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Funded Project

Funding Program: Regional IPM Competitive Grants - Northeastern

Project Title: Linking Northeast Pest and Crop Models to Electronic Bulletin Boards

Project Director (PD): Curt Petzoldt [1]

Lead State: NY Lead Organization: Cornell University

Extension Funding: $13,379

Start Date: Sep-01-1997 End Date: Aug-31-1998

Site/Commodity: field crops, ornamentals

Area of Emphasis: pest model, weather model

Summary: Objectives: 1) Locate the crop and pest models that predict pest development for field and ornamentals crops. 2) Convert, through software adaptation, the models so that they automatically run on the NEWA electronic weather network. This includes providing grower-friendly outputs either in fax form or in electronic bulletin board form. 3) To relay this information to those making pest and crop management decisions in field crops and ornamentals in the Northeast through either daily fax messages or through dial-up electronic bulletin boards. Outcomes and Impacts Summary from 2001 IPM Center report Weather plays a key role in many pest forecasting models because pests respond to such factors as heat and moisture in the air. In 1995, cuts in governmental support for agricultural weather services led producers and other agricultural experts to explore alternatives for collecting and disseminating crucial weather data and forecasts to growers in the Northeast. Some farmers, processors, consultants, and agribusiness groups who owned field weather instruments got together to form the Northeast Weather Association (NEWA), an organization that makes expert use of existing resources by compiling the data from these instruments to develop and run pest forecast models. IPM specialist Curtis Petzoldt identified models that predict pest development for key crops and made them available through NEWA's electronic weather network (newa.nysaes.cornell.edu). The network provides NEWA's 50 members with userfriendly downloads and faxes that translate weather information into IPM recommendations. This service can help growers to (1) reduce pesticide use by 50 percent on grapes, (2) reduce fungicide use by 50 percent on onions and potatoes, and (3) reduce fungicides by 30 percent on apples and tomatoes. For some growers, these reductions have translated to savings as high as $20,000 per year, a great return on a membership fee of less than $500. NEWA's consultant and agribusiness members extend the knowledge to nonmembers, and researchers use the data to develop new models for pest forecasting.

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