05/19/08 PNW Pest Alert website updated

Its been around for seven years and today pnwpestalert.net has a new look. Its worth checking out. The website is a co-operative effort between the University of Idaho and Oregon State University and as the name implies its intended to warn producers of potential pest problems. U of I's Jerry Neufeld says they have taken the advice of their website users and added pictures to their written alerts. NEUFELD "Then the images show up right by the alert at thumbnails and then you click on one of those thumbnails and it blows the image so you can see the pest or problem that's associated with that alert." Already this month the website posted a fruit grower meeting notice and there have been more than a half dozen alerts about Lygus bug, cereal leaf beetle, and sugarbeet root maggot. NEUFELD "I'll take pictures myself or I'll go to certain data bases like the Ken Grey data base from Oregon State University and take pictures from there. On the website as well I can cite where I got that image." You can access the website by going to www.pnwpestalert.net. And while there you can sign up and be informed of threats to crops of interest to you. By providing your name and e-mail address and selecting the crops which are important to you, you'll be assured of receiving the latest news as it is posted to the website news page. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott