Idaho In Action / Regulated and Invasive Insect Pest/ Additional Info

The Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS)
Program in Idaho Agriculture

The Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey Program (CAPS) is a federal program coordinated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) in collaboration with state departments of agriculture, universities and other entities. The CAPS Program provides funding and support for the state partners to conduct science-based surveys for exotic plant pests, diseases and weeds that have been identified as threats to U.S. agriculture and facilitates early detection, rapid response and management actions needed to address introduced pests that threaten US agricultural and natural ecosystems.

For many years, the Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) has partnered with CAPS to protect Idaho agriculture from introductions of high risk invasive pests that could damage Idaho crops and forests and negatively impact export activities.

Each year ISDA enters into cooperative agreements with USDA APHIS PPQ for funding to detect invasive pests. Surveys conducted through the CAPS Program in Idaho fields, forests, plant nurseries and urban areas represent an important line of defense against the entry and establishment of new harmful plant pests and weeds.

Nursery and retail plants SURVEY

Idaho's nursery and greenhouse growers contributed an estimated $1.7 billion in total sales in 2022, with products like plants, trees, flowers and produce starts accounting for $987 million of that total, according to the Idaho Nursery Landscape Association. Idaho's nursery products are widely distributed throughout the U.S., reinforcing the state's reputation as a quality horticultural leader. Of the total sales, 57% came from products and 40% from services. The market value of crops grown in Idaho, including nursery and greenhouse crops, was almost $4.8 billion in 2022.

Idaho’s Nursery and greenhouse production is a top 10 Idaho crop sector. Field-grown nursery products account for 75% of nursery sales, with greenhouse receipts rounding out the balance. Our diverse output ranges from sod and bedding plants to shrubs and trees.  Idaho’s nursery industry gained momentum over the last decade, growing 56% in revenue and employment, according to the Idaho labor department.

During 2025 ISDA will conduct a Nursery and Retail Plants Survey.  This survey will be conducted by two Program Specialists and the ISDA State inspectors.  Program Specialists and State inspectors will set and monitor traps in 45 nurseries and/or retail plant outlets statewide for Old World Bollworm. One plastic bucket trap with lure and kill strip, per site for Old World bollworm will be set out in mid-May and serviced biweekly for 3 months.  ISDA will also observe and sample foliage for Boxwood Blight and Ramorum Blight.  Sampling will be conducted in the following counties: Ada, Blaine, Bonneville, Boundary, Canyon, Clearwater, Gem, Jerome, Kootenai, Latah, Minidoka, Nez Perce, Teton and Twin Falls.  From Mid-May through mid -August ISDA staff will collect 150 samples for Boxwood Blight and 150 samples for Ramorum Blight.  Disease samples will be screened and confirmed by the ISDA Plant Pathology Lab using morphological and/or molecular techniques.

soybean COMMODITY SURVEY

In Idaho, soybeans are an emerging crop that falls under the umbrella of dry bean farming. Approximately 70 percent of the state’s 50,000 acres of dry beans are grown for seed and Idaho is the nation’s leader in dry bean seed production because of strict guidelines that require imported seed to be serology tested and certified as disease-free before it can be planted.

Since 2018, when Idaho’s bean rule permitted the growing of soybeans in Idaho, approximately 22 acres of soybeans have been grown in the bean seed production areas, specifically within the Treasure Valley and Magic Valley regions of the state.

During 2025 ISDA will conduct a trapping survey in the following 5 counties: Canyon, Cassia, Gem, Jerome, Owyhee and Twin Falls. The pests of concern are Golden Twin Spot Moth and Silver Y Moth. Traps will be set out in mid-June and checked by ISDA field staff every two weeks. ISDA will also conduct two visual surveys, for Yellow Witchweed.  The first visual survey will occur in mid-July and the final one in August. This survey will run for approximately three months.       

KARNAL BUNT SURVEY

Wheat, grown in 42 of Idaho’s 44 counties, is the No. 3 crop in Idaho in terms of total farm-gate revenue with its largest production areas in the eastern part of the state and the north central Palouse region. Nationally Idaho ranks ninth for wheat and wheat product exports. In 2023, Idaho farmers harvested approximately 1 million acres of wheat, which produced 82 million bushels of spring wheat and 89 million bushels of winter wheat with a combined production value of $640 million.    

The success of the Idaho wheat industry depends on its ability to export product to external markets, including the Asian market where a significant amount of the soft white wheat grown in the state is used in pastry and noodle making. The occurrence of Karnal Bunt (KB), a seed-borne fungal disease that was first identified in India in 1931, would adversely impact the state's export markets and give rise to major regulatory actions. Karnal Bunt was detected in the United States in March 1996 in durum wheat seed by the Arizona Department of Agriculture. A KB-free designation for the state of Idaho's wheat crop is critical to the industry's well-being since a high percentage of the wheat from Idaho is shipped or distributed to export markets, and many countries have a zero tolerance for KB in import shipments.

During 2025 ISDA inspectors plan to collect 40 grain samples from the following 19 counties: Ada, Bannock, Benewah, Bonneville, Butte, Camas, Caribou, Clark, Franklin, Gem, Gooding, Idaho, Jerome, Kootenai, Latah, Minidoka, Oneida, Payette and Twin Falls.

Sampling will start when grain harvest begins (typically in mid-July) and finishes by October. The samples will be tested by USDA for the presence of KB.