Emerald Ash Borer Almost in Iowa

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Haverhill

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Are you being sarcastic or have you never been to Minnesota before?

It's all about where our imported firewood comes from. My yard at home has 4 ash trees but luckily we are in a small town that may be spared, who knows. There are still elm trees that survived that scare.
 

joefrog

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While it is easy to make jokes, and I likes me some jokes, things like this can become very serious in a short amount of time. It is worth keeping an eye on.

It is like the rust problem with the world's wheat. That could really cause problems for everybody.
 

Al_4_State

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Are you being sarcastic or have you never been to Minnesota before?

I went to high school in Rochester. I lived my entire life (prior to ISU) w/in 2 miles of the Iowa/Minnesota border. I was referring to the Iowa/Wisconsin border. Once you get about 40 miles west of the Mississippi in Iowa (or Southern Minnesota), with the exception of along streams, there are almost no trees. It's farmland, and before that it was a prairie...

North of the Cities, it's all forest.
 

CyCrazy

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being closely tied to the hort dept at isu, along with entemlogy etc etc, the entemolgy professors who i know say give it two years max and it will be in Iowa and will be devastating
 

psycln11

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While it is easy to make jokes, and I likes me some jokes, things like this can become very serious in a short amount of time. It is worth keeping an eye on.

It is like the rust problem with the world's wheat. That could really cause problems for everybody.

I'm more concerned with the world-wide decline in honey bees. We need them to pollenate (sp?) several varieties flowers and plants that we eat on a daily basis.

And I WILL be pissed when/if I have to cut down the ash tree I planted 9 years ago when I bought my house.
 

CyCrazy

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I'm more concerned with the world-wide decline in honey bees. We need them to pollenate (sp?) several varieties flowers and plants that we eat on a daily basis.

And I WILL be pissed when/if I have to cut down the ash tree I planted 9 years ago when I bought my house.


it will take at least a few years longer to get to central iowa after it gets here.. but I know that doesnt really help
 

Al_4_State

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So would it be smart to start harvesting ash trees right now? I know there has been a similar problem in Colorado w/pine beetles, and I got the impression that a lot of people feel they should've taken measures before the bugs actually got there...
 

CyCrazy

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So would it be smart to start harvesting ash trees right now? I know there has been a similar problem in Colorado w/pine beetles, and I got the impression that a lot of people feel they should've taken measures before the bugs actually got there...


that is an option that has been floated out there, but i dont know if it is neccesary because our landscape is not dominated by ash in the terms that the mountains are covered with pines. Ash is a popular tree but not the most dominate species in Iowa
 

Torks Pub

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Emerald ash borer found near southern Minnesota border - TwinCities.com

The emerald ash borer was found in Victory, Wisconsin, just across the Mississippi from Iowa. Not good.

Last year I read that Bayer had developed a treatment for EAB. Hope it works as half of Ankeny has streets lined with these trees. Eerily similar to Dutch Elm disease that ravaged cities in the 60's and 70's. Maybe developers will finally learn to not over utilize one species of trees.

Pest Alerts - Emerald Ash Borer - Bayer Advanced â„¢
 

CyCrazy

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Last year I read that Bayer had developed a treatment for EAB. Hope it works as half of Ankeny has streets lined with these trees. Eerily similar to Dutch Elm disease that ravaged cities in the 60's and 70's. Maybe developers will finally learn to not over utilize one species of trees.

Pest Alerts - Emerald Ash Borer - Bayer Advanced â„¢

The bayer stuff is just so -so at best.
and putting in different species would only make to much sense:yes:
 

TykeClone

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that is an option that has been floated out there, but i dont know if it is neccesary because our landscape is not dominated by ash in the terms that the mountains are covered with pines. Ash is a popular tree but not the most dominate species in Iowa

I think that ash trees replaced elms in many towns (in Iowa?) after dutch elm disease.

I've got two pretty nice ones on our lot and would be displeased if I had to cut them down. :no:
 

cyfan964

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Most smart nurseries in the area stopped even selling Ash trees about 2 years ago. The bug will get here and there is nothing that can be done. Just like we can't grow white birches very successfully it is nearly impossible to stop boring insects on woody plants.
 

CyCrazy

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Most smart nurseries in the area stopped even selling Ash trees about 2 years ago. The bug will get here and there is nothing that can be done. Just like we can't grow white birches very successfully it is nearly impossible to stop boring insects on woody plants.

yep ur right I hope some scientists can come up with a variety that is super immune.. hey we already came up with a bentgrass variety that can handle roundup:smile:
 

jumbopackage

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I was in Northern Michigan a bit last year, and it's pretty sad what has happened there.

It's still beautiful, just a bit...sparser. Sort of like a supermodel getting old.

They were trying to keep it out of the UP, but I don't know what sort of luck they had.