New Research Facility Will Help Safeguard the Supply of Global Wheat Crops (Jun 13, 2011)
USDA. Agricultural Research Service.
A new 2,880-square-foot greenhouse that will play a key role in helping researchers combat Ug99, a relatively new race of wheat stem rust to which more than 80 percent of our global wheat crop is vulnerable. This new greenhouse for wheat research puts another U.S. research facility on the front lines to battle Ug99 and help secure global food security.

Invasive Species Compendium
Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International (CABI).
The Invasive Species Compendium is in beta version and available to use. The Invasive Species Compendium is an online, open access reference work covering recognition, biology, distribution, impact and management of the world's invasive plants and animals. The Compendium currently covers over 1,500 species with over 7,000 basic summary datasheets and 1,500 detailed datasheets. You can also access over 800 full text articles (PDF) and 65,000 abstract summaries, with plans to add 10,000 more by the end of 2011. This new resource has been built upon a brand new technical platform which enables our experts to update the datasheets and bibliographical data on a weekly basis.

USDA Funds Projects Across the Country to Advance Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention (Jun 7, 2011)
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
USDA is allocating $50 million, provided by Section 10201 of the 2008 Farm Bill for projects that prevent the introduction or spread of plant pests and diseases that threaten U.S. agriculture and the environment.

Citizen Scientist Program's Success Highlighted (Jun 1, 2011)
University of Texas - Austin. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
A program that harnesses volunteers throughout Texas to collect conservation data has been highlighted as a model citizen scientist program in the June issue of the journal Bioscience. More than 1,100 Texans have been trained by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's Invaders of Texas Citizen Scientists Program to identify and report non-native invasive plants throughout the state. These citizen scientists have logged more than 12,000 observations of invasive plants on a publicly accessible online database that governmental agencies and resource managers can use to monitor the plants that compete with native plants.

USDA Establishes a New Category in Regulations Governing Nursery Stock Importation; Plants for Planting Not Authorized for Importation Pending Pest Risk Analysis (May 27, 2011)
USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Effective Jun 27, 2011 APHIS is changing the way it regulates imports of nursery stock into the U.S., also known as the Agency's Q37 regulations. This regulatory change establishes a new import category for plants whose importation is "not authorized pending pest risk analysis," also known as NAPPRA. Under the new rules, APHIS will publish a list of plants that it considers to be quarantine pests or hosts of quarantine pests. Such plants will not be allowed to be imported until APHIS has completed a pest risk analysis.

USDA/AIA Survey Reports 2010/2011 Winter Honey Bee Losses (May 23, 2011)
USDA. Agricultural Research Service.
Recent survey reports honey bees losses holding about steady. Total losses from managed honey bee colonies nationwide were 30% from all causes for the 2010/2011 winter. "The lack of increase in losses is marginally encouraging in the sense that the problem of Colony Collapse Disorder (CDD) does not appear to be getting worse for honey bees and beekeepers."

Noxious Weed Reporting System Now Available in 11 Western States (May 18, 2011)
Montana State University.
Early detection of new invasive plant infestations and rapid, coordinated responses are needed to eradicate or contain invasions before they become too widespread and control becomes technically and financially impossible. The Missouri River Watershed Coalition-Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System allows for reporting new sightings of select invasive species, automatically alerts state weed coordinators of those reports, automatically alerts EDDMapS users of verified reports, and generates distribution maps for reported species.

Fish and Wildlife Service Unveils National Plan to Combat Deadly White-Nose Syndrome in Bats (May 17, 2011)
DOI. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The National Plan aims to halt the spread of white-nose syndrome (WNS), which has killed more than a million bats. The document offers guidance on a range of issues, including how to identify the disease and improving bio-security. WNS has spread rapidly since it was first found in 2006, and now affects 18 states and four Canadian provinces.

Better Understanding of Foot-and-mouth Disease Offers Potential for Alternatives to Culling (May 6, 2011)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. Institute for Animal Health Statement. (United Kingdom).
The mass culling of cattle to control outbreaks of foot and mouth disease may soon be a thing of the past, according to scientists who have made a breakthrough in understanding how the virus is transmitted. A study has established a hidden "window of opportunity" between the point when a cow becomes infected with the foot and mouth virus and the time when she is able to transmit the virus to another animal.