| Section two: nursery & christmas tree |
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| Goals and objectives |
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John Ekberg and nursery owner inspecting conifers.
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The Nursery & Christmas Tree Programs assists the nursery and Christmas tree industries in the production, marketing, and protection of Oregon nursery stock and Christmas trees. We accomplish this by:
- assisting nurseries in providing nursery stock that is free of dangerous pests and diseases.
- providing pest and disease management information to the Christmas tree and nursery industries.
- providing inspection and certification of nursery stock and Christmas trees grown and shipped from Oregon.
- preventing the spread of injurious pests, plant diseases, and noxious weeds within the state of Oregon.
- helping to prevent the introduction and spread of pests and diseases that could threaten Oregon’s Christmas tree and nursery industries by inspecting incoming shipments of plant material for compliance with Oregon and US quarantines.
- making information available to all licensed Christmas tree growers and nurseries relative to importation requirements of other states and countries.
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| Highlights |
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Kim Lawson and Melissa Boschee
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- Inspection and export certification services were provided to Oregon’s $125 million Christmas tree and $877 million nursery industries.
- Oregon became the first state to participate in the United States Nursery Certification Program (USNCP). This program uses a “systems approach” to inspect and certify nursery stock exported to Canada. Three Oregon nurseries are currently participating in this pilot program.
- Oregon nursery stock and Christmas trees were exported to 67 foreign countries.
- Horticulturists conducted 6,180 inspections and issued state and federal phytosanitary certificates.
- One hundred thirteen federal phytosanitary certificates were issued using USDA’s new electronic certification program.
- The Nursery Research Assessment Fund collected and made available approximately $240,000 for nursery related research grants.
- Nursery & Christmas Tree Programs personnel staffed a booth at the Far-West Show, Oregon’s largest nursery trade show.
- European brown garden snail, Helix aspersa, continues to be found in Oregon nurseries. During the past year, eradication efforts continued at an Oregon nursery.
- Inspections of grape blocks at 15 nurseries were completed to ensure compliance with certification requirements.
- Two hundred fifty-two Christmas tree and nursery stock growers participated in this year’s European Pine Shoot Moth trapping program. Traps were placed at 409 growing grounds.
- Program horticulturists continue to survey for glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS), Hoalodisca coagulata, in nurseries shipping plant material to California under the California/Oregon Origin Inspection Program. No GWSS have been found at nurseries for the past five years.
- Because of the adoption of ISPM 15 standards by the People’s Republic of China, the program discontinued certification of coniferous solid wood packing material going to that country.
- In order to meet the requirements of the federal Phytophthora ramorum order, a total of 965 host nurseries and 992 non-host nurseries were surveyed for P. ramorum.
- Thirteen Oregon nurseries were confirmed positive for P. ramorum.
- Staff received notification of 3,459 shipments of nursery stock imported into the state. One hundred eighty-eight high-risk shipments were inspected for dangerous pests and diseases.
- Staff attended the annual meeting of the Western Chapter of the Horticultural Inspection Society in Abuquerque, New Mexico.
- Melissa Boschee was promoted from an assistant horticulturist (NRS-2) to a Horticulturist (NRS-3).
- Kim Lawson was hired to work with the P. ramorum certification program as a data entry specialist.
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| Nursery and christmas tree program staffing |
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The Nursery & Christmas Tree Programs staff currently consists of 14 horticulturists, one lead horticulturist, one administrative specialist, one data entry specialist, and one program manager. The program has authorization to hire an additional horticulturist. Timing for the hiring of this position will depend on need and the availability of funding. One horticulturist and the data entry specialist are assigned full-time to the P. ramorum certification program.
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| Nursery program general information |
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Jan Hedberg inspects for Phytophthora ramorum
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The nursery industry continues to be the largest segment of Oregon agriculture. ODA’s nursery inspection program is funded entirely from nursery license and certification fees. Three different nursery license types are issued depending on the nature of the nursery business. A dealer’s license is required for businesses that buy and re-sell nursery stock. Dealer’s licenses are purchased by garden centers, retail stores, florists, and landscapers. Dealer license fees are based on the purchase price (wholesale cost) of nursery stock. Cut flowers are exempt from the licensing program. Two types of nursery grower licenses are available through the department. One is a license specific for growers of greenhouse grown herbaceous plants, and the other is a license for all other nursery crops as well as collectors of native plants. The license fee for both of these licenses is based on the wholesale value of nursery stock sold.
During the past calendar year, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) issued 2,903 dealer licenses ($197,544,762 reported purchases); 437 licenses were issued to greenhouse growers of herbaceous plants ($92,421,116 reported sales), and 1,381 licenses were issued to nursery stock growers and collectors of native plants ($711,680,279 reported sales). The total value of nursery stock purchases and sales reported to ODA in 2006 was $1,001,646,157. During the 2006 calendar year, the nursery program conducted 6,180 inspections. Inspections are divided into the following general categories: routine and requested inspections, 3,153; inspections for Oregon quarantine compliance, 579; and certification inspections, 2,288. The remaining 160 were inspections conducted in association with P. ramorum surveys.
The Nursery & Christmas Tree Programs field staff issued 4,024 state and federal phytosanitary certificates for consignment of nursery stock to foreign countries. In addition, 1,031 federal phytosanitary certificates were issued for shipments of lumber destined to foreign countries.
Charts:
Number of licensed nurseries
Gross sales/purchases of Oregon nursery crops
Total nursery inspections
Number of inspections by type
Top ten foreign destinations for Oregon nursery stock
| Country | # of Certificates
| Canada
| 2,993
| Japan
| 206
| United Kingdom
| 78
| Germany
| 53
| Netherlands
| 35
| China
| 29
| Russian Federation
| 27
| Puerto Rico
| 21
| France
| 20
| Mexico
| 19
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| Nusery research assessment fund |
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Twenty-five nursery research grant pre-proposals were received for the 2006 grant year. These requests were in competition for approximately $240,000 collected through nursery research assessment fees. The Nursery Research and Advisory Committee, in cooperation with the Oregon Association of Nurseries Research Committee, selected 15 research projects that met research priorities. The Advisory Committee also voted to provide a $15,000 grant to the National Horticultural Research Institute. Several research projects not funded, or only partially funded by ODA grant dollars, were recommended to receive funding from independent private sources including the Oregon Association of Nurserymen, J. Frank Schmidt Memorial Trust, Tree Disease Fund, and private industry. Nursery research project final reports for 2005 are now online at: http://oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/NURSERY.
| Project # | Title
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| Total | 2006-01
| Use of biocontrol and proprietary chemicals for controlling postharvest (Phytophora) diseases of barerooted deciduous nursery plants
| Fuchigami
| $21,160.00 | 2006-02
| Development of new, superior cultivars of landscape plants
| Pellett
| $25,000.00 | 2006-05
| Survival, spread and host range of Rhodococcus fascians in nursery plants
| Putnam
| $14,954.00 | 2006-06
| Epidemiology of Phytophthora ramorum on Viburnum
| Grunwald
| $26,000.00 | 2006-08
| Efficacy of fungicides for control of Amelanchier rust
| Pscheidt
| $4,000.00 | 2006-09
| Efficacy of Phyton-27 for control of Verticillium wilt
| Pscheidt
| $10,500.00 | 2006-10
| Management of foliar Phytophthora disease in Malus, Pyrus, and Rhododendron
| Regan
| $4,600.00 | 2006-15
| Micronutrient availability in Douglas fir bark substrates
| Altland
| $18,050.00 | 2006-16
| Determining the cause of marginal chlorosis in boxwood
| Altland
| $18,700.00 | 2006-19
| Perennial cover crops for bare-rooted tree prodution | Luna
| $19,685.00 | 2006-21
| Investigation of peach twig borer mating disruption in Oregon nurseries
| Rosetta
| $8,721.00 | 2006-22
| Investigations of peach twig borer mating disruption in Oregon nurseries
| Rosetta
| $7,644.00 | 2006-23
| Habitat enhancement to enhance biological control in container nurseries
| Rosetta
| $13,443.00
| 2006-24
| Development of pest prediction calendar for Oregon container nurseries
| Rosetta
| $13,443.00 | 2006-25
| Horticultural Research Institute
| Richards
| $15,,000.00
| 2006-26
| Dose-response relationships for Phytophthora species in irrigation water: How many spores does it take to cause disease
| Parke
| $20,000.00
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| Plant importation notification rule |
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Phytophthora ramorum has been found in Oregon associated with imported nursery stock on several shipments. In 2004, the Oregon Department of Agriculture adopted a notification rule (OAR 603-054-0027), allowing department inspectors the opportunity to inspect shipments of high-risk nursery stock shortly after they arrive. This rule requires recipients of imported tree and shrub nursery stock to notify the department of the shipment’s arrival. Notification can be made by mail, e-mail, or fax and must occur no later than two business days after its arrival. The department will contact nurseries within one business day of receipt of the notification if the imported tree and shrub nursery stock must be held for inspection.
Notification rule summary
- During calendar year 2006 we received notification of 3,459 shipments of out-of-state nursery stock received by Oregon nurseries. This represents approximately 22 million plants.
- Program staff determined that 188 of the shipments were high-risk and inspections were conducted.
- Fourteen official rejections were issued for quarantine violations.
- Nine shipments were either returned to the shipper or destroyed.
- The most commonly received plant genera were Pseudotsuga, Abies, Juniperus, Picea, and Thuja.
- The top three shipping states from which we received notification were California (1,719), Washington (397) and Michigan (250).
During the same time period, we received notification of plant material from eight foreign countries including Canada (94), Holland (35), and New Zealand (5).
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| Phytophthora ramorum |
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On January 10, 2005, a new USDA federal order went into effect regulating the interstate movement of nursery stock from Oregon, California, and Washington nurseries. The purpose of the order is to prevent the spread and dissemination of Phytophthora ramorum through the horticultural trade. The order requires Oregon nurseries that grow host or associated host plants to be inspected, sampled, tested, and found free of P. ramorum. Those host and associated host nurseries determined to be free of P. ramorum are required to enter into a compliance agreement before certification is granted and interstate shipping allowed. Nurseries that grow only non-host plant material are required to be visually inspected and determined free of P. ramorum before certification is granted and interstate shipments can take place.
In order to meet the requirements of the federal order, ODA staff collected 67,765 samples from 1,280 growing grounds to test for the presence of the pathogen. Phytophthora species were detected at 178 (15 percent) surveyed sites, P. ramorum was only found at thirteen (<1 percent) of the sites surveyed. USDA Confirmed Nursery Protocol (CNP) was enacted and completed at the thirteen sites. Nine hundred sixty-five host nurseries and 992 non-host nurseries have entered into federal compliance agreements and are eligible to ship plants interstate.
ODA has also completed trace-out investigations at nursery sites. Trace-out investigations are initiated at nurseries that have received host or associated host plant material from known infested nurseries. A total of 102 sites, including some landscape sites, have been surveyed with 4,080 samples collected for testing. All samples tested were negative for P. ramorum.
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| United States nursery certification program (USNCP) |
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International trade in nursery stock is considered a high risk pathway for the spread of plant pests around the world. Traditionally, phytosanitary certification has been based on visual inspection of plants prior to shipping. Although visual inspection remains the primary tool of regulatory agencies it does have limitations in eliminating the movement of plant pests. Some serious pests, such as citrus long horned beetle, Anoplophora chinensis, and Phytophthora ramorum (Sudden Oak Death) have apparently moved between countries and continents on nursery stock in spite of the current visual inspection certification process.
USNCP was developed as an alternative to the traditional visual inspection certification process. It uses a system-based approach that requires the nursery to develop and implement specific pest management practices to mitigate against pest and disease risk. USNCP is based on IPPC Standard, “The use of Integrated Measures in a Systems Approach for Pest Risk Management” (ISPM 14) and also meets the guidelines of the NAPPO Standard, “Integrated Pest Risk Management Measures for the Importation of Plants for Planting into NAPPO Member Countries” (RSPM 24).
USNCP is a cooperative program involving USDA, ODA and the nursery industry. USDA is the lead agency and is responsible for developing program standards. Participating nurseries are responsible for developing a pest risk mitigation plan specific to their operations using standards developed by USDA. ODA conducts five annual audit inspections to ensure nurseries adhere to their mitigation plan.
USNCP is currently a pilot program with three Oregon nurseries participating. It is anticipated that a fourth Oregon nursery will enter the program in early 2007. Under USNCP, federal phytosanitary certificates are issued without conducting a visual inspection of the nursery stock. USNCP certification can currently only be used for plants exported to Canada. Nursery stock shipped to other countries require a visual inspection before a federal phytosantiary certificate is issued.
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| Phytosanitary certificate issuance & tracking system (PCIT) |
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PCIT is a new Web-based system developed by USDA to track the inspection of agricultural products and certify compliance with plant health standards of importing countries. Under this system, the exporter completes and submits electronic copies of federal phytosanitary certificates to the Nursery & Christmas Tree Programs office in Salem. Nursery personnel in Salem review the submitted electronic document, confirm an inspection has taken place, and issue an official certificate. ODA benefits from PCIT by no longer being responsible for “filling out” phytosanitary certificates for the exporter. Completing a federal phytosanitary certificate is a time consuming process with many opportunities for errors. PCIT was first used by the program starting in October of this year. Since October, a total of 113 PCIT certificates were issued to lumber exporters by program staff. Our plan is to make PCIT available for use by USNCP nurseries in early 2007.
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| Christmas tree program general information |
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Debbie Driesner inspects Christmas trees
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In 2006, the department issued Christmas tree grower licenses to 756 growers. License fees were used to fund 1.5 FTE (field staff) and two 0.16 FTE (program supervisor and program assistant). Staff provide inspection services to assist growers in the production of high quality Christmas trees. Because 90 percent of Oregon’s Christmas trees are sold outside of Oregon, the main activity of the program is certification of trees destined for these foreign and domestic markets.
Christmas tree growers harvest approximately eight million trees annually from about 49,000 acres. In 2006, approximately 900,000 trees were certified and shipped to foreign countries. The table below shows the top six foreign destinations for Oregon Christmas trees.
Chart: Number of licensed christmas tree growers
Top six foreign destinations for Oregon Christmas trees
| Country | # of Phytosanitary Certificates
| Mexico
| 1,451
| Puerto Rico
| 75
| Hong Kong
| 19
| Canada
| 18
| Singapore
| 11
| Guam
| 4
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| European pine shoot moth certification program |
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The Christmas tree program also provides a European Pine Shoot Moth (EPSM) Certification Program to growers who grow and ship pine Christmas trees to California, Nevada, Montana, and Hawaii. This program also addresses Mexico’s EPSM phytosanitary certification requirements. Fifty Christmas tree growing sites were trapped for EPSM during the year. Based on positive trapping results, three of these sites were disqualified from shipping to California during the 2006 harvest and shipping season.
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| Christmas tree shipping season |
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This past year was challenging for growers shipping to both Mexico and Hawaii. Mexican authorities at selected border inspection stations, including Nuevo Laredo, conducted enhanced inspections of Christmas trees for pests and disease. This resulted in the rejection of 41 truckloads of Christmas trees due to the presence of Douglas fir twig weevil, Cylindrocopturus furnissi. All 41 loads (approximately 25,000 trees) were returned to the United States. In order to avoid this situation in the future, program personnel are developing an enhanced inspection process for Douglas fir twig weevil for use during the 2007 shipping season. In addition, Hawaii officials rejected 15 loads of trees because of Douglas-fir needle midge, Contarinia spp. Four of the rejected loads were returned to Oregon. After consultation with our entomology staff, Hawaii officials determined that this insect did not pose a threat to the islands and released the remaining 11 loads. Hawaiian officials are scheduled to visit Oregon in 2007 to meet with ODA staff and Christmas tree growers to discuss next year’s shipping season.
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| Christmas tree research |
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Helicopter harvests Christmas trees
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Three research projects were approved for funding by the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Christmas Tree Advisory Committee in 2006. (Fig. 10). Funding for these projects was made available through annual license fees paid by Oregon Christmas tree growers. Final reports for all tree projects will be available in February of 2007 at: http://oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/NURSERY.
In October, requests for proposals were sent out to interested parties for 2007 funding. Funding for these projects will not be assigned until February of 2007. A total of five RFPs have been received so far.
2006 Christmas tree research projects
Project #
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| | 2006-03 | Leader length control on Noble and Nordmann fir Christmas trees
| Landgren
| $18,000.00
| 2006-05
| To affirm or modify recommended needle sampling time
| Hart
| $9,450.00
| 2006-06
| Identification of Nordmann and Turkish fir with superior needle retention
| Chastangner
| $6,926.00
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