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Funded Project

Funding Program: Regional IPM Competitive Grants - Northeastern

Project Title: Determining the Impact of an IPM Educational Effort to Field Crops Producers

Project Director (PD): J. Keith Waldron [1]

Lead State: NY Lead Organization: Cornell University

Extension Funding: $12,855

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

Site/Commodity: field crops

Area of Emphasis: evaluation

Summary: Objectives: 1) To refine a set of IPM elements (practices) that define IPM for field crops producers in New York. 2) To document the effectiveness of six years of Cooperative Extension IPM educational outreach designed to encourage field crops producers to adopt these IPM elements. 3) To discover the strengths of the educational effort and to pinpoint where improvements are needed. 4) To pinpoint where adoption has not been successful due to a lack of acceptable scientific knowledge and methods. 5) To convey the knowledge gaps to the field crops research scientists in crop protection and production departments. Outcomes and Impacts Summary from 2001 IPM Center report In New York State, field crop farmers manage nearly 95 percent of the state's cropland. Some of these field corn and alfalfa growers have participated in IPM training with the New York State IPM Program and Cornell Cooperative Extension. Keith Waldron studied the effectiveness of these programs in convincing farmers to use IPM methods, such as monitoring crops, keeping weed maps, scouting for pests, and rotating crops, which can prevent unnecessary losses and alleviate the need for pesticides to manage certain pests. Waldron's survey of producers showed that more than 80 percent of farmers who had participated in a hands-on training program called "TAg (Tactical Agricultural) Teams" were using multiple IPM practices. About 74 percent of those who have been involved with other cooperative extension programs but not with the TAg Teams also incorporate multiple IPM practices into their farm management scheme. In contrast, only 62 percent of producers with no cooperative extension participation were using IPM in this way. Waldron's study provides excellent baseline data, allowing extension specialists to assess the effectiveness of outreach programs and to see where IPM implementation can be improved.

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