Posted on March 17, 2017 by rhallberg
From Southern SARE
For farmers in central Florida, planting cover crops in strips as a trap crop alongside cash crops is proving to be a highly effective method for attracting beneficial insects and controlling pests. Farmers have been so pleased with the results that they have fully adopted the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy as an alternative to using chemical insecticides.
In a Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SSARE) On-Farm Research Grant, two small organic farms teamed up with the University of Florida to test the prevalence of beneficial and predatory insects in strip plantings of selected annual cover crops, such as sunflower, rye, triticale, sunn hemp and buckwheat. Continue reading →
Filed under: featured | Tagged: cover crops, SARE, sustainable agriculture, trap crops, University of Florida | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 17, 2017 by rhallberg
The Southern region of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program has released its Call for Proposals for the 2018 Research & Education Grants program.
This year, applicants have a choice of whether they want to submit a systems research-based pre-proposal, or an education-based pre-proposal. Education pre-proposals allow applicants to focus on educational activities, in which their cooperating partners and intended audiences would be involved. Education proposals provide a synopsis of the proposed educational approach to mitigate or solve a problem and encourage farmer adoption of recommended practices or strategies. SSARE is looking for Education pre-proposals of around $50,000.
Filed under: funding | Tagged: research and education grants, SARE, Southern SARE | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 17, 2017 by rhallberg
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) met December 13-16, 2016, to consider a set of scientific issues being evaluated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding EPA’s evaluation of the carcinogenic potential of the herbicide glyphosate. The meeting minutes and final report from the meeting are now available.
The minutes and final report can be found on the FIFRA SAP web site (https://www.epa.gov/sap) and in the OPP Docket # EPA-HQ-OPP-2016-0385 (https://www.regulations.gov). EPA will review this document as well as other comments before making a final determination regarding the potential carcinogenicity of glyphosate. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: ecological risk assessment, EPA, FIFRA, glyphosate, pesticides | Leave a comment »
Posted on March 17, 2017 by rhallberg
by Clint Thompson, University of Georgia
As a result of two years of aggressive training to improve on-target agricultural pesticide applications, the number of pesticide drift complaints received by University of Georgia Cooperative Extension has gone down 65 percent, according to UGA Extension weed specialist Stanley Culpepper.
“No grower wants (their pesticides to) drift. I’ve said it a million times. The best way for Extension to help our growers eliminate drift is by providing them the latest research data on tactics and approaches they can implement to help them achieve their goal,” Culpepper said. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: Enlist, herbicides, pesticide drift, pesticides, Stanley Culpepper, University of Georgia | Leave a comment »
