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AgAlerts 2002 From Griggs County
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Issue # 8, June 19, 2002
The North Dakota Department of Health will be looking for any unusal sightings of dead birds to check for West Nile Virus. Dead bird surveillance has been a sensitive indicator of local epizootic transmission of West Nile Virus and can play a role in predicting human risk of infection. The North Dakota dead wild bird surveillance for West Nile virus will involve (a) collecting reports of dead bird sightings and (b) testing dead birds for West Nile virus. The Department of Health is asking for help from the public in reporting sightings for dead birds. This can be done by contacting the Department of Health @ 800-472-2180 or by reporting sightings to your County Extension office. I have been given materials to ship the birds to the Department of Health for testing. These samples must be freshly dead (died within 48 hours). If the carcass has an odor, has maggots present, has sunken eyes, is soft and mushy, has skin discoloration or the feathers and skin rub off easily, the bird has been dead too long to test. While there is no evidence that a person can get West Nile virus from handling live or dead infected birds, persons should avoid barehanded contact when handling dead birds.
The Barnes and Griggs County Weed boards will be conducting a tour of spotted knapweed on Thursday June 27th starting at Sibley Resort at 8:00 am. Spotted knapweed has been found on land bordering Griggs and Barnes County. The weed boards are very concerned about the possible spread of this weed into the Sheyenne watershead and into CRP. This weed is very competitive and can even out compete leafy spurge. The tour will have weed specialist to explain how to identify and methods of control along with a tour of the site of infestation so individuals will have an opportunity to see the weed in the wild. If you have any questions about this tour, please e-mail me or call the Barnes County Extension office @ 701-845-8528 or the Griggs County Extension office @ 701-797-3312.
As of now we have not found enough beetles to begin to collect. I will be checking every two days for the next week and watch this web site or the Griggs County Sentinel Courier or call the Griggs County Extension office for when collections will begin.
Sunflower beetles are now starting to emerge
and starting to feed on sunflowers. Monitor fields for feeding
injury. Thresholds for adults are 1 to 2 per plant. In past years we
have sprayed for adults but the larvae can cause much more damage. So for
now monitor fields to get an idea how many adults are present so you will be
able to predict what fields might have larvae feeding problems later this
year.
Please Contact Our Office For Additional Information
E-mail: griggs@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Go to the 2002 AgAlert Index Page