Northeast IPM Center announces recipients of 2018 Partnership Grants

Posted on June 19, 2018 by rhallberg

To see this on the Northeast IPM Center website, go to:   http://neipmc.org/go/aBae

In 2018, the Northeastern IPM Center awarded more than $300,000 for research and outreach through its IPM Partnership Grants, a competitive funding program.

The Northeastern IPM Center began funding projects through the IPM Partnership Grants Program in 2004. Applications have come from public and private institutions or organizations, businesses, commodity groups, and private individuals. Continue reading →

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Summer Management Considerations for School Sports Fields

Posted on June 1, 2018 by rhallberg

by Becky Grubbs, Texas A&M AgriLife

Summer management for both active and inactive sports fields is critical to maintaining healthy, safe fields year-round. Even just light maintenance can make a huge difference in what is possible when school starts again in the fall. The tips below apply to all kinds of turf, from sports fields to golf courses to home lawns.

Irrigation

To prevent surface hardness from creeping up to dangerous levels, regular irrigation is important – even for those fields that remain otherwise inactive during summer months. In many parts of the state where fields are constructed atop our trademark “shrinking and swelling” clays, the lack of irrigation can result in significant cracks in the field surface by the time football season is upon us. It can take a considerable amount of time and water to properly re-saturate the fields and bring them back to a safe surface capable of supporting healthy vegetation. Deep watering even once a week during dry periods can prevent this. Water early in the morning. This will optimize water use and prevent disease on your fields as fall approaches. Monitor and correct any malfunctioning irrigation. Uniform coverage will prevent dry spots where soil will harden and pests will move in. Consider a catch can audit. Continue reading →

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Scouting for insects is still important in a home vegetable garden

Posted on May 29, 2018 by rhallberg

By Becky Griffin, University of Georgia

Whether you work on a large family farm, in a home vegetable garden, or in a small, community garden vegetable plot, routinely scouting for insects should be an important part of your vegetable-growing plan.

Insect pests can be a costly problem in vegetables. The life cycles of some insect pests are so short that missing just one week of scouting can lead to an increase in pests and damaged crops. Continue reading →

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The best defense against fleas is a good offense

Posted on May 18, 2018 by rhallberg

By Merritt Melancon, University of Georgia

With the first few weeks of hot weather under Georgia’s belt for summer 2018, dog owners across the state may notice their canine companions starting to scratch a little more often.

While fleas are active year-round in Georgia, summer means it’s time to get serious about flea control for pets and for homes.  Continue reading →

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Integrated Pest Management Tip Sheet Helps Keep Gophers Under Control

Posted on May 14, 2018 by rhallberg

Gophers are more than simple nuisances. The burrowing rodents that can cause significant damage on agricultural operations.

“Gophers: Vertebrate IPM Tip Sheet” by NCAT Agriculture Specialist Martin Guerena briefly discusses management options, including habitat modification, exclusion, repellents, predators, traps, baiting, and crop rotation. Continue reading →

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2018 All Bugs Good and Bad Webinar Series – This Friday on FLEAS

Posted on April 30, 2018 by rhallberg

Don’t forget this month’s All Bugs Good and Bad Webinar will take place this Friday, May 4 at 1:00 pm Central Time. Fleas have you down? A pest of both homes and our pets, populations can quickly get away from us. Running and grabbing a pesticide generally doesn’t work unless you understand their biology and life cycle. Join us as Dr. Nancy Hinkle, Professor Veterinary Entomology, University of Georgia, gives a webinar filled with information to help us get flea populations under control BEFORE they escalate. We hope you can attend the webinar live, but if you are unable to make it, a recording will be posted online next week.

Webinar link: https://auburn.zoom.us/j/209793415
Continue reading →

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Tips for managing spring Insect pests

Posted on April 13, 2018 by rhallberg

posted in the IPM Communicator by Ann Chambliss, Alabama Cooperative Extension Service

There are thousands of insects in residential ecosystems, most of which emerge in response to the weather, temperature in particular. Spring weather conditions can change considerably from year to year, so can the time to take action against a certain insect. For centuries, people have used plant phenology (blooms, leaf flush) as nature’s signs to set up wasp traps and mend window screens to fend off house flies. Phenology uses the correlation of recurring seasonal plant and insect life cycle stages, rather than calendar date, to predict the activity of pests.

Though the exact dates of emergence of the same species may vary from year to year, pest emergence around homes in Alabama occurs in a very similar order every year. The temperature-dependent biology of insects makes them better in tune with an ever changing climate, than the calendar. Continue reading →

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