Nursery Lines Newsletter

Well another year is quickly coming to an end. It hasn’t been too bad. Spring was a little slow in getting here but once it happened we all had opportunities. We have developed some new friends and strengthened some old ones. We have lost some good ones along the way.

This is also a time to look at our industry. We are growing and will continue to do so over the next decade at least. Where would you like to see us and you heading? We all must be involved to make the changes needed. Let your regional directors and president know what you want them to do on your behalf and how you would like to see the state association run. What new things would you like to see. What old ones would you like to improve or just leave alone. Would you like to become involved? There are always needs and a phone call to offer assistance is alt it takes.

I have been to events across the state over the past few months but when I stopped to Count, the number is staggering! There are the picnics/feeding frenzies, a boat tour, many golf tournaments for those looking for the challenge, field days, state fair, harvest dances, annual meetings, only to mention a few. They are all events that show how strong and vibrant our industry is. We do not have one event per year.. ..we have many, many that make us strong and show others that we are the leaders. We do not only have one show and education day per year we have one in many of the regions as well as ERNA.

We should all be very proud of our associations and our industry. As we head into the next year let’s work toward strengthening our local associations as a way of strengthening the state and our industry.

Alfred Hicks, president of Hicks Nurseries, Westbury, NY, was elected 1996-97 president of the American Association of Nurserymen (AAN). Election took place during the AAN Convention and Farwest Show, August 20-25 in Portland, OR.

Hicks has a long history of AAN service, serving on the association’s auto-mated information (now information management), water management, and public relations committees. He also served as a director of Garden Centers of America, AAN’s retail division. He was first elected to the AAN board in 1990 as Region I director, representing CT, ME, MA, NIl, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.

In addition to his AAN service, Wcks has held numerous positions within other industry organizations, both national and local. Re served as vice president of the Garden Council (the former industry marketing group), as president and treasurer of the Long Island Nurserymen’s Association, as director of the New York State Nursery/Landscape Association, and as a director and president of the Long Island cooperative extension service Hicks earned a B.S. in ornamental horticulture and an MBA in marketing, both from Cornell University, and served in the U.S. Army Reserves.

Fred and his wife, Marilyn, have three children, Stephen, Marianne, and Karen, who is coordinator of administrative operations at Hicks Nurseries.

The New York State Nursery/Landscape Association’s President-elect, Jan 3ansen, EP Jansen Nursery, Florida, NY, will be appointing NYSN/LA committee members for 1997 during the next few weeks. Most committees meet early in the year to make plans for the upcoming year. Depending on the committee’s needs, the commi flee could meet again or take part in a committee activity later on. This is YOUR opportunity to become involved with your industry’s association by volunteering to serve on one of the following committees:

Arbor Day – Committee members plan Arbor Day events throughout the state; oversee poster production and distribution. Chair: Gary Leising.

Certification – Committee members help administer the certification exams; set up and instruct the study sessions prior. to the exam; advise chairperson on problems or suggestions for the program. Committee is also working on a marketing plan to increase the visibility of the program. Chair: EdDore.

Educational/Scholarship – Committee members evaluate applications for scholarships. In 1997 committee will continue compiling a master list of all industry- related scholarships throughout the state and advising on how to best organize the application process. Chair: Cindy Hobbs.

Landscape Awards – Committee members procure judges for the awards; help at the annual awards presentation; organize slide show exhibition of winning projects; assist the chair in evaluation of the rules and procedures of the program.

Legislative/Regulatory – Committee members help follow relevant legislation and rulemaking; make recommendations on legislative issues. Chair: Dave Linehan.

Membership/Regional Liaison -Committee members develop recruitment retention programs; establish relationships with each of the regions; and suggest member services.

NYSN/LA Booth – Committee members evaluate existing booth and advise on suggestions to update. Chair: George Gibbs.

Promotion – Committee members develop and execute public awareness program; evaluates promotion potential of current programs and recommends action to improve visibili1y Chair: Dave Alm.

Treepower – Committee members work with executive committee; executive director and NY Power Authority to over-see operation of the Treepower program; advises on tree choices to include in the program, answers industry-related questions on program; assigns distribution of trees to growers.

The NYSN/LA committees play an important role in your association. Much of the what the NYSN/LA accomplishes would not take place without the commit. ment of the committee members. If you would like to voice your opinion or lend a hand, we welcome your experience and involvement.

If you are interested in serving during the 1997 year, please Call (800) 647-0384.

by Craig J. Rege1brugge, AAN Director of Regulatory Affairs

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ~PA) has proposed new rules that would require states to develop state management plans (SMP’s) for five herbicides that the EPA believes have a high potential to contaminate groundwater. Of the five, two-simazine (Prince©) and metolachlor (Pennant©)-are important in the nursery and Christmas tree industries. The rest-alaehlor, atrazine, and cyanazine-have other major and minor-crop uses. This article offers background on the is-sue, and industry strategies for effectively dealing with this potential new layer of pesticide regulation.

Background
In October, 1991, EPA published its Pesticides and Groundwater Strategy. The document describes the policy and regulatory framework under which EPA intends to address pesticide threats to groundwater. In keeping with this initiative, EPA has required each State to develop a “generic” groundwater SMP outlining the following:

State philosophy and goals toward protecting groundwater: Roles of state agencies and legal authority: Resources, and the basis for assessment and planning: Monitoring, prevention, and response activities: Enforcement mechanisms;

Public awareness, participation, and information dissemination; and Records and reporting

These generic SMP’s are in various stages of development in the states. While the goals of the effort are positive (protecting groundwater resources while providing local and state flexibility for preventing and responding to potential problems), the nursery industry in each state should be actively involved in reviewing, and providing input into these state plans

Current Threat
EPA’s proposed rule for the five herbicides goes way beyond the generic SMP implementation. It would require all states to develop specific plans for all uses of each of these herbicides-regardless of whether the products are widely used in a state, or whether there is any evidence of groundwater concern based on local soils, hydrology, and production practices. Development of these plans is expected to cost individual states at least $500,000 per plan, or at least $2.5 million for all five. Since EPA expects to offer few or no resources to help states carry out the task, it could he considered an unfunded federal mandate.

Ultimately. these pesticide-specific SMP’s would be subject to approval or rejection by your regional EPA administrator. If a state chooses NOT to develop a plan, or if all or part of the product-specific plans are rejected by EPA, one or more of these pesticides would cease to he available in the state-again, regardless of whether a groundwater problem exists!

Industry Response
AAN is carefully studying EPA’s proposed rule, and will file comments on be-half of the industry before the mid- October comment deadline. A key issue AAN will address is the fact that groundwater contamination resulting from nursery use of simazine and metolachlor has not been shown to be. a serious problem. Moreover, by requiring the pesticide-specific SMP’s, EPA is ignoring its own Pesticides and Groundwater Strategy philosophy of a “stepped-up” response to a groundwater concern…a first step being ‘restricted use” classification of a pesticide so that only certified applicators may apply it.

Simazine and metolachlor are not currently federally-restricted-use pesticides for nursery-related uses. Finally, the proposed rule ignores years of agricultural best management practice and pesticide use reduction efforts, which have already mitigated groundwater risk in many areas.

At the state level, you should do the following: 1) Be sure your state association is currently involved in the generic SMP process. EPA expects state pesticide lead agencies to seek public input. If you have not been involved, get involved! 2) If EPA extends the comment period for the pesticide-specific SMP rule, express your views. AAN’s comments will be. completed by mid-October, if you want to use them as a basis for your own. 3) Stay up on the issue as it develops, and support AAN’s efforts on behalf of the industry. AAN members keep informed through the Update newsletter and special member alerts.

If you are not a member, at least consider supporting AAN’s efforts through the Lighthouse Fund. Contact AAN at 202-789-2900; fax 2021789-1893.

This article is provided by the American Association of Nurserymen and its grower, retail, and landscape divisions, in partnership with your state association. For more information on AAN. call 202/789-2900: fax 2021789-1893.

The Horticultural Research Institute (HRI) has awarded the 19% annual Robert and Alma Taylor Grant to Dr H Pellet The $2,500 Grant is being by Dr. Pellet from the Landscape Plant Development Center in Minnesota for “Development of Stress Tolerant Trees.”

Past awards have gone to projects such as “Insects that Feed on Trees and Shrubs,” Dr. Warren Johnson, Cornell University; “Understanding Species Differences in Tolerating Compacted Soil Conditions,” Dr. Nina Bassuk, Cornell University; “Screening Woody Plans for Alkalinity Tolerance,” Dr. Bassuk; “Increasing the Rootability of Stem Cuttings from Difficult-to-root Tree Species,” Dr. W. Hackett, University of Minnesota; “The Significance of In Vitro and Ex Vitro Roofing Methods to the Quality of Micropropagated Nursery Crops,” M. Srnith and M. McCletland, University of Illinois; and “Evaluation of a Predatory Mite for Control of Mite Pests on Woody Plants,” Dr. Mizell III, University of Florida.

The Robert and Alma Taylor Grant was created in 1986 by family members as a memorial to the late Robert S. Taylor, husband of Alma Taylor. The family, which includes Robert’s daughter Diane and son David, noted when they announced the establishment of the HRI fund, that this is the most important commitment that they and Concord Nurseries could make to the nursery industry.

Skip Miller, JE Miller Nurseries, Canandaigua was named to the NYS Nursery/LandscapeAssociation Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the State Fair.

Skip has also been extremely active in his cornmunity of Naples, among the organizations he has been involved with are the Rotary Club, Naples Central School Board, Maxwell Hose Fire Dept. and the Naples Chapter of Ducks Unlimited.

The Hall of Fame Award honors those who have made outstanding contributions to the nursery industry in the State of New York. Skip becomes the 44th person inducted into the Hall of Fame.

The 1996 Gold Medal of Horticulture was presented to Professor Ernest Schaufler, of Cornell at ceremonies at the State Fair on Thursday. August 22.

The award was presented in a joint ceremony with the NYSN/LA Hall of Fame induction and was well attended by members as well as friends and family of the recipients.

The Gold Medal of Horticulture was established in 1982 to honor outstanding and unselfish contributions to horticulture in the State of New York. Recipients shall he native New Yorkers or shall have made their contribution while residing in New York State.

Exotic Asian Longhorned Beetle arrives from Asia

by Blame Friedlander Cornell University scientists have confirmed what they believe is the first known infestation of an Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis, a large beetle that is attacking Brooklyn’s horsechestnut and Norway maple tree population.

The Norway maple is the most planted shade tree in New York State. This beady-eyed bee(le, about 1-inch long, has coal-black wing covers spriiikled with staatling white spots. The black and white antennae are long and impressive; the beetles are not harmful to humans. However it was found devastating trees in the Greenpoint neighborhood of northern Brooklyn.

U.S. border entrances are jealously guarded to keep such pests from infiltrating this country. This beetle’s anthology: Native to Japan, Korea and the southern sections of China, this is the first time this beetle has been seen outside Asia, said E. Richard Hoebeke, Cornell senior extension associate and assistant curator in entomology.

It did not have a ticket to ride. “I don’t know how it got here from Asia,” Hoebeke saii “As if the trees in an urban environment are not traumatized enough as it is. This doesn’t bode well for a tree that is under a lot of pressure to grow.”

New York City’s Department of Parks and Recreation sent samples of the beetles to Carolyn KIass, Cornell Cooperative Extension entomologist in Ithaca, NY, to determine the species. Klass had not seen the species before and showed it to her colleague, Iloebeke. “I gasped when I saw it,” Hoebeke said. “I knew this wasn’t a species native to North America” These beetles might prove to be the ultimate Brooklyn dodgers. Short of Cutting down the maple and horsechestnut trees, there is little at this point that can be done to curb the Greenpoint infestation, Hoebeke said, adding that there are no known natural predators.

For back-up species confirmation, Hoebeke sent specimens to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, which verified the species. Hoebeke also has sent some of the Cornell samples to the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, which has one of the world’s largest collections of Asian beetles–the J. Lensley Gressitt collection. That confirmation is expected soon.

Three-quarter inch, circular holes in the Brooklyn trees led authorities to think pranksters were drilling them. But rather than human teenagers causing the darmage, adult beetles emerging from the heart-wood center of the trees bore an exit hole through the outer bark. After beetle emergence, mating occurs, and eggs are laid in cavities in the bark, chewed out by females and covered with a cement secretion. Eggs hatch and young larvae bore into the inner bark, feed for a while and upon growing larger, bore into the tree’s heartwood and pupate in the spring. The adult beetle then chews its way Out, thus leaving the hole.

Larval feeding could hurt a tree’s vascular system in an area where trees are under enormous pressure to grow, said Nina Bassuk, Cornell professor of floriculture and ornamental horticulture in Ithaca. “These trees are generally growing in places not made for trees, since there are sidewalks, houses, cement. The tree-lawns in Brooklyn are only 5 or 6 feet wide,” Bassuk said. “The roots have little chance for water and the roots tend to be restricted. These insects might weaken the trees structurally.”

Bassuk took a survey of Brooklyn trees in 1990 She found that 27% of the 110,000 street trees in Brooklyn are Nor way maples–the trees this new beetle at-tacks most often.

“I think this could be devastating for the city,” Bassuk said. “after all, the Norway maple is the most widely planted shade tree in New York state.”

Pesticide Registry Law Enacted –The New York State Legislature, during its 1996 session, enacted a Pesticide Record keeping and Reporting Law that was signed by Governor Pataki on July 8,1996. The law provides for implementation of a pesticide application registry in New York. The responsibility for collecting and disseminating information was as-signed to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation(DEC), who in turn, will be working with Cornell to plan the computerization of the record keeping.

Beginning in January 1997, the law requires all commercial applicators to maintain use records for each pesticide application which contain the following: EPA registration number; product name; quantity of each pesticide used; date applied; location of application by address (including 5-digit zip code). Additionally, all commercial applicators shall file, at least annually, a report that contains the above information for each application made during the year. The report shall he filed with DEC on or before February l each year for the prior calender year. Therefore, the first report will be due by February 1, 1998. Commercial applicators shall also maintain records of the dosage rates and target organisms for each pesticide application. These records shall be maintained on an annual basis for a period of three years and shall be available on request of the DEC.

In addition, every person who sells or offers for sale restricted use pesticides to private applicators shall issue a record to the private applicator of each sale of a restricted use pesticide or a general use pesticide used in agricultural crop production to such applicator. These records shall include: EPA registration number; product name of the pesticide purchased; quantity of the pesticide purchased; date purchased; location of the intended use by ad-dress (including 5-digit zip code), or if ad-dress is unavailable, by town or city. These persons must also file annual reports with DEC by the next February 1.

Finally, all private applicators shall maintain, at minimum, records of the restricted pesticides purchased, crop treated The implementation of this program is currently in progress, and NYSN/LA has been involved in discussions with DEC and other interested agencies to en-sure that the process is as easy as possible for those affected. There are still many details to be worked out, including the forms and computer programs that will he acceptable for filing.

Workers’ Compensation Reform The New York Employment, Safety & Security Act was passed by both houses of the legislature on July 13, 19%. This law provides for the immediate repeal of Dole v. Dow except in cases of grave injury; restriction of employees from collecting both Workers’ Compensation and Unemployment benefits to a recovery of 100% of their wages; establishment of a Workers’ Compensation Fraud Inspector General Office with broad power to investigate fraud; and stronger penalties for fraudulent claims. This is the first meaningful Workers’ Compensation Reform in New York in many years. The final effect on rates will be seen in the next year

INS Raids Growers — Over the past few weeks, several nursery growers around the country have been the subject of raids and audits by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) seeking illegal alien workers. According to the law, employers must accept work authorization documents which appear on their face to be genuine in order to satisfy the I9 forms which all new hires must fill Out To ask for different or additional documents runs the risk of being charged with discrimination. Nonetheless, these INS raids and audits have found many of these documents to be fraudulent. As a result, the affected workers have been arrested and/or deported, which, in turn, has left many growers with reduced workforces during the critical fall season.

These actions underscore the industries need for a legal temporary alien workforce in those areas where it can he proven that American workers are either unavailable or unwilling to work, Although, earlier in the year, the House rejected the AAN-backed amendment to establish an agricultural guest worker program, AAN remains committed to bringing the industry’s labor shortage problems to the attention of the new Congress and the Administration.

Congress Agrees to Immigration Law Overhaul — House and Senate Conferees reached agreement Sept 30 on landmark legislation overhauling immigration laws by seeking to curb illegal immigration. The House and Senate then folded it into the omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 1997. Thanks to the efforts of AAN and our coalition partners, the fmat immigration bill is remarkable improved from its original version which was full of anti-business provisions.

The final conference bill: (1) provides for a l0 day grace period to correct 1-9 paperwork mistakes; (2) eliminates an increase in the number of Department of Labor wage and hour investigators, yet it calls for the hiring of hundreds ofemployment and document fraud investigators for the INS and agents to investigate people who overstay their visas; (3) eliminates the doubling of employer sanction fines for employers with prior violations of the wage hour laws, the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act or the Family and Medical Leave Act; (4) modifies the asset forfeiture penalty for employers by requiring that employers must have actual knowledge that aliens were smuggled into the U.S.; (5) establishes an intent standard for charges of discrimination; and (6) establishes pilot programs for testing verification of applicants’ eligibility to work.
The federal portion of this report was provided by the AAN.