![](/images/2024/graphics/FeaturedNews/GoatShow300.png)
The Washington County Goat Association and Washington County Fair Board are hosting an Open Goat Show on Saturday, June 8, 2024 at the Washington County Fairgrounds Livestock Pavilion.
There will be classes for both dairy and meat breeds of goats including breeding does, market does, market wethers, and showmanship.
Goats may start arriving at 12 p.m. Weigh-in is from 12-2 p.m.
The show will start at 3 p.m. with dairy goat showmanship classes.
Anyone needing rules or more information about the show should contact the Angela Kelley with the Washington County Goat Association at 812-620-2401, the Purdue Extension - Washington County Office at 812-883-4601, or visit the website https://extension.purdue.edu/washington.
Concessions will be available.
The public is invited to come watch the show.
![](/images/DNR_EntomologyPlants.png)
Weekly Review for May 9, 2024
This informal report by the Division of Entomology & Plant Pathology is a commentary on insects, diseases, and curiosities division staff encounter on a week-to-week basis. Comments and questions about this report are welcome and can be sent to your respective Inspector.
Angela Rust (Nursery Inspector & Compliance Officer) -
I’ve attached a photo this week of adult weevil feeding damage on roses. Irregular notching around the edges of roses and other ornamentals is a sign of adult weevil feeding. Adults will not likely be seen unless you survey the plants at night because that’s when feeding occurs. The larvae of weevils are in the soil and feed on plant roots. Beneficial nematodes are commercially available to control root-feeding larvae or insecticides. They can be applied to target adults when notching damage appears on leaves. Several species of weevils feed on ornamental plants.
Eastern tent caterpillars in this area are maturing and leaving nests in trees to find a protective location to pupate. I’ve already been seeing a lot of Botrytis blight on geraniums. We have had a fair amount of rain this spring and this part of the state tends to be very humid. These are ideal conditions for development of Botrytis fungus. Symptoms can start as spots on leaves, cut stems, or flowers and then spots can enlarge or join together to form a large brown blighted area which causes leaves or flowers to wilt and die. Watering plants from the base instead of overhead and not overcrowding plants can help with prevention. Trimming out early signs of infected leaves and disinfecting shears in between cuts can help prevent spread. There are also fungicides available to help control this problem.
Jared Spokowsky (Nursery Inspetor & Compliance Officer) -
I was asked to look at some nucs that were brought into the state this past week. I saw spotty brood, jagged torn open cappings and a foul odor. Those are typical American Foulbrood symptoms and should raise some alarm bells with any beekeeper, but it’s important to look carefully because things are not always what they appear to be at first glance. There was no oil residue on top of cappings and none of the cappings were sunken. Upon further investigation when capped cells were opened there was no decomposing brood and no open cells showed signs of hardened scale in the bottoms. When the contents of the cells were scrambled you could not get any material to rope out. This led me to look for other causes.
The most prominent other symptom was the presence of quite a bit of chewed down brood. Chewed down brood is indicative of Parasitic Mite Syndrome (PMS). PMS is basically when mite populations have gotten out of control and the bees are no longer strong enough to keep up with maintaining basic hive functions. However, in this case I could not find a single mite after removing dozens of bees from capped cells and the beekeeper had stated that they were treated prior to being moved. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that all the symptoms were the result of chilled brood. The bees had been brought in during a cold snap the previous night and had a 6+ hour drive. Furthermore, a lot of the brood frames had been placed on the outside frame of the nuc.
I was also forwarded another report of dying boxwood. If you’re not familiar with boxwoods, they are a very popular evergreen landscape plant. Over the past few years there has been concern that boxwood blight could wipe them out. Although boxwood blight has been a problem, we have not seen it readily establish here in Indiana even after intercepting it multiple times on incoming nursery stock and finding it in isolated landscapes.
Now the Box Tree Moth (BTM) is another problem that Indiana boxwood will most likely face soon. Native to China and the Korean Peninsula, it was found in Europe in 2006 and then in Canada in 2018/ It has now been found in four U.S. states (Michigan, Ohio, New York, and Massachusetts). BTM is a voracious foliar feeder and can completely defoliate an entire boxwood in a single season. For more information on BTM please visit this Cornell Link. Thankfully, the residence I was called out to look at had a combination of cold damage from the winter and a heavy infestation of boxwood psyllid whose feeding damage will cause some cupping to the leaves but poses no significant threat to boxwoods.
Vince Burkle (Assistant Division Director & Nursery Inspector) -
Will Drews (Nursery Inspector & Compliance Officer) -
During a recent inspection, I found a Hosta ‘Twilight’ plant with some unusual foliar characteristics. It had some discoloration to the leaves and a fair bit of bumpy, puckering, mottled sections (see below photos). After sending a sample to Purdue’s Plant and Pest Diagnostic Lab, it was confirmed that this plant was infected with hosta virus X (HVX).
HVX is a virus that impacts all hosta cultivars. Symptoms include discoloration around the leaf veins, leaf mottling, puckering, and ringspots. In severe cases, this can lead to wilting and necrosis. Symptom presence varies among different cultivars. If you suspect HVX presence, it is wise to send a sample to a plant diagnostic lab for confirmation.
HVX is unfortunately not treatable and is spread via the sap of infected plants. Infected plants should be removed and incinerated or bagged and trashed. Do not compost infected material as it can spread the virus.
For more information, check out this Purdue University Landscape Report.
![](/images/WC_Sheep.png)
The Washington County Open Sheep Show will be Saturday, June 1, at the Washington County Fairgrounds. The event is sponsored by the Washington County Sheep Association and the Washington County Fair Board.
The Washington County Sheet Association will have food and drink concessions available.
Sheep related vendors are welcome to participate.
Check-in is 8-10 a.m. EDT; weigh-in 8:30-10 a.m.; Showmanship Starts 12:30 p.m. and Market Classes Start 30 minutes after the conclusion of Showmanship.
Showmanship will be based on grade as of 1/1/24. The Peewee Fun Class is for third grade and under. There is no entry fee and the winner receives a trophy.
There is a $5 entry fee for Juniors (grades 3-5), Intermediate (grades 6-8), Seniors (grades 9-12) and Adults. Winners receive $25.
Classes will include:
Market Lambs, Wethers and Ewes shown together by weight. Supreme Market Lamb receives $100 and banner. Reserve Market Lamb receives $50.
Washington County Only Market Lambs—first place received $25, second place receives $15.
Wool and Hair Breeding Ewes and Rams includes Junior Lambs (born March or later), Lambs, Yearlings and Ages shown by breed. Supreme Ewes receive $100 and banner. Reserve Ewes receive $50. Supreme Rams receive $50 and banner. Reserve Rams receive $25. Supreme Flock receives banner.
RULES:
Premise ID required at entry.
Sheep (excluding wethers) must have a scrapie tag.
Entry fee is $12/head ($8 for Washington County Residents. No fee if in Washington County only market lamb class)
Sheep should not be unloaded until checked at the designated area on the west side of the Livestock Pavilion.
Wool market lambs must be slick shorn (no more that 1/2 inch of fleece at check-in).
Ewe lambs may not be shown in both market and breeding classes.
Breeding sheep must have registration papers to show in purebred classes. All other breeding sheep will show in Commercial Wool or Hair classes.
Farm Flocks include one ram (any age) and four ewes (Aged/Yearlings/Lambs in any combination.)
Exhibitors are responsible for bedding and clean-up.
Show committee makes final decisions and reserves the right to disqualify any exhibitor and/or their animal due to abusive, unethical, deceptive or fraudulent practices.
For more information contact Jason Webster (WCSA president) at 812-725-5700 or Purdue Extension/Washington County at
The sponsors will not be held responsible for accidents.
![](/images/IN_DNR.png)
This informal report by the Division of Entomology & Plant Pathology is a commentary on insects, diseases, and curiosities division staff encounter on a week-to-week basis. Comments and questions about this report are welcome and can be sent to your respective Inspector.
Our Website
Inspector Territories
Jared Spokowsky (Nursery Inspetor & Compliance Officer) -
Still relatively slow with nursery inspections. I was able to find quite a few samples of azalea and rhododendron which we take for a Sudden Oak Death survey. Phytophthora ramorum is the causal agent for Sudden Oak Death which has been a problem in the Pacific Northwest for many years. Our division takes hundreds of samples each year looking for diseased material and we have intercepted it in previous years on nursery stock. The host list is extensive and includes many plants outside of the Quercus genus. For more information on SOD click this link.
I did manage to find a healthy population of oleander aphid on swamp milkweed in a greenhouse. There were quite a few natural predators present but the aphids had a pretty good head start on them.
Anyone looking for cover crop choices for feeding bees should take a look at yellow mustard. It is a winter annual which if planted in the fall will survive until the spring and is fast to bloom.
Lastly, if anyone is interested in brushing up on their honeybee disease ID I would suggest taking a look at this link. Meg Milbrath at Michigan State University has put together a good slideshow with a variety of disease photos in a quiz format. For anyone who doesn't get to see many diseased hives, this gives a pretty good idea of what you would need to be able to ID when trying to diagnose one. I’ll also be giving a disease ID presentation on May 11 at the Northeast Indiana Beekeepers Association field day at Wheeler’s Bees as well as the Purdue Field Day put on by the Beekeepers of Indiana at the Beck Agricultural Center on June 15 (registration deadline June 8). And if you think you have a disease issue feel free to call me, even if you know what it is. I need examples to help cross-train the rest of our staff so please don’t hesitate to drop me a line at 317-447-0084.
Kristy Stultz (Nursery Inspector & Compliance Officer) -
Reminder: Aerial spraying for Lymantria dispar, now called spongy moth, is planned for the week of May 5 in part of North Manchester and a small area east of Berne in Adams County.
Treatments may be delayed due to weather.
During treatment an airplane flying 75-100 feet above the treetops will conduct treatment, starting at sunrise and continuing throughout the day as weather and flight schedules permit.
A second treatment will occur four to 10 days after the first.
People who live or work near the treatment areas might want to stay inside when the planes are flying and for about 30 minutes after treatments are complete. This gives the material time to settle out of the air and stick to treetops.
For more information on the treatments, call toll-free 1-866-NO-EXOTIC (663-9684), go to on.IN.gov/spongymoth or contact your county extension office. Follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @INdnrinvasive for continued updates.
Will Drews (Nursery Inspector & Compliance Officer) -
Besides nursery inspections, our division assists with phytosanitary inspections in partnership with the USDA’s APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine staff. In my area, I assist mainly with log inspections and ensure the commodities are relatively pest free before leaving the country or, if not, make sure they will be treated beforehand. The images below show some of the insect pest activity I’ve spotted recently during log inspections.
![](/images/Beef_4.jpg)
Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA)
The Indiana Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program (MPILP) is a $15 million revolving loan program that assists Indiana meat and poultry packers and processors with access to affordable capital for meat expansion projects. This intermediary lending program addresses critical meat expansion needs, which developed and have continued since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program will support local livestock producers by allowing their market ready livestock to be processed within their communities by reducing processing booking delays. ISDA will be working closely with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), who will serve as the intermediary lender. ISDA is also partnering with the Indiana Small Business Development Centers (ISBDC) who will assist in development of meat expansion projects and loan packages with local meat packers and processors.
Download the MPILP Grant Program One-Pager HERE.
TIMELINE:
Pre- applications will open April 1, 2024 at 8:00 a.m. ET.
Click here for the pre-application.
This program has a rolling application timeline which means applications can be submitted at any time.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE:
Indiana small and very small meat and poultry packers and processors that are not members of “the big four.” For example, in beef processing, “the big four” include Cargill, Tyson Foods, JBS SA and National Beef Packing.
ELIGIBLE EXPENSES MAY INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:
Indiana Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program MPILP eligible uses include:
- Expansion of existing business
- Start-up of new business
- Real estate purchase
- New construction
- Facilities update or expansion
- Equipment purchase
- Energy efficiency upgrades to facilities and equipment
- Purchase of an existing business
- Working capital
- Pollution control such as wastewater management
ELIGIBILITY:
Meat & Poultry Processing Loans are available to primary (slaughter) and secondary (cut, pack, value-added) meat processors. Processors must either be federal USDA inspected or state inspected by the Board of Animal Health BOAH to be eligible. Loans are available only to small and very small meat and poultry processors in the state of Indiana.
LOCAL BANK PARTICIPATION:
Indiana MPILP funds are available through local bank participation loans. Our MPILP team will work directly with you and your local banks to determine the structure of the local bank participation loan.
RATES & FEES:
Current Indiana MPILP fund rates are 3% for building and equipment, 2% for wastewater projects. The local bank rates will be current market loan rates. A local bank participation loan where MPILP funds are used will end up with a “blended” interest rate which will assist your business by lowering your overall interest rate. Loan fees will be the standard closing fees used by the local banks.
ISDA is working closely with the Indiana Banking Association (IBA) to encourage local bank participation on the meat expansion revolving loans that will result in blended interest rates while preserving local bank relationships.
TERMS:
The amortization period for MPILP funds can be from 1 to 15 years based on the term requirements from the local bank. In general, terms will match the useful life of the business asset being financed. Longer term loans may utilize periodic balloon payments with option to refinance based on the local bank eligibility.
LOAN LIMITS:
Indiana MPILP funds may range from $100,000 to $5 million.
OWNER EQUITY:
In general, MPILP funds will have the same requirements that an owner has made to the local bank. Owners must make a financial investment of 10% to 20% of the requested loan amount.
COLLATERAL REQUIREMENTS:
MPILP loans through local bank participation are typically collateralized by business and/or personal assets.
UNDERWRITING PROCESS:
Loans will be underwritten based on historic and projected cash flows with demonstrated ability to repay being the primary underwriting consideration. All MPILP loans require concurrence from USDA on the underwriting recommendation. The Indiana MPILP team will lead the loan concurrence process with the USDA.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS:
A partial list of required documents appears below. Each loan is unique, and additional documents may be required based on the circumstances of the loan.
- Business financials statements
- Year-to-date profit and loss statement
- Current business balance sheet
- Business tax returns
- Proof of business ownership
- Trade name registration, if applicable
- Schedule of sources and uses
- Proof of personal equity injection
- Business plan
- Business bank statements
- Personal financial statement
- Personal tax returns
- Environmental review, if required by USDA and by project
MPILP SUPPORT:
The Indiana MPILP Team will help advise you throughout the loan development and term, providing support as needed. We will refer you to a regional Indiana Small Business Development Center ISBDC, https://isbdc.org/ to assist in business plan development and important financial planning. Access to the business professionals through the Indiana Small Business Development Centers ISBDC is a free service.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
For information regarding the Indiana Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program, please contact our Indiana MPILP team at
Indiana’s Inventory Of Lost Farmland 2010-2022
01 Jul 2024
Indiana FFA elects 2024-25 State Officers
28 Jun 2024
DNR Weekly Review For June 21
21 Jun 2024
Purdue Small Farm Education Field Day
18 Jun 2024
DNR Weekly Review For May 29
30 May 2024
Highlight Your Photography Talents With The Indiana Agriculture Photo Contest
30 May 2024
Ag. Hall of Fame Award Announcement During Washington County Fair
30 May 2024
Weekly Review for May 22, 2024
22 May 2024
Scott & Washington Purdue Extension Master Gardener Training
17 May 2024
Indiana Conservation Groups Again Have Record Year For Conservation Practices
15 May 2024
Wash. Co. Open Goat Show Will Be June 8
13 May 2024
DNR Entomology & Plant Pathology Report May 9
10 May 2024
Wash. Co. Open Sheep Show Is June 1
02 May 2024
Weekly Review for May 1, 2024
01 May 2024
Indiana Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program (MPILP)
30 Apr 2024
30
Apr
Rural Energy for America Program Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiency Improvement Guaranteed Loans & Grants
30 Apr 2024
Farm Storage Facility Loan Program
30 Apr 2024
Motorists: Stay Alert And Share The Road With Farm Equipment
30 Apr 2024
Indiana Grown Members Connected To Local Food Buyers
26 Apr 2024
Governor Proclaims March 19 as National Ag Day
18 Mar 2024
A Taste of Lamb Event Planned for March
24 Jan 2024
Apply for a YES Grant Through Indiana 4-H Foundation
23 Jan 2024
Home
News
- More News
- More Sports
- Obituaries
- Agriculture
- Weather Forecast
- Upcoming Events
- Events Calendar
Government
- More Government News
- State & National News
- Election Information
- Public Resources
- Court News
Business
- More Business News
- Go To Guide
- Business Directory
- Real Estate
- Auctions
Education
- More Education News
Opinion
- Editorials
- Letters to the Editor
- Columns
- Unsung Heroes
- Days Gone By
- In the Garden
- Reader's Poll
- Salem Leader Forum
- Questions and Answers
Church
- Bible Aerobics
- Church News