New York IPM Report, 2020

NEERA meeting: May 12, 2020

Prepared by Elizabeth Lamb, Jennifer Grant, and Alejandro A. Calixto, NYSIPM Program

Situation

New Yorkers are exposed to risks from pests and the methods used to control them.

Response

The NYS IPM Program is reducing environmental, health and economic risk by teaching, demonstrating and researching IPM practices. We program in agricultural crops—fruits, vegetables, ornamentals, field crops and livestock; and community settings—schools, homes, municipalities, parks, and golf courses.

Results/Impact

Funding: In 2019 we received these core funds:

  • NYS via NYS Dept. of Ag and Markets: Agricultural IPM, $1,000,000
  • NYS via NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation: Community IPM, $550,000
  • NYS via NYS Dept. of Health: Tick IPM, $50,000
  • Federal USDA-NIFA, CPPM-EIP, $275,000

In addition, our staff directly leveraged nearly a half million dollars in outside grants that came to our program, Cornell faculty and staff, and other partners. We were also critical collaborators on additional grants totaling $288,000 coming into Cornell and Cornell Cooperative Extension.

2018–2019 Annual Report: Our NYSIPM Annual Reports are excellent tools for communicating NYSIPM to stakeholders. In our most recent report, we featured 30 years of Grape IPM; birds as pests and birds as biological control; rodent trapping research; pollinators; tick outreach; organic solutions; and more. These reports show NYSIPM’s positive impact on New Yorkers and their environment, and are excellent outreach tools for our program. These reports are available online at https://hdl.handle.net/1813/69699

2019 NYSIPM Conference: Spotted Lanternfly: At Our Doorstep or Already in Our Fields? August 2019, Binghamton, NY. This conference focused on slowing the spread of this invasive insect into New York State; resources for detection and identification; and preparation for management when it does eventually establish here. Attended by approximately 100 growers, scientists, educators, regulators, master gardeners, and policy makers.

NEWA – Network for Environment and Weather Applications: NEWA is an online digital support platform that utilizes real-time data from 723 weather stations in 15 states throughout the eastern, Midwest, and western United States. Forty-three different models, tools, and resources are available online at http://newa.cornell.edu to assess agricultural insect pests and plant disease risks, and provide weather data summarization for record keeping, crop insurance reporting, and other purposes.

Resources produced

Highlights by Commodity

Community (Schools, homes, parks, golf courses, municipalities, etc.)

  • Researched the distribution and movements of rats on the perimeter of food plant facilities to improve the efficiency of rodent traps.
  • NYS Community IPM is a partner in the Northeast Regional Center of Excellence in Vector Borne Disease, funded by CDC and housed at Cornell University.
  • Co-led the Scientific Coalition on Pest Exclusion (SCOPE)—a national working group focused on the scientific verification and promotion of exclusion as a primary tool in IPM in buildings.
  • Trained 95 school facilities staff in Herkimer County about school IPM.
  • Continued long-term partnership with 29 NYS Park Golf Courses on reduced chemical golf course management.

Vegetables

  • Co-ordinated the organic certification of 24 acres of a Cornell AgriTech Farm
  • Conducted on-farm IPM demonstrations in peppers.
  • Tested and demonstrated cultivation for weed management in sweet corn, snap beans, and beets; and are testing a weed zapper.

Fruit & Hops

  • Participated in NYS’s Incident Command Structure for spotted lanternfly; created ID and awareness resources; surveyed the preferred host, Ailanthus altissima, tree of heaven; developed webinars and distance courses; created insecticide guides; and held a regional SLF conference.
  • Organized statewide trapping network for spotted wing drosophila
  • Tested hummingbirds as biocontrols in raspberries
  • Created new models for blueberry maggot and strawberry diseases for use in NEWA
  • Worked with NYSDAM and USDA to stop spread and help management of European Cherry Fruit Fly

Ornamentals

  • Established a Christmas tree planting for research and demonstration at Cornell AgriTech, with adjacent beneficial insect and pollinator habitat demonstration plots
  • Conducted three in-depth surveys on IPM practices of producers of greenhouse, Christmas trees, and nursery crops. Data are used to document successful IPM adoption, and set direction for research and extension needs.
  • Researched reduced-fungicide usage and deer repellents for Christmas tree production
  • Worked with growers to evaluate use of GDD based insect models for conifer pests

Livestock and Field Crops

  • Bio-based bird repellent (Avipel) seed treatment tested on corn and shown effective under high bird pressure
  • Western Bean Cutworm Pheromone trapping network
  • Tested and demonstrated various traps for fly management on dairy farms.
  • Created Elements of IPM for Dairy and Beef Cattle to be used for self-assessment by farmers, standards for third party verifiers, and possible farmer reimbursements from NRCS.
  • 16 Livestock IPM Videos were produced and translated into Spanish.

Awards

  • Juliet Carroll our Fruit IPM Coordinator received an Excellence in IPM (2019) award from NYSIPM.
  • Jennifer Grant, NYSIPM Director, received:
    Outstanding Achievements in IPM Award (2019) Northeastern IPM Center
    Citation of Merit, New York State Turfgrass Association (2020)