WASHINGTON - The U.S.
Department of Agriculture has
established emergency regulations
to restrict interstate movement of
84 kinds of produce and plants
from the Miami area to prevent the
spread of Mediterranean fruit
flies.
According to Bert W. Hawkins,
administrator of USDA’s Animal
and Plant Health Inspection
Service, the regulated products
could contain eggs or larvae of the
fruit fly and could possibly spread
the pest beyond the regulated area.
The regulated area consists of
about 90 square mils in Dade
County, north of Miami.
“This federal quarantine action
is substantially the same as the one
Florida has imposed on the same
area,” Hawkins said. “It is
designed to contain the pest while
we work with the state to eradicate
it.”
Regulated items include
tomatoes, peppers, apples,
apricots, avocados, oranges,
lemons, cherries, grapes,
grapefruit, mangoes, peaches,
pears and many other kinds of
State unveils ag hotline
HARRISBURG - The Penn
sylvania Department of
Agriculture today announced the
installation of a toll-free 800
number for use by the public in
seeking help with agriculture
related problems and concerns.
The hotline number is 1-800-AG
PENNA (247-3662).
Acting Secretary of Agriculture
George F. Grode noted that the
Department has a great variety of
responsibilities relating to
agriculture, food and consumer
protection and that 800-AG
PENNA can be used to get help
with problems as diverse as
amusement rides, animal health,
dog laws, export sales, family
farm development program,
farmland preservation, farm
marketing problems, food
problems, lawn seed
pesticide use, plant diseases, plant
pests, rabies, questions on weights
and measures, and the wide range
of services provided by the
Department.
Responses to inquiries will be
made as quickly as possible. The
number will be answered by the
Department’s Press Office bet
ween Ba.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday
through Friday. A tape recording
will accept calls during non
business hours. The hotline
number can be reached from any
telephone in Pennsylvania.
Grode stressed that the hotline
should be used only by individuals
having problems or complaints
about agriculture-related issues
and services. General agriculture
information will be available by
calling (717) 787-5085 or any of the
Agriculture Department’s seven
regional offices.
“We are pleased to provide this
new Agricultural Hotline Number
for use by Pennsylvania farmers
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Emergency medfly regs established by USDA
fruits, nuts, berries, vegetables
and ornamental plants.
All fruits and vegetables
displayed for sale outdoors in the
regulated area must be packaged
or covered with plastic or netting
so there is no chance for medflies
USDA news, market reports available in computer link
WASHINGTON - The U.S.
Department of Agriculture will
inaugurate on July l a new com
puterized system that elec
tronically transmits news and
reports from a single point.
Assistant Secretary John J.
Franke said the electronic service
will make available for further
dissemination such perishable
information as USDA market
reports, crop and livestock
statistical reports, economic
outlook and situation reports,
foreign agricultural trade leads,
export sales reports, world
agricultural roundups and USDA
news releases.
“With the advances in
and consumers,” Grode said. “We
hope that anyone having problems
or difficulties relating to the many
areas regulated by the Depart
ment will make use of this new
service.”
to deposit eggs in them.
“Fortunately, there are no
commercial fruit growers in the
area and very little commercial
activity of regulated produce and
plants,” Hawkins said. “Right now
we are concerned about people
technology which brought cost
effective computer-based systems
and communications within reach,
we can no longer rely only on
traditional means to disseminate
USDA information,” Franke said.
“The demand for immediate ac
cess to current and accurate
agricultural data is increasing.
“The new service is designed to
respond to agricultural mm-
Grain research emphasized in Maryland
COLLEGE PARK, MD - The
University of Maryland’s Agri
cultural Experiment Station
(UMAES) and Cooperative Exten
sion Service (UMCES) will con
duct tours of small-grains re
search on May 22 and May 30.
On May 22, the university will
host tours of research at its Wye
Research and Education Center,
near Queenstown. Tours will begin
at 6:30 p.m. and will include small
grains variety trials, integrated
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bringing tomatoes into the area
from farms to the west. The
tomatoes could become infested
with Medfly eggs or larvae and
then be carried out of the area.”
The regulations were effective
upon publication in the May 8
munity’s need for immediate
access to current USDA in
formation that will help in com
peting for domestic and world
markets,” Franke said.
The service will complement,
rather than replace, USDA’s
traditional methods of printing and
distributing information. The
primary objective is to offer data
to those who want and can handle
small grains diseases, use of
herbicides and herbicide manage
ment in double-cropped soy
beans, and high-yield
management studies that are
underway at the university’s
center.
Just prior to the Wye tour,
participants are invited to the
George Towers/Jack Ripley farm
on Baker Rd. near Denton, to see
firsthand high yield management
of small grains at work.
On May 30, the university will
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Federal Register. Written com
ments may be submitted, until
July 8, to Thomas O. Gessel,
Director, Regulatory Coordination
Staff, Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service, USDA,
Hyattsville, Md. 20782.
large volumes of information at
medium or high computer tran
smission speeds.
Those who use the service will
pay for the direct cost of accessing
the information from the com
puter-based system provided
under contract by Martin Marietta
Data Systems, Orlando, Fla.,
which won the contract through
competitive bidding procedures.
host tours of research at 6:30 p.m.
at its Poplar Hill research farm,
near Salisbury.
There, visitors may tour studies
of fungicides on small grains, row
spacing, management fertility
trials, and high yield management
for wheat and barley.
For more information about the
tours, call your local county Ex
tension agent. Or, call agent
Robert Rouse in Caroline County
(479-4619) or agent Wayne Shaff in
Wicomico County (749-6141).