Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

• About The Program
• IPM Grant Information
• IPM Resources for New England Conditions(Websites, publications, videos, sources of supplies)
• Links
• Publications
• Newsletter
• Check Corn & Hay for Armyworms in Late June
• School IPM

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About the Program

The aim of the IPM program is to teach New Hampshire farmers to handle pest problems while

1. reducing growers' use of chemical pesticides,
2. minimizing crop production costs, and
3. maintaining crop quality and yield. Insects, pathogens, weeds and other pests are a constant threat for NH farmers and greenhouse operators.

For many crops, the marketplace tolerates very little or no pest injury. Since 1945, chemical pesticides have offered easy solutions to pest problems, and growers have over-used them, with resultant higher costs and potential environmental harm or health risks. Reducing this over-use of pesticides can improve farm profitability and also improve long term sustainability of farming in NH.

Commodities: Greenhouse crops, apples, and sweet corn have been the standard commodities since 1993. We added 3 new programs (field corn, strawberries, and fly control around animals) in 1996. We terminated (passed on to growers) sweet corn work in 1996, and piloted work in bedding plants in 1997.

Audience: Our primary audience is New Hampshire farmers and farm workers. We also target agricultural businesses and consultants.

Approach: The IPM Advisory committee recommends program directions and crops. The committee consists of representatives of Extension specialists, Extension county staff, NH Dept of Agriculture, and DRED. Other agencies (Audubon, NRCS) may be added. Volunteers host grower meetings and open farm days, speak to lay audiences, set up displays, and provide sites for experiments. The NH Fruit growers' Assn. even has begun to fund IPM research.

Our efforts are focused on educating farmers and are divided into six categories.

1. Publications: New England IPM workers collaborate on 5 New England-wide IPM publications that are updated with the latest research results every other year (example: New England Apple Pest Management Guide). Other regional manuals are produced, but not regularly updated. A series of NH IPM fact sheets compliments the other publications directed to educating farmers.
   
   
2. Monitoring: We monitor weather conditions, and populations of predators, parasites and pests at numerous points across the state by scouting, using automated weather instruments, insect traps, and crop evaluations.
   
   
3. Time-sensitive Information Delivery: We bring information to growers with a weekly newsletter during the growing season. We use an automated telephone system ("the hotline") in Durham that runs 24 hours/day, seven days/week during the growing season. It plays a 3 minute message (updated weekly) on pest conditions and upcoming grower meetings. It logs 800 to 1000 calls per year. Occasionally we use the Dept of Agriculture's weekly market bulletin.
   
   
4. Grower Education: Grower meetings are conducted both during the growing season and during the winter, updating the latest research.
   
   
5. Publicity: Publicity is sought to educate the public about the IPM effort. Media tours, news releases, and interviews are directed at news media. Displays, demonstrations, impact sheets and regional reports are directed to various stakeholders and the public.
   
   
6. Applied Research: Certain projects are best approached by on-farm research. A 1996 example: introducing predator mites to apple orchards (Hollis, Londonderry, Concord).

IPM efforts began in 1978 with 10 growers and have continued without interruption. In 1995 over 200 growers were involved.

Impacts: In recent years we saved NH people: '92: $559,000 '93: $661,000 '94: $659,000 '95: $636,000. In 1996 our work resulted in: $449,000 reduction in spraying apples (40% less spraying compared to pre-IPM patterns), $98,000 increase in apple profits (from reduced pest injury), $8,000 savings in greenhouse crops (reduced pest incidence and reduced spraying), $8,000 in reduced spraying of sweet corn, and $6,000 in reduced culling of sweet corn. 1996 was a transition year (one commodity program shut down, 3 new ones added), yet over 6,000 acres were impacted statewide.

Other impacts are impossible to quantify in dollars: reduced risk of contaminating groundwater or surface waters with pesticides, reduced risk of pesticide poisonings, increased populations of insect parasites and predators.

IPM Coordinator: Alan T. Eaton
Phone: 862-1734

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IPM Grant

• IPM Grant Information
• IPM Grant Application
• IPM Grant Links

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Links

• Cornell IPM Program
• The Northeast IPM Website
• The University of Connecticut IPM program
• The University of Maine Cooperative Extension Apple IPM Program
• The University of Maine IPM program
• The University of Mass IPM Programs
  
  
• IPM Resources for New England Conditions
  • Supplies (magnifiers, traps, tools)
    • Great Lakes IPM
    • Gempler's
    • Ladd Industries
  • Sources of Natural Enemies of Pests
    • IPM Laboratories, Inc.
    • The Green Spot

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Publications

• Management of Orchard Mice
• Raptors in New Hampshire Orchards

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Newsletters

• IPM Newsletters List

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