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Funded Project

Funding Program: Enhancement Grants - State Contacts/IPM Documents

Project Title: State Contact and IPM Documents for Texas

Project Directors (PDs): Mark Matocha [1] Don L Renchie [2]

Lead State: TX Lead Organization: Texas Cooperative Extension

Undesignated Funding: $25,000

Start Date: Mar-01-2008 End Date: Feb-28-2009

Summary: The objective of this proposal is to maintain the Texas State Contact (TSC) project to serve as the primary contact for information requests related to pest management and pesticides in Texas. As a member of the communication network of the Southern Region IPM Center, the TSC works closely with the Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP), IR-4 representatives, the IPM Coordinator, research and extension specialists across the state, and commodity organizations to maintain a stakeholder network and to respond to information requests. Texas has the largest area of cultivated crops and agricultural enterprises in the United States. Stakeholders and other interested parties generate hundreds of requests annually for information on pest management, pesticide regulations, pesticide use, and pesticide storage and disposal. The development and maintenance of a primary contact source to serve stakeholders is necessary to support information requests by agricultural producers, other stakeholders and the citizens of Texas. Stakeholder networks are derived from participation in numerous meetings both statewide and local. TSC specialists travel across the state every week delivering educational programs to IPM stakeholders at county and district-based meetings. In the last year, TSC personnel participated in no less than 80 of these meetings. By interacting with clientele in person, TSC specialists are better able to identify and address IPM concerns of agricultural producers, urban clientele, commodity organizations, and others involved with IPM on a regular basis. This interaction allows AES specialists' grass-roots level access to information provided directly by IPM stakeholders. The AES Unit has also established and maintained a multi-state advisory committee that confers regularly to assess pesticide needs and priorities for minor use and ornamental crops. The Minor Use Pesticide Advisory Committee (MUPAC) is comprised of university research and extension personnel, commodity organization representatives, regulatory personnel, and grower representatives from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. TSC has developed and maintained a Texas IPM State Contact web site. Additionally, the TSC proposes to update and revise five IPM documents for the Southern Region IPM Center. The crop profiles for cantaloupes, cotton, honeydew melons, and potatoes have been identified as High Priority for revision by the TSC. Additionally, the crop profile for spinach has been identified as Medium Priority for revision while the production statistics for this crop have changed dramatically in recent years. Updating these crop profiles will remove outdated inaccurate information from the IPM network while replacing that information with accurate, pertinent production information for these crops. Objectives: 1. To serve as Texas primary contact for information requests and inquiries from SRIPMC and other federal and state agencies regarding pesticide use, pest management, and IPM activities. The timely and accurate response to information requests will be the primary focus of this objective. 2. To provide an assessment prioritizing Texas IPM documents by need and provide a list of Texas A&M University experts in IPM-related issues. 3. Maintain and improve stakeholder network primarily in Texas, with coordination from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and New Mexico including IR-4 representatives, PSEP personnel, and state IPM coordinators. 4. Attend and participate at the annual state contact meeting arranged by the Center and report on activities. 5. Maintain the Texas IPM State Contact web site with current links and information on IPM in the Southern Region and Texas. 6. Provide oversight in the development and completion of IPM documents, including Crop Profiles and Pest Management Strategic Plans and other SRIPM projects in the state. 7. To revise and update the current crop profiles for cantaloupes, cotton, honeydew melons, potatoes, and spinach. The TSC for the Southern Region IPM Center will coordinate and oversee the revision of these crop profiles, by working closely with TAMU Extension and research specialists.

Final Report:

Impacts The Texas State Contact project as a component of the Southern Region IPM Center has had a significant impact to stakeholders in Texas. This project has facilitated stakeholder input into federal research and regulatory entities. The identification of IPM priorities, the input of usage information, and the dissemination of information has allowed stakeholders across the state to remain better informed and/or become a part of the decision-making process regarding pest management tools. Critical issues to Texas, such as the cancellation of the organic arsenical herbicides and the petition to cancel 2,4-D, are broadly distributed through the TSC to stakeholders across the state.

Prioritization of Crop Profiles and PMSPs (State Contact only, required) Crop Profiles for Texas Up to Date Sorghum 2008 Cotton 2009 Potatoes 2009 Cantaloupe 2009 Honeydew 2009 Medium Priority Beans 2003 Cabbage 2003 Carrots 2003 Corn 2003 Cotton (Gin byproducts) 2001 Honeybees 2003 Onions 2003 Peaches 2003 Spinach 2003 Sugarcane 2003 Sweetpotato 2003 Watermelon 2003 High Priority Peanut 2002 Pecan 2002 Pumpkin 2002 Alfalfa 2002 High Priority (not available) Beef cattle Hay Small grains Pasture and rangeland PMSPs for Texas Up to Date Spinach 2007 Low Priority Cotton 2005 Turfgrass - SE 2004 Pecans in SE 2003 Medium Priority Citrus 2003 Peanuts(Stored) 2003 High Priority (not available) Grain sorghum Corn Small grains Pasture and rangeland Onions Watermelons Leafy greens

Outcomes 1. Serve as primary contact for federal regulatory inquiries Due to the short project time period (July 1, 2008  February 28, 2009) and decreased number of information request delivered through the reporting system, the Texas State Contact logged only one response into the online reporting system. The request responded to was the request from EPA for comments on a petition Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) requesting that EPA revoke all tolerances and cancel all registrations for 2,4-D. Considering the potential enormous impact the cancellation of this product would have on Texas, this request was distributed across the state to numerous stakeholders including: row crop producers, livestock operations, turfgrass managers, vegetation management specialists, aquatic vegetation managers, homeowners, and others. The petition from NRDC and subsequent comment period was distributed electronically, through live delivery at more than 35 stakeholder meetings, and through several other formats. 2. Document responses to other entities The Texas State Contact receives numerous inquiries regarding pesticides and pest management from state governmental entities as well as non-governmental groups each year. For the 2008-2009 period, the TSC responded to roughly 140 such requests on a broad range of subjects. These requests dealt with a broad range of topics and organizations such as: information on pesticide use in central Texas row crop production, IPM alternatives for the control of armyworm in pastures and rangelands, and many other topics. Specific inquiries listed in Appendix 1. 3. Establish and maintain a stakeholder network (State Contact only, required) The Texas State Contact regularly confers with the Texas PSEP coordinator, the Texas IPM Coordinator, IR-4 representatives, school IPM personnel, and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) to ensure that questions and concerns regarding pesticide use and IPM in Texas are addressed quickly and accurately. In 2008-2009, there were 3 meetings between the TSC, TDA, Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS), Structural Pest Control Service (SPCS), and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). These meetings allow AES to remain up-to-date on IPM-related issues facing agriculture, structural pest control, and public health in Texas as well as communicating to other Texas agencies current issues regarding IPM in the Southern Region. The Texas State Contact has established and maintained a multi-state advisory committee that confers regularly to assess pesticide needs and priorities for minor use and ornamental crops. The Minor Use Pesticide Advisory Committee (MUPAC) is comprised of university research and extension personnel, commodity organization representatives, regulatory personnel, and grower representatives from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. In 2008-2009 MUPAC communicated electronically to ensure minor use pesticide needs were addressed. In 2008-2009, the TSC participated in numerous stakeholder-based meetings. Statewide meetings include: South Texas Farm and Ranch Show, Blackland Income Growth Conference, Texas Pest Control Association, Texas Plant Protection Conference, Texas Turfgrass Association, Texas A&M Pest Management Conference, the Texas Farm Bureau state meeting, Texas Nursery Landscape Association, Texas Cattlemen Association, and the Beef Cattle Short Course.

Web Site (State Contact only, required) This project's website is found at (http://www-aes.tamu.edu/Texas_IPM_State_Contract.htm). The site: " addresses regional priorities established by the Southern Region IPM Center " to the best of our knowledge is compatible with regional and national IPM Center sites to the extent that information on the SNP sites can contribute seamlessly to the larger information databases maintained regionally and nationally. " includes contact information for the program and the project leader " includes (http://www-aes.tamu.edu/Southern IPM/objectives.htm) a project description for the State Contact Project. " includes all annual progress reports (http://www-aes.tamu.edu/IPM_State_Contact/Texas_IPM_State_Contact.htm) for the State Contact Project. " We are unsure whether the site complies with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments to the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. This stipulation is slightly outside the technical expertise of our staff but we have no reason to believe that the site is out of compliance. " includes links to the Southern IPM Center and other appropriate entities The home page: " prominently displays, near the project or site heading, the phrase "The Texas component of the Southern Region IPM Center." " include the statement "This site is supported, in part, with funding from the Southern Region IPM Center." All pages: " include the phrase "The Texas component of the Southern Region IPM Center," with the words "Southern IPM Center" hyperlinked to the Center web site. " include an indication of the most recent update and the name of a person responsible for maintaining the page.

Report Appendices 2808862_195833.PDF [PDF]

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