something orange and slimey is growing on my red cedar. what is it and is it benign or bad.

like this?
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildfl...

Yeah, that's a weird one. Could also be slim flux or a fungus. Can you post photos?

@feenstra1974 Welocome to NGA!

I agree with @sallyg on this, probably cedar-apple rust. Always kind of surprising to see it! Such odd growths. It's not usually harmful to the cedar.

But it is damaging to the apples and crabapples that are infected as the "alternate hosts".

The link Sally provided has images and information about dealing with it.

Pat

Yeah that rust harms both the cedar and the apple / hawthorn / quince / whatever...

State of the art is to pick one... either grow apple relatives, OR grow cedar, and make sure the entire subdivision is on the same page.