What's Happening in Your Region?

A quick overview of events and work in your region will help set the stage for the conversations here...or refer folks to the papers posted here if they cover that territory.

Taylor Walsh - 10:05pm Jun 25, 1996 EDT (#1 of 11)
OnSite Interactive Productions

In his introduction, Bob Forster noted that he was part of the Idaho Karnal Bunt Task Force. This brought to mind a couple of things - at least to a civilia like me (I am co-moderator with Cindy Ash of APS, but my specialty is using this medium to bring people together, not (yet anyway!) diseases of wheat):
How many other states have created such task forces?
Who's represented on them? Pathologists only? State officials? Company reps? USDA?
Since I take it the level of concern differs from state to state, each state's task force must have a
different charter, no?

Richard Smiley - 11:17am Jun 26, 1996 EDT (#2 of 11)
Oregon State University

This message is in response to the question regarding composition of KB task forces in various
states. The Oregon Karnal Bunt Task Force is led by Dan Hilburn, Director of the Plant Division of
the Oregon Department of Agriculture. The group currently consists of three pathologists, myself and
two from the ODA. Other members include an OSU wheat breeder and a statewide cultivar test
coordinator, several additional ODA staff, two wheat producers, representatives of eight wheat
marketing and/or milling agencies, and representatives of the Oregon Wheat Commission, Oregon
Wheat Growers League, and APHIS. The Task Force has had one formal meeting and members
have had subsequent input into language for a special compliance agreement for import of
negative-tested durum for milling at a mill in Pendleton, OR. The importation was authorized but later
cancelled when the first shipment was found to have problems associated with cleanliness of train
cars (grain on the tops of cars), leaking dump gates at the bottom (many tons lost enroute to
Oregon), and other security breaches. No further shipments to the mill are authorized at present.

Taylor Walsh - 01:27pm Jun 26, 1996 EDT (#3 of 11)
OnSite Interactive Productions

Thanks for the update, Dick. Where was this wheat imported from? It sounds like at leas one
result is an idled mill...

The vision of a hurtling freight train spewing grain as it goes illustrates I guess one of the
problems of containment.

Richard Smiley - 12:08am Jun 27, 1996 EDT (#4 of 11)
Oregon State University

This is in response to the question from Taylor Walsh. I am speaking here from second and third
hand information; based on my lunch-time conversation with the President of the affected mill. It is
my understanding that the train cars were loaded in California and were enroute to Oregon.
Violations of the compliance agreement included statements made in my earlier note. One car
reportedly lost 10 tons of grain enroute to Oregon, and some of the "seals" required to prevent such
losses were apparently placed in a mostly decorative rather than functional fashion. Again, this is not
first-hand information. Factual data would have to originate from APHIS and the Oregon
Department of Agriculture.

Natalie Goldberg - 11:32am Jun 27, 1996 EDT (#5 of 11)

I have been asked to give an update for New Mexico. As a quarantined state, we are required to
test preharvest samples of all wheat, durum wheat and triticale fields in 4 counties - Dona Ana,
Luna, Hidalgo, and Sierra. The lab has processed approximately 70% of the preharvest samples. All
fields are negative - no Karnal bunt detected. We are also doing postharvest testing of grain to be
used for seed next year and testing railcars leaving New Mexico. Again all samples have tested
negative. The remaining counties in New Mexico are being surveyed as part of the National Survey.
We have completed one county (Eddy) with no karnal bunt detected.

In routine testing of stored grain, we detected a possible positive from 1995 produced seed. This
sample was sent to Dr. Mary Palm in Maryland for confirmation. Since the spores were on the small
side, the sample is being confirmed by DNA testing and we are still waiting for confirmation. This is
the only (potential) positive sample we have found in New Mexico that did not come from Arizona
produced grain.

Robert Johnston - 06:15pm Jun 27, 1996 EDT (#6 of 11)
Montana State University-Bozeman

The Dept of Plant Pathology at Montana State Univesity is currently involved in determining the KB
status of Montana's 1995 wheat crop. We have screened samples from 50 elevators which
represent 50 different counties within the state. All 50 samples have been found negative for KB
spores. A more detailed study will begin this fall and we anticipate that the number of samples
submitted from the 1996 crop will approach 600-650.

Gerald Holmes - 10:41pm Jul 5, 1996 EDT (#7 of 11)
Univ. Calif. Coop. Ext. Imperial Co.

Preharvest sampling in California has been completed. 106,592 acres were sampled in Imperial
Valley with no positives. 8,909 acres were sampled in the Winterhaven area of Imperial Valley (near
Yuma, AZ) and 41 acres tested positive. In Blythe (eastern Riverside Co.) 14,455 acres were
sampled with 3,348 testing positive (23%).

Jack Riesselman - 05:07pm Jul 8, 1996 EDT (#8 of 11)

Montana also developed a KB task force comprised of two plant pathologists, several Dept of Ag
regulatory members, Montana Wheat&Barley committee, Montana Grain Growers Assoc. and our
Montana Elevator Association.

The need to involve the grain trade is important as they have the most to loose should the zero
tolerance continue. Montana also had one contaiminated elevator, seed house, that was a storage
area for 3,000 bu of durum that came from Arizona. Early tests found bunted kernels. This was to
be seeded in 43 fields from a two county area. Although the chance of the pathogen causing
problems here is slim and none we would have also had to check our fields at harvest etc. Guess we
were lucky this past year.

William Brown - 06:47pm Jul 9, 1996 EDT (#9 of 11)

Well Jack, its about time you got here! Colorado has a task force made up of State Dept.
personnel, APHIS, Certified Seed, Wheat Growers and Colorado State Univeristy plant
pathologists. In our case the Colorado State Dept. of Ag is collecting the samples and the
processing and examination is being done at CSU by Dr. Linnea Skoglund, myself and others. In as
much as our regular plant clinic is very active at this time of year we are initially working in a
classroom. Facilities are being converted to provide needed isolation and containment for KB work.
Dr. Skoglund and I will be describing how we set these up in part 2 of our symposium discussion.
Part 1 is being posted this week.

Nancy Richwine - 08:54pm Jul 17, 1996 EDT (#10 of 11)
Plant Pathologist, PA Dept. AgricultueŠre

Let me add a perspective from the east. Here in Pennsylvania, our "task force" informally consists of
myself, I'm one of several state ag dept plant pathologist and the CAPS survey coordinator; Gary
Clement, the USDA state plant health director, Dale Stehr, the state ag dept regulatory coordinator,
and John Breitsman of our Agronomic Products Division of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Samples
will be processed by our state ag dept staff at the Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab in Harrisburg,
headed by Dr. Seong Hwan Kim. As our wheat harvest is currently underway, samples are just now
coming in. We expect to have all 50 of our 67 counties sampled by August 5. Some millers have
declined to participate, saying "I don't export, it's not my problem" or "I'm afraid of the publicity and
"media circus" if KB is found". These views have been in the minority however and most feed and
flour mill operators have been very cooperative.

Gordon Murray - 03:26am Jul 18, 1996 EDT (#11 of 11)
NSW Agriculture

The Australian Government Commonwealth Department of Primary Industries and Energy is hosting
a workshop on contingency planning for Karnal Bunt of Wheat. It will be in Canberra on 25 July,
involving participants from the Grains Council of Australia, Australian Wheat Board, Grains
Research and Development Corporation, and State and Commonwealth Governments. Contact
Janet Kerr (06 272 5135) or Colleen Mate (06 271 6383) for further information.

Agenda for the Workshop:

Background Presentations

Nature of Karnal Bunt (Sharon Singh); Risks and current quarantine arrangements (Bill McGee);
Trade impact of a Karnal bunt incursion (Neil Andrews)

Discussion

Surveillance and detection (Mike Cole); Prospects for containment and eradication (Gordon
Murray); R&D and breeding for managing Karnal bunt (Bob McIntosh); Framework and timing of
contingency plans (Mick Lloyd); Funding an incursion of Karnal bunt (Keith Alcock)