More money is headed out the door to protect agriculture from invasive species and support pollinators. USDA is allocating more than $70 million to strengthen infrastructure for pest detection, surveillance, and emergency responses.
Under Secretary Jenny Moffitt says the funding will support partnerships at the state level.
“This current year funding would include $900,000 to support Asian Giant Hornet eradication in Washington State, as well as research and other states, $5.8 million to support the agricultural pest dog detector teams in California, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York and then nationally as well for domestic test detection. And then also $1.5 million to support honeybees and protect them from harmful pests and diseases as well.”
372 projects are being funded and include a mix of pest prevention and support for beneficial pollinators.
“It’s not just about the pest but it’s also about supporting colonies and honeybees as well, and making sure that they we can address some of the significant issues such as varroa might affecting honeybees, which weakened them and can also impact our entire colony for doing things like surveying as well as diagnostics and research on ways to overcome and be more resistant to that might is a key one as well.”
APHIS dog teams also continue to be a critical part of pest detection efforts.
“Our dog teams are such an important part of our pest detection. They have special scent detection skills to sniff out damaging invasive tests across the country and at our ports of entry. So, they’re doing things like and they’ve had huge success detecting things like African Snail, Spotted Lantern Fly, Japanese Beetle, and the Mexican Pilot Larvae as well.”
Since 2009, USDA has supported more than 4,800 projects and provided nearly $740 million in funding through the plant pest and disease management program, which Moffitt says has contributed to several successes for the agency.
“In 2018, we declared the eradication of Pink Bollworm from commercial US cotton, ending 101-year-old battle with one of the world’s most damaging cotton pests in protecting us crop production worth $27 billion annually, and that was based in part two. Of course, a part is definitely a large part with partnership with industry, with academia with rest locals as well as of course, thanks to the funding.”
The funding was provided in the 2018 Farm Bill and Under Secretary Moffitt says they are looking forward to partnering with lawmakers and providing technical assistance as the 2023 Farm Bill conversation gears up.
USDA APHIS is also responsible for inspecting incoming shipments and Under Secretary Moffitt says their teams have been able to continue their responsibilities to facilitate trade despite the backlog at ports.
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