April is Invasive Pest, Plant and Disease Awareness Month

Now that the nicer weather seems to have found its way to the Northwest, work is earnestly underway through fields, a large part of which is dealing with invasive species of many different types.

Eduardo Varona with USDA’s APHIS program said, “It’s the right time of the year. It’s getting warmer and this is the time when many of our invasive pests emerge and begin destroying our nation’s trees, plants and our crops.”

April is National Invasive Plant, Pest and Disease Awareness month about the damages that these species can do to our properties, economy and more.

Varona said it might surprise people to see how big an impact invasive species can have.

“On a national level, invasive species are a huge threat. They can cost our nation up to $120 billion a year in direct costs as well as indirect costs.”

Varona says there are lots of things that non-farmers can do as well to help by following regulations and quarantines and not transporting crops from one area to another if they don’t know how it will impact.