Research finds that intercropping improves weed and insect control

Posted on September 27, 2017 by rhallberg

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 →

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EPA Releases Update to Popular School Integrated Pest Management Publication

Posted on August 23, 2017 by rhallberg

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 →

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Trainings at Texas’s IPM Experience House

Posted on July 13, 2017 by rhallberg

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 →

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Florida research helps vegetable farmers manage weeds

Posted on June 6, 2017 by rhallberg

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 →

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New Texas A&M AgriLife facility trains pest control pros

Posted on May 26, 2017 by rhallberg

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 →

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Pest populations rising in Texas

Posted on May 11, 2017 by rhallberg

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 →

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Experts expect insect problems to get worse

Posted on February 10, 2017 by rhallberg

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 →

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