Arizona Department of Agriculture

It’s Pollinator Week! 🌻

Bees, butterflies, birds, and other local pollinators play a massive role in Arizona agriculture. They work hard behind the scenes, actively supporting the growth of our state's fruits, vegetables, nuts, and other staple crops. 🍎🍉🥕

The good news? You can support these helpful garden friends right from your own backyard! Here are three easy ways to welcome the pollinators that our local farms and gardens depend on:

🌼 Plant Desert Blooms: Add local or desert-adapted flowering plants to your yard, balcony, or patio to provide a steady source of nectar throughout the year.

💧 Provide a Watering Hole: Set out a shallow dish of water with a few pebbles or marbles inside so bees and butterflies can safely land for a refreshing sip!

🌳 Leave a Little Nature: Keep small, undisturbed patches of bare soil or twigs in your garden to create cozy resting spots for ground-nesting bees and other local pollinators.

Every little bit helps keep our Arizona farms and gardens growing strong! 🚜🌵

AZDA Deputy Director Sheldon Jones visited Rose Acre Farms’ Lincoln County Egg Farm this week as part of the Farm Foundation Round Table Tour in St. Louis this week. He was joined by Marcus Rust, Chief Visionary Officer, and Terry Anderson, Senior Vice President of Operations, both from Rose Acre Farms. Exciting to see innovation in egg farming firsthand!

Arizona Department of Agriculture is actively involved in the conversations that impact the future of North American food systems.

Recently, at the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations panel, "Feeding North America: Arizona Agriculture and the Future of Regional Trade," moderated by Allison Moore of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, AZDA Director Paul Brierley joined industry leaders Zach Fort (United Dairymen of Arizona) and Jaime Chamberlain (Chamberlain Distributing) to discuss the critical role of regional trade and cross-border collaboration.

This event provided an excellent platform to highlight how the has fostered an integrated food system among the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Attention Arizona farmers and ranchers!

If your operations were impacted by the heavy rains and flooding last fall (between September 25 and October 13, 2025), emergency assistance is available through the USDA.

Farm operators in Gila County (the primary natural disaster area) and all contiguous counties (Coconino, Graham, Maricopa, Navajo, Pinal, and Yavapai) are eligible to be considered for emergency loan assistance.

🗓️ The deadline to apply for Emergency Loans is Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026.

Don't wait! Visit fsa.usda.gov or contact the Arizona State FSA Office directly to learn more about eligibility requirements and apply today. Please share this post to help spread the word to our local agricultural community!

Following the USDA’s confirmation of a screwworm case in South Texas, emergency teams have deployed a time-tested defense: releasing sterile flies to halt the pest's lifecycle.

This isn't a new tool, it is a decades-old agricultural success story that American ranchers helped pioneer and fund. By using a natural vulnerability in the fly's biology, this method safely collapses the pest population.

👉 Swipe through to see the history of this program, why it's back on U.S. soil, and how this biological shield works to protect our food supply.

While there are zero detections in Arizona, prevention is our best asset:

🔍 Check Daily: Inspect herds frequently, focusing on wounds and newborn navels.
🩹 Treat Quickly: Clean and protect even minor cuts with vet-approved fly control.
🚨 Report Suspicious Larvae: If you find maggots burrowing deep into living tissue, isolate the animal immediately.

📥 Report potential infestations to the Office of the State Veterinarian at [email protected] so samples can be safely identified.

Our very own Dr. Wolker shared important information about New World screwworm with ABC15!

The State Veterinarian’s Office has been closely monitoring the situation since August 2025, and we are grateful for the work they continue to put in to help protect Arizona’s animals and agriculture.

Thank you, Dr. Wolker, for helping keep the public informed!

New World screwworm sounds terrifying – its larvae can actually eat living tissue in animals – but Arizona’s top veterinarian says pet owners should be alert, not alarmed.

Happy National Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Month! 🥗🌵

Did you know Arizona agriculture makes a massive, 3.7-billion-pound impact on plates across the entire country? That translates to over 24.3 BILLION servings of fresh food nationwide every single year! 🍽️

Here's the incredible breakdown of what our hardworking Arizona producers are growing to feed the nation:

🥬Leafy greens are our giant, making up 67% of our total harvest! If you are eating a salad in the winter anywhere in the U.S., there is a high chance it came from Arizona. We provide over 21 billion servings of greens annually!

🥦 From broccoli and celery to cabbage and cauliflower, staple veggies make up 18% of our harvest (nearly 1.5 billion servings). Our producers are packing millions of cartons to keep your dinners colorful and nutritious.

🍈 Arizona is a national leader in melon production! Accounting for 13% of our fresh produce, cantaloupe is actually our state's no. 3 commodity overall.

🍊 Citrus is one of Arizona's original "5 C's," and that legacy is still going strong! We are one of only four states to commercially grow citrus, providing over 245 million servings of winter sunshine and Vitamin C.

In total, Arizona producers pack and ship over 95 MILLION cartons of fresh produce annually. 🚜☀️

10 Years: Licensed, Inspected, and 100% Compliant! ✅

Happy 10th Anniversary to our Program Administrator! We ran a full audit on his decade of service and the results are officially in:
- Accuracy: 100% 🎯
- Integrity: Beyond Measure 💎
- V***r Recovery/Cleaner Burning Fuel: Highly efficient, zero emissions of doubt! ⛽💨

Thank you Mike Brooks, for 10 years of defending the measurement standards upon which Arizona commerce is built!

🚨 LIVESTOCK & PET OWNERS: Prevention Tools Recs🚨
With New World Screwworm (NWS) active, staying proactive is key to protecting your animals. The USDA (APHIS) and FDA have released critical guidelines and tools to keep herds, flocks, and pets safe. Here is what you need to know! 👇

🌟 NEW TOOL: F10 Antiseptic Wound Spray
On March 10, the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for F10 Antiseptic Wound Spray with Insecticide. This is a massive win for multi-species protection!
• Target Animals: Cattle, horses, sheep, goats, deer, raptors, wild birds, and pet birds.
• Convenience: Available Over-The-Counter (OTC) without a prescription.
⚠️ CRITICAL WARNING: This spray CANNOT be used on domestic dogs or cats.
🌾 Food Safety: Cattle, sheep, and goats must not be slaughtered within 30 days of treatment. Milk must be discarded for 10 days post-treatment.

🛡️ APHIS Checklist: Prevent Infestation
Screwworm flies lay eggs in open wounds, where larvae feed on living tissue. Stop them before they start with official APHIS protocols:
• 👀 Watch Closely: Monitor animals for irritated behavior, draining wounds, or an odor of decay.
• ✈️ Travel Smart: Ensure pets traveling internationally receive thorough screwworm inspections.
• 🛑 Fix the Pens: Handle stock carefully; check pens and equipment for sharp edges that cause cuts.
• 🍼 Protect Newborns: Treat navels/umbilical cords of newborns and all wounds immediately with an approved insecticide (like the F10 spray).
• 🪳 Stop Parasites: Protect stock from other wound-causing pests like ticks.
• 🚗 Check Vehicles: Inspect trucks and trailers for hitchhiking flies when leaving an NWS-infested zone.
• ⏳ Postpone Procedures: Delay operations that cause wounds (branding, dehorning, shearing, ear notching, tail docking, castration) if in an affected area.

📢 See something? Say something! If you spot maggots in a living wound, report it immediately to your vet, State animal health official, or local APHIS office. Quick action saves herds!

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