The Plant Protectors!

Plant protection experts Mark Abrahamson and Tony Cortilet introduce the important work of the Plant Protection Division within the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. The division’s work is essential and effects all Minnesotans in numerous ways, this includes large picture work that protects our environment from invasive pests, down to the safety of the food we eat. Learn more about plant protection and its importance to you. 

Smarty Plants is a podcast of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Visit www.mda.state.mn.us/plants-insects/smarty-plants for more episodes. Look for a new episode of Smarty Plants every month.

Transcript

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Hello, and welcome to Smarty Plants, a Minnesota Department of Agriculture podcast informing citizens about invasive species that affect our environment and agricultural resources. My name is Eidan Silver, and I will be your host. In future episodes of this podcast, we'll be taking deep dives into all the different ways that the Plant Protection Division at Minnesota's Department of Agriculture, aka the MDA for short, helps protect plants around the state. Together, we'll learn how to properly manage noxious weeds, pests, disease plants, and more. We'll also have the opportunity to talk with different plant protection experts about invasive species management, best practices, and by the end, hopefully you'll have gained enough knowledge to put what you've learned into practice within your own residence. Before we get to all that, we're going to introduce the world of plant protection in broad strokes. Today, we're going to get an overview of the MDA's Plant Protection Division. To get that understanding, we'll be talking with two PPD experts. We're fortunate enough to have with us Mark Abrahamson, Director of the Plant Protection Division, as well as Tony Cortilet, Seed, Weed, Hemp, and Biotech Unit Supervisor within the Plant Protection Division. Mark received his Bachelor's in Biology from UW Eau Claire and Master's in Entomology from SUNY Syracuse. He started at MDA in 1999 as an entomologist and has held roles in PPD as a unit supervisor and assistant director before becoming PPD's director in 2018, a position which he still has today. Thanks for being here, Mark. Thank you. Tony has served as a weed scientist with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture since 1998, and as mentioned, is currently the unit supervisor for the seed, noxious weed, hemp, and biotechnology programs. He has over 30 years of professional experience working with plant species, habitat management, and ecological preservation. Tony holds a bachelor's degree in fisheries and wildlife biology as well as a master's degree in agronomy with a concentration in weed science, both from Iowa State University. Welcome, Tony. Thank you for making time as well. Thank you for having me. So, why don't we just start at the beginning. Uh, could you guys talk me through like the genesis of the Plant Protection Division, why it was created in the first place? Sure. Yeah, so Plant Protection, uh, as a division has been in Department of Agriculture since I think 2007. Okay. And I think one of the driving factors was the growth of issues with invasive species. Soybean rust, which did not end up having huge implications in Minnesota, but there was a lot of concern around it in the late 90s, early 2000s. Soybean aphid in early 2000s. Emerald ash borer. So a whole host of, uh, issues that kind of focused attention on the need for plant protection type duties, uh, certifying products as free from harmful pest disease, um, and also, uh, noxious weeds, so. Yeah, and I think prior to that, We were sort of spread into different divisions and it, it was very difficult in some cases, like Mark mentioned, soybean rust, who handles what and, uh, how do you cross over, uh, divisions, which most people wouldn't think that's complicated within an agency, but sometimes it can be. So I think. Centralizing PPD in 2007, like Mark said, was like a good idea just to make us more efficient and, uh, to help speed up our early detection rapid response programs. Yeah, and hopefully we'll touch some of those topics like soybean rust or emerald ash borer in the future on this podcast. Um, and you mentioned centralizing in 2007. Has a lot changed since then as different issues emerge and evolve? Yeah, a plant protection has changed throughout the time and it kind of, you know, depends on what the big issues are that we're dealing with. Spongy moth, as an example, has become a really big thing for Minnesota as it's moved westward across the country. And our program around, uh, managing and controlling Spongy Moth has, you know, grown as a result. Similarly, hemp, you know, wasn't a thing 10 years ago, but it's become a big part of what we do. So, um, we kind of, we kind of grow and change the same way as the industries that we work with do. Yeah, the hemp thing is kind of an oddball, but it came about because they, you know, it falls into our expertise just because it's, it was a plant issue and it was new after prohibition. And so they put it into PPD because we're, We have a whole staff of plant people and, uh, I happen to be one of them. So a lot of people sometimes think, what's the connection between pests and that? But it is a big part of what we do now. So you mentioned then, uh, hemp and spongy moth as they've emerged. The, the division's kind of grown with them and, and molded itself with them. And other issues, um, so what would you say are kind of some of the top issues that it's focused on in, in today? Yeah, so the division, we do a lot of different things. And so if you look at it from the outside, you're like, wow, this is a collection of 10 random things that have nothing to do with each other. But in reality, we have a few common themes, uh, throughout the division. So invasive species are a big one, uh, insects, diseases, and weeds. They kind of permeate all the programs. They, they have, they play a role in, in what we're doing. Another big part is facilitating market access for plants and plant products. And that's a really important part of what we do Um, just about any plant or plant product that's produced needs some kind of a certification to enter a market, particularly if it's going out of the state or overseas. And then finally, I think another important part is just like, uh, fair and transparent marketplaces. You know, a marketplace needs some minimum standards that everyone's adhering to in order to assure a level playing field. That's an important part of what we do in working with different industries also. Our, you know, primary focus of protecting the public from, you know, the adverse effects of, you know, invasive species. It's a big part of what we do, but we also have some long history with law. The noxious weed laws, seed laws are two of the oldest in the state of Minnesota. And those programs are just like Mark said, they're intended to, for the seed part of it, make a fair marketplace. For And, uh, for the noxious weed part of it, to make sure that one landowner's practices or lack thereof do not affect another landowner. So, um, that's one of our missions is to make sure, you know, we're not just supporting the greater good of the agency, but we're supporting the people that own land, have invested in their land, and, uh, you know, that costs them money when those types of things impact them. So. Yeah, and, and for a little bit of context, I, I just joined the Plant Protection Division back in January. So, um, getting up to speed, one of the, the things that amazes me about this division is just the variety of work that is being done here, and, and you guys touched on that a little bit, but would you be able to maybe speak to the organization of the division and, and the work that maybe goes into some of that market accessibility, but also the work that goes into things like, uh, noxious weed management? You know, kind of touching on the different areas that we, we work with different industries that we touch. It's diverse. So, I mean, we work with. Uh, grain elevators, for instance, we work with, uh, sellers and purchasers of fruits and vegetables to determine, uh, USDA grade. We certify seed potatoes, uh, we inspect seeds to ensure that they're labeled accurately. We work on noxious weed management. invasive plant pests. We certify a whole host of products, um, actually certify the, uh, production and sale of nursery stocks so that we know we've got, uh, trees that are free from harmful, uh, pests and disease, uh, going into the marketplace. So it's, uh, it's pretty diverse, uh, and we are organized more or less into kind of, um, groups, uh, so kind of pests and disease in one group, kind of weeds and associated industries in another group. And then kind of, um, more of the, uh, certification services in, in another area. But we're all, everything touches everything else. So we, we kind of work across all those programs as, as needed. And I think that's also like, uh, uh, a really, um, uh, good way for us to work so that we've got, uh, kind of a diverse set of, um, expertises that are, are helping all these different programs. And it's also, I think, important to point out our external stakeholders, um, and we work a lot with, uh, advisory committees, which represent our, our clientele or their clientele and constituents, um, University of Minnesota is a big one and other universities and, and throughout the state as well as our local counties, city partners, um. I mean, there's too many to name here, but the, the outreach that we have is, is pretty significant. Otherwise, you know, we couldn't do the jobs that we do. But if I'm a member of the public, why might I need to be involved with PPD? You know, most of the time when someone from the public is contacting us directly, it's around an invasive species, which will either an insect, a plant pathogen or a weed. And so that is the, you know, for the person who doesn't have any other connection with the Department of Agriculture, that's how they would. They would have some way to connect with us. And that's an important part. You know, we have hundreds to not, you know, maybe thousands of reports that we get from citizens every year. And those are oftentimes the first report of a new thing that nobody maybe even knew that we needed to be looking for. So that engaged citizen being aware of something that might be different in their environment, and they're. Um, area and then, uh, taking the step to report it is, uh, kind of really an important part of what we do. And sort of, uh, another way to look at it, too, is a lot of times, you know, if you're a farmer or you own a business that gets regulated by the Department of Agriculture, sometimes you may see us pop up after another division's, you know, regulatory folks popped up, too. And that can be quite confusing to people because we have these sort of separated divisions amongst us. And, uh, Um, but that we, you know, that's one way that we interact directly with, uh, with the clientele. And, and sometimes they're like, Hey, Department of Ag was just here today. Why are you here again? You know, and it's like, well, we're here for, you know, whatever plant protection reason. Um, and so a lot of times the same clientele are reaching out to the department for multiple reasons. So, to, to pivot a little bit, when I hear the name Plant Protection Division, um, I, I think what, what comes to mind is like, like Plant Protection, it's very grandiose, it's a very cool name, and when I first heard of it, I think what I pictured was like a bunch of soldiers in uniform huddled around a lady slipper or something, and that is very cool, but also not necessarily what PPD actually is in practice. So, would you be able to speak a little bit about why PPD fits in your practice? in the mold of the Department of Agriculture, specifically how it affects agricultural systems? Yeah, I think, you know, plant protection plays a really important role in, uh, in agriculture. And, of course, agriculture is huge in Minnesota. I think, uh, the stat I'd seen was 10 percent of Minnesota's GDP is from agriculture. So, uh, Huge industry within the state and really, um, that the role that plant protection plays and particularly in making sure that market access is available for these plants and plant products is critical. And for many of them without that, without that role, the, those plants and products are not able to enter that marketplace. So, um, you know, we're, uh, we're not the ones producing the plants, but we are helping to make sure that they're able to get to market. So it's, it's a critical step. And just on some of our programs that affect just the larger landscape in general, you know, that directly impacts either, you know, growth of crops, livestock production, you know, when you're relying on forage and, and, uh, Uh, things like that. Those are, you know, the primary focus of our group, especially like our weed group and our insects group is trying to make sure that we keep pests down to a level where they're not, you know, coming on either directly to an ag field or indirectly affecting a farms in some way. Um, and so it's all even, you know, we have direct programs that are helping the farmer and we have the sort of indirect things we do that may not seem like we're working on a farm, but what we're doing on that piece of land is going to impact the farm in the long run. So it sounds like there's, there's a lot of work that has to be done on the front end just to make sure crops grow healthy. Would it be accurate to say that PPD is kind of there every step of the process and that's why it's so important to agriculture? Yeah, I think that is, uh, a really good point and we are, we are engaged at multiple points along the production and sale process. So then let's talk about too, um, if PPD is so important to agriculture, uh, and agriculture is so important to people by the transit of property, that means PPD is also important to individuals and the public. And we talked a little bit about ways that PPD does outreach to public, um, stakeholders, but also how public stakeholders might come to PPD. Um, but I would also be curious how, how are folks who maybe like the idea of plant protection division but don't think that it's even in government because they've never heard of PPD, um, how, how might they be affected by the work that, that plant, that the plant protection division does? Yeah, well, I mean, everybody is in some way and that's a great saying I think is like everybody has to eat. So agriculture is extremely important. And so, you know, and everybody. Um, when they're, they're buying their food, you know, at some point far back in that food chain process, we were probably involved in some way in, in that food getting ultimately to that person's, uh, home and plate. Uh, similarly, you know, someone, uh, goes into the store as a consumer to buy a package of seeds. You know, again, the fact that that label is going to match what's in the package has in part to do with our work in ensuring that, um, the truth in labeling for seed sales. That's the, that's the safety part, correct? Yeah, exactly. Um, and, uh, um, you know, consumer protection, as you could say. Uh, similarly, if you're buying a tree to plant in your yard, well that's, you know, that tree would have been certified as free from harmful pests and disease in its, you know, lifetime of being produced. So, um, even if you don't know who we are, and for sure, indirectly at least, we're, we're impacting everyone's lives in Minnesota. Yeah, and there's the public health part of it. I'll be like an example would be with noxious weed management Uh, some of the shrub species that are invasive, we've had studies done that show an increase in deer tick populations and, uh, you know, that affects people directly. And so trying to control or at least making the public aware of that, uh, that species try to keep it under control, not, you know, have those adverse effects. You can't take an aerial view of the Twin Cities now and not see the dead ash that, Okay. You know, some folks have four or five trees in their yard. How are they going to afford to cut those down? Well, on the front end, we were trying to stave off that invasion. And we're not always, uh, totally successful, but I think that we learned a lot. And we made a lot of relationships with landowners and figured out, okay, how do we approach the next issue? Palmer Amaranth was, uh, more directly involved in crop production. And that one we have had more success with. So, Um, I think Mark's right where the people don't always see what we do, but it's out there and, uh, we try to engage with the public as much as we can to let them know what we're doing and why we're doing it. But, but, so it, it does sound like there are a lot of programs and a lot of efforts that are being done in PPD, um, and especially you, Tony, with, with seed and noxious weed and hemp and biotech, you're, you're kind of, you've got your hands in a lot of different places. Are there any other case studies or success stories that you'd want to speak to that PPD could point to as reasons that their work is effective and useful for people in Minnesota? Yeah, we've got several and I think invasive species are kind of good case studies to highlight and I know Tony's got several good ones for weed. Um, and some invasive species are a force of nature. I mean, emerald ash borer is a good example where, you know, we knew it was a losing battle to start with, but we did everything we could to draw out that battle as long as we could because that, that gives people time to prepare and, and, you know, get ready for it to arrive with them. Other invasives, you know, we've got, uh, a little bit more control over what happens. And so in recent years, we've had a few detections. Our own specialty crops in Minnesota, which we work pretty hard to monitor, um, new pests and disease coming in on where they've been found early and we've been able to, um, you know, eradicate, um, working with those growers at those sites and, you know, prevent them from becoming established in Minnesota, which not only then. It has, you know, impacts on production practices, but also it gets back to that market access and limiting our ability to reach certain markets if we've got, uh, you know, a particular pathogen or insect here. And I think a really important part around those success stories has been good partnerships. So we have, um, really good partnerships that we've developed with our, um, uh, sister agencies in Minnesota, including in particular university of Minnesota where we work very closely, um, with them. Not only on the, the detection, um, aspects, so, uh, some of the detections that we've had have come out of the plant disease clinic where, um, a grower submitted a sample and then we've become aware and been able to work with them. But then also the, the research then to like, what does that detection mean? And what, what are the pieces that we don't know that are going to be important for growers in Minnesota? to either be vigilant or to take management, uh, practices that are going to be effective. And so those, uh, partnerships are really, uh, been critical really to everything we've done. Yeah. And we have, you know, relationships with even just landowners that have, that own significant amount of land that, We've worked with them, uh, to, you know, help them with restoration where they have, uh, maybe old growth forest with a ton of buckthorn in it or prairie areas with invasives like leafy spurge or spotted knapweed. And, and they regularly reach out to us and, um, we try to work with them to develop a plan. You know, every site is unique and, um, when they succeed, those are living examples of, you know, not only our knowledge and where we can help, but how to do something right. And we have a lot of those types of relationships with just landowners throughout Minnesota. So, um, you know, farmers and rural landowners are a big part of it, but also urban, you know, small little backyards and, you know, we don't discriminate against anyone. We, we work in, in big and small. Another example, Tony should talk about that is really notable is Palmer Amaranth, where, you know, we have had multiple introductions that have not taken off. And that's been really in large part due to, to, uh. Working in the agency, but again, with partners. Yeah, I mean, we, we heard about Palmer Amaranth for years from weed scientists south of us, because it's a southern weed that moved north. And most of the listeners will know that Canada is above us. We're the last state before that. And we were the only, and I would say, first main state to, uh, really take Palmer seriously. And, um, we've bought in farmers time. Uh, you know, Palmer is going to keep coming, um, and it, you know, it will establish, but at least our efforts with working with not just the farmers directly, uh, but with commodity groups, um, and different ag associations that also get the message out to those farmers. So, um, you know, most of our reports come from farmers. And most of the success comes from the farmers doing the work. And that's really what we need to emphasize, because our division is not super giant in terms of people. We're pretty lean and mean, and we can operate that way because we emphasize developing those partnerships. For those who aren't familiar with Palmer Amaranth, would you be able to speak to why it's so dangerous? Yeah, so Palmer Amaranth is, uh, native to the southwest, uh, U. S. and north, northwest part of Mexico. Um, basically Roundup Ready Agriculture, when it came into play, was so successful at controlling weeds in cotton and so forth in the south. That, uh, aggressive Palmer amaranth, which is a pigweed and very aggressive, can move very quickly throughout the landscape, was able to just spread into areas where it normally wouldn't have competed with these other species that Roundup was starting to control. And it literally has moved its way north. And it's, uh, it's very dynamic in terms of genetics. So it can, um, it, it, it can modify itself and become resistance to, resistant to, uh, herbicides and, you know, which is one of the main. tools and conventional ag. So that's a very, very scary proposition for a farmer when your tools don't work. Uh, so Palmer has been that kind of a scary threat for us. But I think one of the things we've been able to do in the agency is by directly working with the farmers and the landowners throughout the state and saying, Hey, there's a way we can do this. Let's take the fear out of it. And let's just go to work, it's going to come, we're going to figure it out, we'll identify it, we'll, we'll, we'll manage it the best we can and, and, and that's really the kind of message that we want to get out there to everyone. Well, and to return to what you were saying about the importance of partnerships and relationships, um, those can be a big part of taking the fear out of it, right? If, if we are a lean and mean agency, um, like you said, then, then having people support. The work of MDA from the outside can be a way to make MDA more effective without causing a panic. But, but to that point, I want to plug this podcast as well, because part of what we're trying to do here is connect with listeners who might be interested in participating in MDA's work in some way, especially PPD's work. And so for those listeners who are interested in engaging further, are there ways that they could follow along with the work that PPD is doing or ways that you would recommend they engage with the work of PPD? Yeah, you know, um, it's a big part of what we do is trying to make those connections with the public because, as we talked about before, that's a great source of information for us in terms of finding new invasives that, um, you know, we're not aware of that could be important. Um, so we do, uh, quite a bit of work, uh, to try and engage with people and get information out to them. We do several newsletters, um, that are, you know, available people can subscribe to to get information on. So, yeah, that is an important part of our work. And we're trying to do more. I mean, a lot of our material is accessible online. And we've tried to make that, uh, you know, a premier aspect to our outreach. Um, but, uh, People can call us. We do site visits. We, you know, interact with master gardeners. They can, they can reach out to our, each one of our counties has a county agricultural inspector, which is unique for us that we work closely with. So there are the eyes and ears for each county. And then, you know, we have the township supervisors all the way down to the city mayors. We're connected in some way, virtually to all parts of the state, even though we're We're out here in eastern, you know, Minnesota in the Twin Cities metro. Um, we have, you know, our reach out into the most rural parts of the state. So, it's not hard to get in touch with us and to participate. Um, we have, uh, relationships with identifying pests. We have a report a pest, you know, web page where people can, um, report things to us. And that's how we'd prefer actually to get, uh, reports other than a phone call. Go through our website because. That allows us to keep track of things, create case files, keep track of metrics. And, um, we have our Weed of the Month, uh, column we do with the Noxious Weed Program. Um, you know, we're virtually, uh, busting with information on the web, you know, of, of all kinds of stuff. We're hoping to, um, accelerate some of that with more of a visual aspect. Um, we have a drone now that we're going to try to, uh, utilize in both insect disease, uh, the weed side of things, um, even our hemp program or, you know, could possibly be used on our grain program just to see what we do from a different perspective. So, um, there's a lot that we're constantly developing and that's what I really like about this division and it's something we didn't really touch on. We have a regulatory aspect, but we also have a huge creative side and the staff we have, I mean, Mark, I think you'd agree, Beyond creative and coming up with, you know, new ideas for outreach new ideas to communicate and new ideas to pull people in In the general public and throughout the state to participate with the program Well, thank you both for for pardon my pun, but getting into the weeds with us today There's a lot of important information that you shared and to take us back to the beginning I think my takeaway is just that PPD is a very complex division with, and it's multi faceted and it's multi pronged and there's a lot going on and there are also a lot of ways for interested parties to connect with PPD. Because partnerships and relationships are central to PPD's work. Um, I want to just take a step back now and give you a chance to talk about something a little more light hearted. Um, are there any fun stories or, or funny coincidences, instances that you've collected over your time at PPD? Because You both are kind of the most significant PPD experts out there. And I'm sure that with all the complexity of the division also comes some very funny moments. Yeah, well, Tony and I have worked together for a long time. So, um, we've both been here for 25 years or so. And I think, you know, um, yeah, Plant Protection, we're based in St. Paul's Department of Agriculture, but our people are all over the state. And really, we are a field focused organization. Division, most of our people spend most of their time in the field, which means that most of our funny stories, I think get back to unpleasant field conditions because that's, you know, , there's, everyone has had, uh, bad weather or bad insects or, or what have you. Um, and so you know that when I think back on, um, things that I think are funny, they're usually kind of grounded in misery. Um. One example that I will just, I can quickly tell is, um, uh, relates to emerald ash borer. And so when emerald ash borer was still relatively new in Minnesota, it was in the extreme southeastern part of the state. So, and, uh, really it was on the, along the Mississippi river. And there was, uh, an island, uh, as it was, um, you know, kind of coming through from Wisconsin and Iowa, where we were going to do some work, uh, biocontrol for emerald ash borer. That island was covered with nettles that were about six feet tall. And, uh, none of us had anticipated that going in that, for that day of field work. So we spent, uh, a day kind of tramping around in six foot tall nettles, um, uh, doing this work for Emerald Ash Borer Biocontrol and, um, had a really hard time finding anybody to go back for the next trip after that, but it was, uh, we got the work done anyway. I, I have another biocontrol on the weed side of things. So when I moved up here in, uh, 98 and started with the department, I led the weed biocontrol program. We were taking over from the United States Department of Agriculture within the state. We had a huge problem with leafy spurge across the state, which is, it's toxic to livestock and it affects grazing lands. And one of the things that, uh, I'm sure Mark can relate to, we do spend a lot of time in rural Minnesota. We aren't just hanging out in the, at the capital in, in Twin Cities. And we're meeting with farmers and you get sized up quite often. And even though I grew up in a rural area in Iowa, you get, uh, kind of labeled as a city boy, you know? And so there was these ranchers out in Yellow Medicine County And we had this leafy spurge bio control collection where we had a field site, we had released these host specific leaf eating beetles that eat up the spurge, and we were collecting them from there and moving them to new sites. And so we invited farmers out to, you know, that had leafy spurge in their pastures to try this new, novel thing that wasn't going to cost you any money, and you throw them out and you don't have to go out and apply herbicides every year. And so this one, uh, farmer showed up and he just wasn't having it. We were, you know, you, to do this, you have to have these butterfly nets that you run around with. And he was looking at me like, what's a grown man doing with a, you know, butterfly net, uh, trying to convince me to control my weeds. And I'll tell you what, he stuck it out and we handed him. He wouldn't take the butterfly net that day. But we handed him a little container of beetles we collected, and he threw them on his property, and he called me the next year and years after that, and he had all his friends tied into it, and we, as a matter of fact, gave him, supplied him and his friends with butterfly nets, and they went out and collected beetles. It's probably still out there doing it to this day, uh, convinced that this was the way to go. And, um, I just, I always thought that was kind of funny because, uh, he, that first day he was like, this just isn't right, you know, and then all of a sudden him and his buddies are out there with butterfly nuts, you know, and moving the stuff around. So. That's awesome. Changing hearts and minds. Yes, yes. Well, I think that would be a great note to end on. So, thank you again, Mark and Tony, for being here. It has been an absolute joy chatting with you both. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. This has been Smarty Plants, a podcast from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Our producer is Brittany Raveil, our editor is Larry Schumacher, and I have been your host, Eidan Silver. You can learn more about pests and other invasive species that affect our environment at www. mda. state. mn. us slash plants dash insects. And while you head to our website, we'll be working on the next episode of Smarty Plants. See you there.