Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
51 COLLEGE RD SERVICE BLDG 107
DURHAM,NH 03824
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
New Hampshire's 2024-27 IPM Extension Implementation plan outlines the top learning objectives we have identified, with help from our stakeholders, in implementation of IPM tools & tactics in Agronomic Crops (5%), Communities (5%), Public Health (5%), Specialty Crops (55%), and Support for Diagnostic Services (5%). Learning objectives in each program priority include basic biology and monitoring strategies for new and emerging pests, IPM program adaptations to climate shifts, principles of resistance management for problematic key pest species, and increased education on public health pests, like ticks. We seek to pair in-person learning opportunities with digital content, in order to expand our reach to underserved audiences. We propose several milestone measurements to track behavior changes in our client audiences over the course of the project, including disease management for small grains, using new rotational materials for pests with reported chemical resistance, accessing web-based weather monitoring tools for predicting disease and insect risk, and adapting IPM programs to extreme weather events. A small portion of our effort will also include some on-farm IPM demonstrations and multiple outreach components, which will serve both to display efficacy of IPM tools and tactics, generate new information to clientele, and increase adoption of IPM strategies. We will also be using texting as a new communication tool with our specialty crop producers. This proposal also outlines our collaborations with other land-grant universities, partner agencies, and the state of New Hampshire to successfully provide IPM outreach and direct technical assistance to agriculture producers and the community of New Hampshire, as well as areas where our team members seek professional development.There are an estimated 1.3 million people living in New Hampshire and roughly 1 million of those residents live in areas considered by the USDA to be rural. New Hampshire farmers are stewards to 474,000 acres of land and the agricultural industry provides products and services to local, state, national and international markets, worth about $1.5 billion annually. Agriculture is a major influence on the state's quality of life and character and our agriculture is based on small, diversified farms, which rely heavily on retail marketing and agritourism. We rank top in the nation in terms of the percentage of farms reporting direct-to-consumer sales and there is a strong personal connection between agricultural producers and their customers. We therefore devote a majority of our IPM educational efforts to meet the unique needs of NH's agricultural communities, however all residents of NH will benefit from IPM's protection of land and water, as well as direct reduction of risk where they live, learn, work and play.We teach all audiences to take a more comprehensive approach to pest problems, combining preventative measures, monitoring, and various controls. We try to reach all producers in our IPM efforts regardless of scale, marketing channels, or production orientation, including large, small/part-time, organic, wholesale, and retail producers. Commercial growers constitute our prime audience, but we also serve backyard gardeners, homestead farmers, as well as municipal recreation and school programs.Our 2024-27 IPM Implementation plan outlines the top educational objectives we have identified, based on input from grower associations, priorities identified by expert panels & working groups in the region, as well as our one-on-one interactions with our clients. Our project objectives are ultimately guided by principles outlined in the national IPM Road Map. We will bring our clients the latest in IPM tools & tactics, while developing the next generation of IPM scientists, to:Increase IPM adoption by clientsImprove IPM practices by working with clients to better integrate into NH systemsImprove economical practices through IPM adoptionMinimize human health & safety risks from pests and pest management strategiesMinimize adverse environmental effects from pests and pest management strategiesThe past three years have been a time of great transition within our organization. The majority of our long-standing IPM team members have retired, taking decades of institutional knowledge with them. Much of the UNH Cooperative Extension Food and Agriculture Team consists of new members stepping into IPM education roles and bringing new perspectives and experiences to our state IPM program. These new members will benefit greatly from professional development opportunities, such as attending professional conferences and regional working groups. We also aim to incorporate extension objectives into undergraduate and graduate training, to support their professional development as well as to strengthen relationships between our Extension specialists and UNH's College of Life Sciences and Agriculture.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Our 2024-27 IPM Implementation plan outlines the top educational objectives we have identified, based on input from grower associations, priorities identified by expert panels & working groups in the region, as well as our one-on-one interactions with our clients. Our project objectives are ultimately guided by principles outlined in the national IPM Road Map. We will bring our clients the latest in IPM tools & tactics, while developing the next generation of IPM scientists, to:Increase IPM adoption by clientsImprove IPM practices by working with clients to better integrate into NH systemsImprove economical practices through IPM adoptionMinimize human health & safety risks from pests and pest management strategiesMinimize adverse environmental effects from pests and pest management strategiesWe have chosen projects in the following Program Area Priorities (numbers in parentheses are percent of effort in each area) for this proposal that we deem strongest in terms of high priority to stakeholders, as well as our IPM team's ability to accomplish the work:IPM Implementation in Agronomic Crops (5%)Weed IPM for field crops and managed forageDisease IPM for small grainsIPM Implementation in Communities (5%)Provide IPM education to the publicPesticide safety continuing educationWild pollinator conservationIPM Implementation in Public Health (5%)Provide information and education on ticks and tickborne illnessesIPM Implementation in Specialty Crops (70%)Develop IPM tools to respond to a changing climateEncourage the use of NEWA weather modeling for managing tree fruit pestsProvide information on best practices for emerging insect pests of specialty cropsEncourage adoption of pesticide resistance management practices for key pests of sweet cornImprove IPM adoption for protected agricultureIPM support for Diagnostic Services (5%)Administration Coordination (10%)IPM Implementation in Agronomic Crops (5%)Weed IPM for field crops and managed forage. One of our main goals is to promote and support IPM practices for weed control. Our milestones will include knowledge gains, such as number of meeting attendees who learn how to identify invasive weed species, and behavior changes, such as number of landowners who regularly practice cultural/mechanical practices for clearing their lands of weeds, those who have adopted cultural practices to help manage weeds like crop rotation and tillage, and those that have adopted scouting before making chemical applications.Disease IPM for small grains. Our objective is to increase adoption of integrated disease management including establishing scouting guidelines, training on disease identification, and developing a network among the small grains producers so they can inform each other of disease problems as they arise. Our milestones will include knowledge gains, such as number of meeting attendees who learn how to identify common plant pathogens affecting small grains, and behavior changes, such as number of landowners who regularly practice disease monitoring in their fields. .IPM Implementation in Communities (5%)Provide IPM education to the public. Pesticide safety continuing education. Our milestones will include knowledge gains, such as the number of pesticide applicators that gained knowledge on IPM and management of vector species for insect-transmitted diseases.Wild pollinator conservation.IPM Implementation in Public Health (5%)Provide information and education on ticks and tickborne illnesses.Our main objective is to raise awareness for NH residents, regarding ways to protect from tick-borne illnesses, by providing education and information around tick identification, biology, and management.Our short-term priorities include working with the UNH Wet Lab to get tick diagnostic testing procedures established and available for anyone who needs tick diagnostics, which will result in a direct partnership with state agencies working on public health. We will also be conducting a needs assessment for tick education to the public since UNH CE has not been actively participating in this sector since 2017, besides training pesticide applicators. Our long-term goal is to raise awareness and recognition of blacklegged ticks, increase adoption of protective behaviors, and reduce the incidence of tickborne illnesses in New Hampshire.IPM Implementation in Speciality Crops (70%)Develop IPM tools to respond to a shifting climate.Our objective is to continue working to adjust IPM programs to fit the changing climate and work with our farmers on how best to prepare and manage both pest insects and diseases. Our milestones will include knowledge gains, such as the number of producers that learn about alternative management strategies to mitigate extreme weather events and the corresponding pest issues. Behavior changes will be measured through evaluation surveys where we ask producers what changes they made to their farm due to climate risk during the growing season.Encourage the use of NEWA weather modeling for managing tree fruit pests.Our objective is to incorporate "how to" demonstrations using NEWA models in our regular programming to encourage properly timed application of crop protection materials for key pests. Our milestones will include knowledge gains, such as number of producers that learn how to use NEWA at workshops and webinars, and the number of producers that add a NEWA station to their farm, as well as behavior changes, such as the number of people who access the online NEWA networks and download data from local weather stations.Provide information on best practices for emerging insect pests of specialty crops.Ourobjectives are to ensure that growers are aware of their risk of crop loss due to emerging insect pests and to encourage the use of monitoring and "IPM-friendly chemistries" for their pest management plans.Our milestones will include knowledge gains, such as number of specialty crop growers that learn about basic biology and best practices at workshops and webinars, as well as behavior changes, such as the number of our growers who monitor for emerging pests.Encourage adoption of pesticide resistance management practices for key pests of sweet corn. Our overall sweet corn objectives are to incorporate monitoring, action thresholds, and information about novel sweet corn pest insecticides into our existing vegetable IPM programs.Our milestones will include knowledge gains, such as number of producers that learn about insecticide resistance management tools and techniques in our workshops, webinars, and fact sheets, as well as behavior changes, such as the number of people who adopt the use of diamides in their sweet corn spray rotations (according to our annual sweet corn surveys).Improve IPM adoption for protected agriculture. Our objective is to increase education around IPM and biological control in protected agriculture, including both greenhouses and high tunnels, with the most up-to-date information for current and emerging pest control.Our milestones will include knowledge gains, such as the number of producers that learn about biocontrol and IPM tools and techniques in our workshops, webinars, and regional conferences. We will also measure behavior changes, such as the number of people who adopt the use ofbiological control agents to control pests in the greenhouse, and high tunnel producers adopting IPM and improved crop quality.IPM Support for Diganostic Services (5%)The rapid detection and accurate identification of pathogens and arthropods is critical to preventing serious economic and ecological losses to any NH crops. Our objective is to increase the use of technology to rapidly identify plant and arthropod problems and to increase dissemination of information on identification and management to stakeholders.
Project Methods
Administration Coordination Plan. Members of the IPM Team will meet with the IPM Coordinator regularly throughout the year as part of the IPM Work Team. An annual winter meeting identifies needs within each team members' stakeholder area, potential educational goals, and potential measurable milestones. In additional to the annual planning meeting, the IPM Work Team will work with members and other UNH Cooperative Extension's (UNH CE) Food and Agriculture colleagues regularly throughout the year to collect pertinent milestone data and provide web-based support to expand the reach of their learning objectives to New Hampshire producers.Stakeholder Input. We have identified all proposed objectives based on input from appropriate stakeholder associations, priorities identified by expert panels and working groups in the region, as well as our one-on-one interactions with our clients. The specific associations and working groups for each of our program priorities are identified within each priority section of this project narrative.Program Evaluation. In addition to recording the number of workshop and meeting attendees, webinar viewers, and website "views" or "clicks", we have indicated specific milestones in our Logic Model. In some cases, these milestones will require an annual survey of stakeholders, which we will distribute via appropriate newsletters, listservs, and with the help of relevant stakeholder associations.Data Management Plan for University of New Hampshire 2024-2027 Integrated Pest Management Extension Implementation Plan This project is not a research project, but primarily an outreach education program that will produce a wide variety of outputs.Communication. Team members will coordinate activities and communicate with clients using software/communication platforms maintained by UNH IT, including but not limited to Microsoft Office/Teams/Outlook, Zoom, Qualtrics, Salesforce, Destiny One, and PEARS.Security & Storage. UNH CE uses Microsoft System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection or Windows Defender Security Center software, which is installed on each computer and is set to automatically update the virus definitions. All CE equipment is configured to automatically save files from your Desktop, My Documents folder, Pictures Folder, and Videos folder through OneDrive.Website resources. Factsheets, blogs, and regularly updated monitoring data are available to the public on UNH Extension's website (extension.unh.edu). Online resources are built and managed using Drupal and all resources are stored as PDFs in our Online Resource Repository maintained by the UNH Library. All monitoring data collected by this project is archived.Audio/Visual Content. Backups of all audio & video content are stored in Teams and/or SharePoint.