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Weekly NMPRO e-mail for Oct. 21, 2003
Your update on what's happening in the nursery industry.
Compiled by Todd Davis, Editor

* USDA issues ash borer quarantine. After a year of lobbying efforts
by state and national nursery groups, USDA issued a quarantine for
emerald ash borer in 13 Michigan counties. A Mich. Dept. of Ag.
quarantine was already in place, but a federal quarantine will further
help prevent spread of the destructive pest. To date, EAB has caused
about $2 million in lost nursery crop sales and $11.6 million in
landscape industry and wood lot losses in the state.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/news/2003/10/eaborer.html

* Periodical cicada will emerge in 2004. East Coast growers should be
mindful that a 17-year periodical cicada is due to arrive next spring.
These pests emerge in huge numbers May through July. They are
primarily pests of orchard crops, but can damage young trees and
shrubs, said Sue duPont, Maryland Dept. of Ag. dir. of public
information. Adults are large, have black bodies, red eyes and make a
rough, buzzing call. (410) 841-5889.

* Officials put off pot size enforcement until April. Pennsylvania
growers have more time before a ruling on gallon or quart container
terminology goes into effect. Pa. Dept. of Ag. pushed back the
effective date for enforcing regulations from Nov. 1 to April. 1.
State regulations require ads and labels accurately reflect container
volume. Departmental regulations also set forth that a pot, which is
advertised or labeled by linear measure, such as a 4 1/2-inch pot,
must measure that length on one side if it's square, and must be the
diameter of the top of the pot if it's round.
http://www.pda.state.pa.us

* Canadian nursery show hits Top 50. Landscape Ontario Congress was
named one of the Top 50 fastest growing trade shows by TradeShow Week
magazine. The Toronto show had more than 14,400 attendees in 2003.
Show dates for 2004 are Jan. 13-15, and the event also features an
expanded seminar program. Landscape Ontario is Canada's largest
horticulture trade association, with more than 2,000 members.
http://www.hort-trades.com

* Connecticut employers must obey smoking law. A new law in
Connecticut requires companies with more than 5 employees to ban
smoking inside structurally enclosed work facilities, according to
Conn. Nursery & Landscape Assoc. Employees may elect to designate a
smoking room, but they must be non-work areas that employees don't
have to go to as part of their jobs. It must also have a separate
ventilation system from the rest of the building. Employers with
smoking rooms must also provide sufficient nonsmoking break rooms.