Sensitive Sites: Trees

Justin Evertson, Bruce Hoffman Author

11/30/2018 Added

17 Plays

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Off-target herbicides can damage even trees. Learn how trees can be damaged, and how to protect them and other sensitive plants, crops and pollinators; DriftWatch segment is included.

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[00:00:00.013](upbeat music)
[00:00:18.060]I'm Justin Evertson with the Nebraska Forest Service
[00:00:20.307]and the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum,
[00:00:22.810]and we're here in Waverly today in Wayne Park to talk
[00:00:25.990]about the growing issue of herbicide damage on trees.
[00:00:29.600]Before we do that, let's remind ourselves
[00:00:31.730]of how important trees are.
[00:00:33.670]Here in Nebraska, where it can be
[00:00:35.240]very hot in the summertime and winds blow incessantly,
[00:00:38.172]trees just make our lives more comfortable,
[00:00:40.620]we're physically more comfortable.
[00:00:42.610]And then the other benefits of trees such as
[00:00:44.670]energy conservation, wildlife habitat, stormwater capture,
[00:00:49.830]and then finally, trees are just beautiful.
[00:00:52.280]People love them in their daily lives
[00:00:54.240]and they make our lives more enjoyable.
[00:00:56.580]And always remember this about trees in Nebraska,
[00:00:58.996]they didn't get here by accident.
[00:01:00.950]People planted them looking for
[00:01:02.700]those benefits that trees provide.
[00:01:05.146]In recent years, we've seen a dramatic increase
[00:01:07.722]in herbicide damage to trees across Nebraska
[00:01:11.280]from two primary sources.
[00:01:13.170]One is related to the spraying of lawns and lawn care,
[00:01:17.030]and the other is the spraying of farm fields
[00:01:19.200]in the spring to burn down winter annual weeds.
[00:01:22.920]And we've seen a dramatic increase in recent years
[00:01:25.320]to trees, the herbicide damage to trees.
[00:01:28.592]And it's most noticeable, we don't often notice it
[00:01:31.260]in the background as we're walking around trees
[00:01:33.520]but if you look closely, you can see
[00:01:36.340]pretty significant evidence of how these trees are damaged.
[00:01:40.410]For example, here is a redbud leaf,
[00:01:43.440]which is a normal leaf that we
[00:01:44.940]would wanna see on a redbud tree.
[00:01:47.280]When we look closer, herbicide damaged leaves
[00:01:50.700]are much smaller and distorted, twisted, gnarled.
[00:01:55.730]They just don't look right,
[00:01:57.300]and we see this across several species.
[00:01:59.780]The redbud is a key indicator,
[00:02:01.650]but other common species we're seeing this on
[00:02:03.990]include various types of oaks,
[00:02:05.763]other legumes like honey locust,
[00:02:08.717]and in other trees like green ash and tulip poplar
[00:02:12.210]clearly show this damage of the herbicide drift.
[00:02:16.780]The damage that we're talking about to our trees
[00:02:19.700]happens in a couple of different ways.
[00:02:21.870]One of the most important issues we're running in now
[00:02:25.380]is the amount of herbicide drift coming from farm spraying.
[00:02:29.080]In the past few years, farmers have shifted
[00:02:31.170]to no-till practices and herbicides are
[00:02:34.080]more important than ever to treat weeds in our farm fields.
[00:02:38.480]We're also applying quite a bit of herbicide
[00:02:40.930]in our communities, on the lawns that are around us.
[00:02:44.990]And in both of those efforts, these chemicals
[00:02:47.510]can get into the air and move off-site
[00:02:49.760]and damage trees far away from where they were applied.
[00:02:53.350]So it's critical to really practice
[00:02:56.280]best management practices in our herbicide spraying.
[00:02:59.480]Think about things like integrated pest management,
[00:03:02.785]the time of day we spray, and let's make sure
[00:03:06.140]we're not spraying on hot and windy days,
[00:03:08.910]and then finally make sure you've adjusted those nozzles
[00:03:12.110]so they're not putting out a fine mist that is
[00:03:14.250]getting into the atmosphere and moving.
[00:03:16.654]Remember, the ultimate goal here is
[00:03:18.810]to keep our trees healthy and alive.
[00:03:21.740]They're ubiquitous, they're in the background of
[00:03:23.820]our daily lives and they're important to a lot of people.
[00:03:26.730]They're important to our rural farmsteads,
[00:03:28.760]they're important in our communities,
[00:03:30.760]and they are even important in our nurseries
[00:03:33.480]and how we grow trees and distribute them across our state.
[00:03:38.323](upbeat music)
[00:03:47.110]I'm Bruce Hoffman with Common Scents Greenhouse Nursery
[00:03:50.380]in McCook Nebraska, that's in southwest Nebraska.
[00:03:54.040]And we're standing in the middle of our field trees.
[00:03:59.030]And we're gonna discuss how herbicides can affect
[00:04:05.020]a business that grows trees for a living,
[00:04:08.090]and how it affects us.
[00:04:10.610]Chemicals are a part of our culture here.
[00:04:12.960]No-till farming is a boom to producers in our area.
[00:04:18.640]Growing crops that never would've
[00:04:20.110]been thought of here is growing.
[00:04:21.410]The downside is the chemicals that they use,
[00:04:24.960]if they leave the property they can affect people like us
[00:04:28.500]that grow nursery stock for a living.
[00:04:33.340]And a year ago, we took a big dicamba hit,
[00:04:37.600]and had severe damage.
[00:04:40.870]Essentially, couldn't sell any of our stock.
[00:04:44.570]That's the bottom line, that's how it affected us.
[00:04:47.640]Okay, and I would say it's fairly common
[00:04:49.810]for people to, the notion that, oh, they grow through 'em.
[00:04:53.800]I even have people in my trade
[00:04:56.640]that I rely on for technical support
[00:04:59.600]that kinda, oh,
[00:05:01.960]it'll grow though it.
[00:05:03.180]The damage is subtle, it isn't necessarily always
[00:05:08.100]entire desiccation of a tree.
[00:05:11.920]Three-inch trees, they're three-inch now, American Linden,
[00:05:15.260]real easy tree to grow straight.
[00:05:17.122]They're very soft and pliable.
[00:05:19.240]They made a 45 degree turn on
[00:05:21.100]a three inch trunk last summer.
[00:05:25.850]So those kinds of things, it's pretty obvious
[00:05:27.880]when you know something's going on.
[00:05:29.438]To put an exact number on how many
[00:05:31.530]nursery growers are in Nebraska,
[00:05:37.080]the nursery directory has several hundred of us in there.
[00:05:41.440]So all the specialty crops, they're not all growing trees.
[00:05:44.770]And mostly all sensitive crops.
[00:05:48.460]This is not an anomaly, they've all been hit.
[00:05:50.968]So I would, people that are growing sensitive crops,
[00:05:55.320]I would encourage you to get registered with DriftWatch,
[00:05:59.990]there's new enforcement, it does help build a case,
[00:06:04.060]and it helps protect you.
[00:06:06.700]That information is out there for all applicators,
[00:06:09.190]it's available to all applicators,
[00:06:11.070]that you have a sensitive crop that needs protection.
[00:06:15.197]And for applicators, I would just say,
[00:06:18.570]you know, not when the wind is blowing like today.
[00:06:22.780]The stuff does get up and move.
[00:06:25.310]Read the label, and just try to be
[00:06:27.600]respectful of other people's property.
[00:06:29.550]Not all crops are planted in April
[00:06:31.510]and harvested in September.
[00:06:33.930]Some are
[00:06:37.230]perennial crops that take a number of years
[00:06:39.670]to get to market.
[00:06:43.220]It affects people's bottom line.
[00:06:45.374](upbeat music)
[00:06:53.392]Hello, my name is Craig Romary with
[00:06:55.540]the Nebraska Department of Agriculture,
[00:06:57.360]and today I'll be talking about DriftWatch and Beecheck.
[00:07:01.560]Both of these can be considered the same thing,
[00:07:04.920]they're an online registry and map
[00:07:06.860]for commercial specialty crops
[00:07:09.280]that usually are smaller in size
[00:07:11.540]and may not be as noticeable out there in the landscape.
[00:07:15.320]They are potentially more sensitive
[00:07:16.940]to pesticide injury and crop loss.
[00:07:21.080]The main purpose of this service
[00:07:23.570]is to promote communication, two-way communication
[00:07:26.250]between pesticide applicators and the people
[00:07:29.050]that have those specialty crops and apiary sites.
[00:07:33.600]This is an example of the DriftWatch map
[00:07:35.710]showing a variety of crops, and you can zoom in
[00:07:39.850]to those locations to get a better idea of where they're at
[00:07:44.150]and you can click on any of those bubbles
[00:07:46.439]to get the contact information
[00:07:48.660]for the grower having that site,
[00:07:51.520]if they have made that contact information available.
[00:07:54.820]And if so, you can contact them and let them know
[00:07:57.159]what you plan to do in that area.
[00:08:01.350]So there are three ways you can use this service.
[00:08:04.530]The first way is to just simply go to the website,
[00:08:07.610]and I'll provide that URL later.
[00:08:10.344]And this is free of charge, you'll be able to see
[00:08:12.820]all of the crop sites, and most of the beehives.
[00:08:16.190]Beekeepers have the option to only display their sites
[00:08:19.640]to registered applicators,
[00:08:21.750]applicators who are registered in DriftWatch,
[00:08:24.846]and so you may not see all of them at the public map.
[00:08:28.530]The second way is to register yourself
[00:08:31.970]on FieldWatch in DriftWatch as an applicator,
[00:08:34.820]and that's also free of charge.
[00:08:37.150]You'll be able to see all of the crop sites,
[00:08:39.380]all of the beehives, and you'll get e-mail notifications
[00:08:42.380]when new information is added to
[00:08:43.900]the map in the area that you select.
[00:08:47.010]And lastly on this section, you'll be able
[00:08:49.310]to download the FieldCheck app and that's new this year,
[00:08:52.750]available on your smartphones so that you'll have
[00:08:55.090]that information readily at hand.
[00:08:58.340]And the last thing is a data membership,
[00:09:01.755]or data subscription.
[00:09:03.555]And that is an annual fee from FieldWatch
[00:09:06.536]and you can, by having that, you'll be able
[00:09:10.130]to get these data to your mapping software.
[00:09:13.670]And that is also free of charge for federal local
[00:09:16.820]state government agencies as well,
[00:09:18.670]so please, you can take advantage of that service.
[00:09:22.350]So this is the website, fieldwatch.com,
[00:09:26.370]and this is where applicators need to go to register.
[00:09:29.290]Clicking this image right here of the airplane
[00:09:31.523]and it's also called FieldWatch.
[00:09:34.099]And if you don't wanna register,
[00:09:36.820]if you just wanna go to the DriftWatch map,
[00:09:39.660]you can go to the address down at the bottom of the screen.
[00:09:45.070]And that's all I have, if you have any questions,
[00:09:47.620]this is my contact information
[00:09:49.370]and I'll try to help you as best I can.
[00:09:52.427](upbeat music)

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Sensitive Sites: Trees

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