Coming Events
March 24, Archery Hunter Education Class, 7:00 p.m., 4-H Building, York
March 26, Archery Hunter Education Class, 7:00 p.m., 4-H Building, York
April 2, NE Ag Water Management Network (NAWMN) Meeting, 9:00 a.m. Fairgrounds, Hastings
April 4, Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day, 2:00 – 5:00 pm. York Co. Fairgrounds, York
April 20, Extension Board Exec. Meeting, 8:30 p.m., York Extension Office
Nebraska Weather, Lawn and Garden Tips
I guess we’re going to have our typical spring weather in Nebraska. The temperatures go up and down almost on a daily basis. Hopefully we’ll get a little of that need moisture that they’re predicting.
Nebraska Ag Water Management Network Annual Meeting
If you’ve been involved in our Nebraska Agricultural Water Management Network, you should have received an invitation to our meeting next Monday April 2nd on the fairgrounds in Hastings. It was mailed to well over 1,200 participants across the state.
The program will begin with registration at 9:00 a.m. and ending around 2:45 p.m.
Topics will include:
Updates about Capacitance type sensors AquaCheck USA & JD Field Connect
Update about Matric potential type sensors – Profiler
Innovation sharing
NRD Updates
NAWMN expansion to NE Ag Teachers and FFA members
Research Updates
Network sharing and discussion
No cost to attend, but please RSVP to me at gary.zoubek@unl.edu or (402) 362-5508 so that we can have adequate meals prepared. It should be a great meeting for new NAWMN participants as well as those that have been involved for all 10 years. We can all learn from each other.
Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day Planned Â
All residents of York County are invited and encouraged to bring your residential household hazardous waste to the York County Fairgrounds from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday April 4th to be properly disposed. Waste you can bring includes: acids, antifreeze, pesticides, yard chemical/fertilizer, small quantities of gasoline/oil, lead batteries, mercury, paint, and fluorescent bulbs.
DO NOT bring dried paint, it can go directly into trash. NO tires or large quantities of farm chemicals.
Now’s the time to gather these products up so you can have them properly disposed of.
Forestry and Emerald Ash Borer Update
I’ve received several questions about the Emerald Ash Borer and ash tree situation, so with Arbor Day around the corner, I thought I’d share some information about the situation.
The Emerald ash borer (EAB), is an exotic beetle that was discovered in southeastern Michigan near Detroit in the summer of 2002. The adult greenish colored beetle nibbles on ash foliage but cause little damage. The larvae of the beetle feeds on the inner bark of ash trees, disrupting the tree’s ability to transport water and nutrients. Experts are guessing that the EAB probably arrived in the United States on solid wood packing material carried in cargo ships or airplanes originating in its native Asia. This pest has spread rapidly. In 2006 it was in five states; in 2008 ten states; in 2013 eighteen states; and it is currently in twenty five states.
It’s getting close to us. The EAB has been found in Boulder Co, 95 miles from NE; Creston IA, 80 miles and Kansas City 60 miles from NE. I’m guessing it’s a matter of time before it reach Nebraska.
Since its discovery, EAB has: Killed tens of millions of ash trees in southeastern Michigan alone, with tens of millions more lost in Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Quebec, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
EAB attacks and kills all species of North American ash, including white, green and black ash. Common cultivars of ash include Patmore, Marshall’s Seedless and Autumn Purple ash. Mountain-ash is not affected, because it is not a true ash. Research so far suggests no ash cultivars or varieties native to the U.S. are resistant to EAB, but research is continuing. Other possible hosts of EAB include Lilac, Fringetree, Forsythia and Privot?
Once EAB reaches and area, the Ash tree death curve is very steep. It’s a matter of year (10-15) when a vast majority of untreated trees are severely damaged or killed.
On way you can help now is to not move firewood. Burn it where you buy or cut it? If the wood contains EAB moving it can help spread the pest.
So the first question I often receive is, what should I use to treat for this pest? Currently we don’t recommend treating until EAB is known to be within 15 miles of your location. Treating trees beyond 15 miles will likely provide little or no benefit to the trees and will result in unnecessary exposure to the environment to pesticides and expenses that will do no good. Several products are labeled form homeowner treatment and can be found on our Nebraska Forestry Websites:
http://nfs.unl.edu/publications.asp
http://nfs.unl.edu/emerald-ash-borer
So what can we do now? We want to diversify our community forest! We want to plant several different species and create age class diversity. We want no more than 10% of a species; 20% of a genus and no more than 30% of a family. As to age diversity, plant several different sized trees, plant tree in many years and take care of those older trees. When possible, plant native or regionally adapted tree, non-invasive species, high quality plant stock with good root systems and an assortment of fast growing and slow growing species. The fast growing trees will be the pioneer species of the community forestry program following EAB.
So where should we focus our planting? Along our streets, shading homes and patios, parks, and riparian area. Always look around and be careful around utility lines. Look up and around and decide if this is a good location for a tree or not.
Next week I’ll share a little information about some suggested possible replacement trees. For now, be thinking about a good site for a tree to plant for Arbor Day!
