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July 29, 2016 CapitalPress.com 9 Washington records year’s irst West Nile virus case Mare in Yakima County sick, but may live By DON JENKINS Capital Press A 2-year-old Andalu- sian mixed-breed mare in Grandview in Yakima County, Wash., has been sickened by West Nile vi- rus, the state Department of Agriculture announced Monday. The horse is the irst in- fected by the virus this year in Washington, which last year had more equine cases of the disease than any other state. The virus, spread by mos- quitoes that have fed on in- fected birds, typically begins showing up in horses in late July or early August. The infected horse was not vaccinated for the disease and was stumbling and had trou- ble eating, according to the WSDA. WSDA ield veterinarian Thomas Gilliom said Monday that the horse was still alive and may recover. Gilliom said he expected the virus to sicken horses for several more months. The disease is fatal to horses in about one-third of the cases in which the animal shows signs of illness. “I’m going to assume Potato researcher warns of new disease threat By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press PARK CITY, Utah — A plant pathologist has advised the potato industry to prior- itize research and testing to combat a new threat to U.S. spud production — the bac- terial pathogen dickeya dian- thicola. University of Wisconsin Associate Professor Amy Charkowski, who also di- rects Wisconsin’s seed potato certiication program, told growers at the National Pota- to Council’s summer meeting dickeya caused heavy damage to spud ields throughout the East Coast in 2015 and has been troublesome again this season. Charkowski said the patho- gen has posed a major chal- lenge to European potato pro- duction since the 1950s, but it didn’t surface in the U.S. until the fall of 2014, when a sam- ple from the Northeast tested positive. It’s since been con- irmed in most of the major potato states, including Idaho, North Dakota, Texas, New Mexico, Indiana, Ohio, Wis- consin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Maine and Florida. It’s also been found in Canada in New Brunswick and Ontario. “If it gets too entrenched in the seed system, it could be a real problem,” Charkow- ski said. “I’m really worried about seed testing right now. We don’t have the capacity to test in our system.” Charkowski said the bac- teria can survive in irrigation water and thrives in warm, humid environments and poorly ventilated potato cel- lars. She said dickeya is easily confused with its close rela- tive, pectobacterium, which is common in states includ- ing Idaho and causes similar “black leg” symptoms, in- cluding curling and wilting leaves, low emergence and stem-base rot. Charkowski said dickeya symptoms may remain la- tent, and it takes fewer dick- eya bacteria to infect a plant. Both pathogens need an open wound to infect tissue. No resistant commercial varieties have been devel- oped. Fortunately, European researchers say the pathogen doesn’t tend to survive longer than nine months in soil, and it can be effectively controlled by good sanitation practices, Charkowski said. Charkowski said a re- searcher from Scotland has been working with Maine growers to understand dick- eya, and she and several col- leagues applied for a grant to work with him as a consul- tant. She’d also like funding to research environmental conditions that favor dickeya and how to keep dickeya from spreading on seed cutters, believing seed is the primary way the disease spreads. She would also like to see seed certiication programs single out black leg in test results. University of Idaho Exten- sion potato storage specialist Nora Olsen spotted symptoms of dickeya at the Kimberly Research and Extension Cen- ter in 2015, after learning of it during a meeting with Maine growers. The center’s sam- ples tested positive, along with about six other samples subsequently submitted that season by commercial grow- ers, she said. Charkowski said her lab tested a positive sam- ple from an Idaho commercial potato farm this season. Courtesy of Amy Charkowski University of Wisconsin plant pathologist Amy Charkowski. Idaho Potato Commis- sioner Ritchey Toevs, of Aberdeen, advocates dick- eya testing of nuclear and first-generation seed as part of his state’s seed certifica- tion program, using samples growers must already submit for ring rot testing. Though Toevs acknowledges Idaho’s conditions appear to be un- favorable for widespread dickeya, he noted, “We see problems come up so quick- ly, and you don’t know which ones are big threats and which ones you can live with.” we’re going to have quite a few horses infected,” he said. “Sadly, a lot of people seem to not put much stock in vacci- nating their horses, for what- ever reason.” WSDA identiied 36 hors- es with the virus in 2015, the most in Washington since 73 horses were sickened in 2009. All cases were in Eastern Washington. In addition, 24 humans were infected by the virus. No humans have contracted the disease this year, accord- ing to the state Department of Health. Mosquitoes trapped this summer in Adams, Benton, Grant, Franklin and Yakima counties have tested positive for West Nile virus. “It’s never too late to vac- cinate your horse for West Nile virus,” Gilliom said. “We’ve had cooler days, but when hot summer days return, the risks of mosquito bites will increase.” Besides vaccination, horse owners can protect their animals by limiting ex- posure to mosquitoes, espe- cially by eliminating stand- ing water. Veterinarians who learn of potential West Nile virus cases in horses or other ani- mals should contact the State Veterinarian’s Ofice at (360) 902-1878. The USDA in 2015 tallied 225 cases of West Nile virus in horses nationwide. No progress made on Idaho ield burning changes By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press BOISE — An EPA ofi- cial’s proposal to solve a dis- agreement between Idaho farm and environmental groups over proposed changes to the state’s ield burning program was not accepted during a negotiated rulemaking meeting July 20. The two sides left the meet- ing far apart on proposed pro- gram changes that Idaho De- partment of Environmental Quality oficials say are neces- sary to avoid a large reduction in the number of allowable ield burning days for Idaho farmers. Patti Gora-McRavin, who represents clean air advocates in the negotiations, said the lack of progress made during the meeting and the failure to agree on the EPA oficial’s idea was a huge disappointment. “I’m frankly stunned at the way the meeting ended up,” she said. “I’m super disappointed about what didn’t happen to- day.” DEQ can only approve a burn request when ozone and small particulate matter levels aren’t expected to exceed 75 percent of the national standard for those air pollutants in a 24- hour period. EPA tightened the feder- al ozone standard in October, which would result in the num- ber of allowable burn days for Idaho farmers being reduced by a third to half, according to DEQ estimates. Submitted photo A farm ield is burned to control diseases and eradicate pests in this undated Idaho Department of Environmental Quality photo. Idaho farm and environmental groups appear far apart on pro- posed changes to the state’s ield burning program. To prevent that, DEQ has proposed loosening Idaho’s ozone standard to 90 percent of the federal standard. Environ- mental and public health groups want an equal tightening of the small particulate matter, or PM 2.5, standard, to maintain cur- rent public health protections. That would mean tightening Idaho’s PM 2.5 standard to 60 percent of the federal standard, something farm groups are op- posed to and something DEQ’s proposal does not do. Mike McGown, EPA’s re- gional smoke management co- ordinator and a member of the advisory committee, last week loated the idea of leaving the current 75 percent standard in place for all pollutants, unless ozone levels are expected to exceed that level. In that case, DEQ would reconsider the burn decision based on the criteria of the ozone standard being 90 percent of the federal standard and the PM 2.5 standard being 60 percent. But farm group representa- tives oppose lowering the PM 2.5 standard that much and said McGown’s idea doesn’t address the main issue, the per- centage changes. They are also concerned that EPA, which is reviewing the federal PM stan- dard, will soon tighten that stan- dard as well. With the likelihood of EPA tightening the PM 2.5 stan- dard, “There’s a level of un- ease taking that drastic of a cut,” Idaho Grain Producers Association Executive Direc- tor Stacey Katseanes-Satter- lee said about public health groups’ desire to lower the PM standard to 60 percent. John Deere Dealers See one of these dealers for a demonstration 31-1/#4N
