chooses to participate may distribute up to 3,000 cases of their wine per year through VWDC, which is associated with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS).

In the past, self-distribution allowed wineries to market and sell their products directly to shops and restaurants without using an independent wine wholesaler. In September 2005 the federal courts ruled that self-distribution by Virginia wineries was unconstitutional because it granted Virginia wineries privileges that were not extended to out-of-state wineries. On July 1, 2006, a new Virginia law eliminated all self-distribution privileges in Virginia. At that time, nearly two-thirds of Virginia wineries did not use independent wholesalers. Then during the 2007 General Assembly, Senator Emmett Hanger introduced legislation that created the Virginia Winery Distribution Company. VWDC, which operates within the existing wine distribution system, is a wine wholesaler tailored to the needs of small Virginia wineries.

According to Todd P. Haymore, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Virginia wine industry credits self-distribution with being the single most important factor in the growth of the number of farm wineries from six in 1980 to more than 130 today. “Losing the capability to self distribute was a major blow to many of our farm wineries,” said Haymore, “and winemakers and wine wholesalers recognize VWDC as a creative alternative for small wineries.”

Last year, Travel + Leisure magazine named Virginia as one of the Top 5 Wine Destinations in the World.

Piney River Organics Cuts Ribbon at Organic Egg-laying operation in Nelson County, VA

On Tuesday, April 15, the owners of Piney River Organics and special guests cut the ribbon for a new organic egg-laying operation at Black Eagle Farm in Piney River, Virginia. The Honorable William P. Dickinson, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, was the opening speaker. Black Eagle Farm is a family farm located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Nelson Country. The farm has been in continuous production for more than 200 years, producing cattle, hogs, sheep, hay and tobacco. Piney River Organics is the name under which organic eggs and natural meats are marketed.

The farm employs six full-time and three part-time employees. Each day Piney River will produce approximately 28,000 certified organic, free-range eggs. The organic rearing house, begun in November 2007, has been completed and now houses 25,000 maturing Bovan Brown laying hens. The rearing house totals 18,000 square feet.

Click here for additional information.

Online Shopping for New Hampshire Products

A newly launched website, NH Virtual Farmers Market (NHVFM), is intended to make it easier for buyers to find and purchase New Hampshire food and farm products. The website provides one stop shopping, 24/7, from the office or home. The NHVFM is found at www.nhfarms.com and is coordinated by the NH Farm to Restaurant Connection. Collaborative partners include the NH Dept. of Agriculture, Markets & Food, UNH Office of Sustainability Programs, NH Made and Farm Credit Service.

Products available will change with the seasons, but a number of items will be available year round, including meats, dairy products, baked goods, maple, condiments, beverages and more. The goal is to offer the freshest products available.

Currently, there are nearly 60 farms and food businesses listed on the site and new businesses are being added every week. Also, the list of available products grows each week, so shoppers should check back often. Shoppers can search the site by product, farm name, or even town name and create a free customer account for faster shopping.

Farms and food businesses can create a free listing on the NHVFM and showcase products to new buyers. These listings are actually “mini” websites with customization options like the addition of photos and logos.

The New Hampshire Virtual Farmers Market was recently awarded a “Best of New Hampshire” award for best indoor farmers market. The prestigious “Best of New Hampshire” award is presented to dozens of businesses and organizations each year representing the unique and the favorite.

For more information about the NH Virtual Farmers Market, visit www.nhfarms.com, email info@nhfarmtorestaurant.com, or contact Gail McWilliam Jellie, NH Dept. of Agriculture, Markets & Food at 271-3788, email: gmcwilliam@agr.state.nh.us, web, www.agriculture.nh.us.

South Carolina State Report

SC Tomato Market
South Carolina’s tomato season was just about to spring into action when, unfortunately, salmonella from tomatoes raised its ugly head. Fortunately, SC was on the FDA cleared list. We feared that the scare might affect our tomato market which had just begun, so we stepped-up the promotion of our locally grown tomatoes through our new Certified SC Grown program. Consumers thought that ALL tomatoes were tainted, but we took this opportunity to showcase our locally grown tomatoes.

www.agriculture.sc.gov
The SC Department of Agriculture launched a new Web site on May 1st. Check out www.agriculture.sc.gov. We have added RSS feeds, audio Market News reports, and a host of interactive components that we hope make us more accessible to our constituents. We are also in the process of revamping our www.certifiedscgrown.com Web site as well.

Certified SC
The South Carolina Department of Agriculture launched the Certified SC Grown program in May of 2007. The program is a public-private partnership among producers, processors, wholesalers, retailers and the SCDA to brand and promote South Carolina products. Our goal is for consumers to be able to easily identify, find and buy South Carolina products by building brand awareness.
Ninety percent of shoppers surveyed in SC indicated that they would purchase SC grown produce if it was competitively priced and offered good quality. The new branding campaign aims to reinforce the image of quality – that South Carolina grown products are fresher, tastier, sweeter and juicier. The campaign creates an emotional tie, while informing the public, stimulating interest in locally grown products and creating a fundamental shift in the public’s lifestyle buying decisions.

The program is not about local vs. organic or South Carolina vs. South Dakota. It’s about maintaining a stable economy, especially in rural areas of the state. It’s about state pride and loyalty – about turning South Carolinians from consumers into advocates. It’s about customers who ask for and prefer Certified SC Grown products – driving the demand for the quality, diversity and availability of homegrown products and contributing to rural economic development for the state. Our slogan is Nothing’s fresher. Nothing’s finer. Ask for South Carolina. (Later it will change to Buy South Carolina.)

Fresh on the Menu
This year we added the Fresh on the Menu, the restaurant phase of the Certified SC program. The South Carolina Department of Agriculture hosted the Fresh on the Menu cooking competition at the Charleston Food and Wine Festival on March 1st to launch the new program. The fast-paced and highly-spirited competition showcased the talents of twelve of Charleston’s local chefs and cooks. We now have more than 50 Lowcountry (coastal area) restaurants participating in the Fresh on the Menu program.
Our goal for the Fresh on the Menu program is to get chefs and restaurants across the state to cook and serve at least 25 percent of their menu with South Carolina products and produce when in season. The program has been very appealing, and we think that it will spread throughout the state.

Our partners in this endeavor see the value in cooking and serving locally grown, and so do many of the restaurant patrons who know to look for the Fresh on the Menu logo where they dine. Our slogan is Locally Grown... It’s to dine for.

USDA: Asian Longhorn Beetle Eradicated from Illinois

Taking a break from their classroom, a group of Chicago students recently got a real-life lesson in government cooperation, media, and the serious threat presented by invasive species.

Elementary school children watched as USDA Under Secretary Bruce Knight officially declared the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) eradicated from Illinois.

“This successful eradication would not have been possible without the solid partnership between Federal, State, and local governments fighting ALB in Illinois,” Under Secretary Knight said.

The declaration of eradication follows 4 years of negative survey findings in the 61-square-mile area of Illinois previously considered to be infested. The ALB infestation in Illinois took almost 10 years to eradicate. As many as 1,550 infested trees and 220 non-infested trees were removed—more than 1,200 of them in Ravenswood alone. The last ALB was found in the Oz Park neighborhood of Chicago in 2003.

Screwworm Detection: Veterinarian’s Watchful Eye Makes Big Find

On October 29, 2007, Danielle Munday, a private practice veterinarian in Massachusetts, called Veterinary Services (VS) to report some unusual larvae she had seen while examining a client’s dog recently imported from Singapore. Munday’s watchfulness and her follow-up actions triggered a response that’s an almost textbook example of the cooperative relationship between APHIS and private veterinarians that helps to safeguard U.S. agriculture. Responding to Munday’s call, VS officials collected sample larvae later that same day and promptly sent them to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) for identification. NVSL entomologist James Mertins soon confirmed that Munday’s alert eyes had detected a case of Old World screwworm, Chrysomya bezziana—quite likely the first report of this particular species of screwworm in the Western Hemisphere. Like the New World species of screwworm that USDA eradicated from the United States in 1966, the Old World species could pose a threat to U.S. livestock if it were introduced and established. Screwworms are destructive parasites that enter the open wounds of host animals. If left untreated, a screwworm infestation can kill a host animal within 7 to 14 days. Fortunately, in this situation, the potential threat was quickly addressed. Munday and VS officials responded without delay, and the dog received appropriate veterinary treatment. The larvae were extracted while still immature; the dog’s lesions healed without complications and with no further evidence of screwworm infestation. Additionally, the local climate conditions at the time were not suitable for the larvae’s survival.

About COSDA

The Communication Officers of State Departments of Agriculture (COSDA) is a national association of communication professionals of such departments and is affiliated with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA). Its purpose is to:

* Assist in achieving and carrying out the objectives of NASDA.
* Establish and maintain closer liaison and working relationships for the benefit of all and improve the services of their respective departments.