Maier Forest and Tree News

It has been over 6 months since the emerald ash borer (EAB) was found in MN.  The attached link is an October article from WCCO in the cities.

http://wcco.com/local/emerald.ash.borer.2.1222214.html

The MN Dept. of Ag (MDA) is the agency in Minnesota responsible for getting information out on EAB and making regulations to control its spread.  The webpage that would be most helpful to reference is  http://www.mda.state.mn.us/plants/pestmanagement/eab.htm.  The MDA trains “first responders” to recognize the signs and symptoms of EAB and to accurately identify the borer.  Nate Runke, Plant Health Specialist at Maier Forest and Tree, is a MDA first responder.  If you live in the Rochester, MN area and you suspect EAB in your ash tree, please call our office (507-286-8733) and we will help you.

Nate Runke, our Plant Health Specialist, met today with the ArborJet founder to discuss our plans to treat EAB.  Using TreeAge through the ArborJet system looks like a very promising treatment that gets multiple years of protection and can treat trees that are already infected.  We are looking at all possible options but it appears we’ll have at least one good option…maybe more??

Today we had the summer Rochester Arborist Workshop (www.rochesterarboristworkshop.com) and learned a bit about wood waste utilization, following ANSI standards during tree removal and we dissected some big trees to learn about the effects of pruning on decay in trees.  Some great info given.  Mark Abrahamson from the Dept. of Ag. spoke on trying to contain Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in the state.

I have heard some customers ask if they should be treating their ash trees yet for EAB.  The multi-state publication put out by universities from Ohio to Minnesota says that one should wait until the insect has been found within 10 to 15 miles.  I fully agree with that.  We should be saving our money for when the insect is here and doing damage.