Posted on September 27, 2017 by southernipmcenter
In Southwest Farm Press
Sometimes looking to the past for answers pays off.
Lower input costs and better crop protection seem to be the benefits of returning to an almost forgotten cropping practice employed by the Americas in ancient times, at least according to the results of a Texas A&M research project involving vegetable and non-vegetable plants grown in an age-old farming system involving the art and science of “intercropping,” or companion crop production. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: AgriLife, companion crops, intercropping, Joe Masabni, pest control, Texas A&M, weed control | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 23, 2017 by southernipmcenter
On August 18, 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency released Pest Control in the School Environment: Implementing Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The publication is an update to its popular 1993 publication, Pest Control in the School Environment: Adopting Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The updated version reflects recent innovations in school IPM, provides links to new information, and has been redesigned into an easily printable format. It provides an overview of IPM and details the steps a school can follow to establish an IPM program.
As a smart, sensible, and sustainable approach to pest control, IPM reduces the need for routine pesticide use by utilizing sanitation, maintenance, monitoring, pest exclusion, habitat modification, human activity modification, and the judicious use of pesticides. Continue reading →
Filed under: featured | Tagged: EPA, IPM, monitoring, pest control, pest exclusion, pesticides, sanitation, School IPM | Leave a comment »
Posted on July 13, 2017 by southernipmcenter
From Insects in the City
by Michael Merchant, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
Are you looking for pest control training using a practical approach? Do you have a new employee that you’d like to provide with some of the best training available? Then you might be interested in the three new hands-on classes being offered this summer through the new IPM Experience House in Dallas. Here are this summer’s classes with information on how to register: Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: cockroaches, insect control, IPM Experience, mosquito control, pest control, Pest Management Professional, Zika | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 6, 2017 by southernipmcenter
in Southeast Farm Press
by Brad Buck
By using a combination of fumigants, University of Florida scientists believe they can surgically strike out some weeds that otherwise get in the way of vegetable growth.
Researchers with the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences have shown that farmers can place fumigants in specific zones, rather than using a single treatment for every situation. For example, fumigants applied to a specific area where weed seeds germinate can reduce the number of weeds that grow. Researchers say this will help growers as they try to manage pests in areas where they cause the most trouble. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: fumigant zones, IFAS, pest control, University of Florida, weed control | Leave a comment »
Posted on May 26, 2017 by southernipmcenter
by Gabe Saldana, Texas A&M AgriLife
A new training facility for pest management professionals has opened its doors at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Dallas, where entomologists converted a graduate student dormitory into what they now call “ground zero for pest control training in Texas.”
The facility is called IPM Experience House after the science-based approach to pest control known as integrated pest management. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: integrated pest management, IPM Experience, Michael Merchant, pest control, pest control technician, pest control training, Texas AgriLife | Leave a comment »
Posted on May 11, 2017 by southernipmcenter
in Southwest Farm Press
by Adam Russell, Texas A&M AgriLife
Crop pest populations are on the rise around Texas.
Dr. Sonja Swiger, AgriLife Extension veterinary entomologist, Stephenville, said many pests emerged earlier than usual this year due to the weather, but populations and how long they stay will depend on the weather to come. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: horn flies, house fly, insect populations, pest control, Sonja Swiger, Texas A&M, ticks | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 10, 2017 by southernipmcenter
in Southeast Farm Press
From whiteflies in southern Georgia to bollworms in North Carolina to plant bugs in Virginia, 2016 was a challenging insect year for cotton growers across the Southeast. Dominic Reisig is urging farmers to be prepared for another challenging year.
Reisig, North Carolina State University Extension entomologist, addressed “Emerging Insect Issues in the Southeast” at the annual meeting of the Southern Cotton Growers and Southeastern Cotton Ginners in Charlotte, N.C., Jan. 20, where he provided an insect situation, outlook report and control recommendations. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: bollworms, Dominic Reisig, insect control, pest control, plant bugs, whiteflies | Leave a comment »
Posted on December 8, 2016 by southernipmcenter
By Merritt Melancon, University of Georgia
From the miracle of December tomatoes to the marvel of fresh salad greens in space, greenhouses and growth chambers may play an increasing role in creating hyperlocal or hyperportable food systems.
Students in the University of Georgia Department of Horticulture’s “Protected and Controlled Environment Horticulture” course learn how high tunnels, greenhouses and growth chambers are used around the world to help extend the growing season, make farming a little less risky, provide opportunities to grow crops in extreme conditions and reduce our environmental footprint. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: disease management, high tunnel, horticulture, hyperlocal, hyperportable, pest control, plant disease, Protected agriculture, University of Georgia | Leave a comment »
Posted on December 6, 2016 by southernipmcenter
by Paul Schattenberg, Texas A&M AgriLife
Texas’ billion-dollar spinach industry was the focus of the 2016 International Spinach Conference, which brought more than 80 people from various countries to San Antonio.
The two-day conference, coordinated by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, was attended by spinach growers and shippers, as well as others involved in the agricultural and scientific aspects of spinach production. Attendees were from the U.S., Canada, China, Denmark, England, Japan and the Netherlands. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: international spinach conference, pest control, spinach, Texas AgriLife, Wintergarden | Leave a comment »
Posted on May 9, 2016 by southernipmcenter
In Insects in the City
It seems you never know what interesting places and topics pest control will lead you. This week’s rabbit trail for me was a discussion on how best to “fill tree holes” that are a common mosquito breeding site.
With the heightened interest in mosquito control and Zika virus this summer, tree holes are a significant problem. When a limb dies back or fails on a tree, the result is often a pocket in the tree that is capable of holding water. It turns out that such water-filled tree holes are perfect breeding sites for some mosquitoes, including Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti, the two potential Zika-carrying mosquitoes. Continue reading →
Filed under: news | Tagged: insects in the city, mosquito control, pest control, tree holes, Zika | Leave a comment »