Over-Informed on IPM

Anna seeks the help of her neighborhood plant pathology experts, directors of the plant diagnostic clinics at UVM & UNH Ann Hazelrigg of UVM & Cheryl Smith of UNH, to break down IPM of mummyberry, a fungal disease affecting blueberry. Things get complicated as we attempt to integrate pollinator protection into our theoretical IPM program. There is a silver lining in the potential solution, a little help from work done by Rufus Isaacs, MSU.

https://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/disandpath/fungalasco/pdlessons/Pages/MummyBerry.aspx

https://pollinator.cals.cornell.edu/resources/

https://extension.unh.edu/resource/wildflower-meadows-plant-selection-and-establishment

Anna discusses the state onion IPM with Dr. Ashley Leach (previously Cornell AgriTech, now Purdue University), and how resistant cultivars, fertility, and chemical controls integrate to protect high quality onion crops.

Anna talks codling moth management with Peter Jentsch from the Hudson Valley Research Lab and they get down to the straight dope on what to do and when to do it.

Anna jumps into spring covering basics of soil structure and problems with compost-based potting mixes with University of Rhode Island’s Andy Radin.

Brown marmorated stinkbug (BMSB) is an invasive insect species that is a major agricultural pests in many parts of the US but only occurs at low numbers in New Hampshire. Anna wants to know if BMSB problems are in our future and when we should freak out? She asks for some advice from Rob Morison (USDA-ARS), Daniel Frank (WVU), and Anne Nielsen (Rutgers). Spoiler alert: the answer is not yet…

: Anna discusses the current situation with flies laying their eggs in blueberries with wild blueberry extension specialist, Lily Calderwood of UMaine.

Anna wonders aloud if we are currently in a golden age of striped cucumber beetle research and finds out about what’s going on down in South Carolina in the Blubaugh lab of Clemson University.

Anna chats with hops IPM expert, Lily Calderwood of UMaine, about potato leafhopper and it’s likes and dislikes.

Anna dwells on the concept of acceptable levels of pests and talks to PhD student, Kadie Britt of Virginia Tech, about establishing pest thresholds in a new crop, industrial hemp.

Anna chats with PhD candidate, Matt Boucher of Cornell University, and IPM expert extraordinaire, Kathleen Leahy of Polaris Orchard IPM, about who is to blame for spreading the causal agent of fireblight in apple.