Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
(N/A)
COLUMBIA,MO 65211
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Missouri is a diverse state that is home to 95,000 farms and has many IPM-related needs. The state ranks in the top 10 for corn, soybean, forage, rice, and cotton production according to the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Additionally, specialty crops are produced in nearly 90% of Missouri counties (MU Assessment Resource Center 2017). The state is divided into 114 counties across 4 distinct ecoregions, which are classified based on flora, fauna, topography, and climate (Olson and Dinerstein, 2009). Each region having distinct clientele and integrated pest management (IPM) needs.The project director and co-PDs propose to address the following priority areas that reflect Missouri's diverse agriculture production and close partnerships with stakeholders and clientele:IPM implementation in Agronomic and Specialty Crops (54%)IPM for pesticide applicators (14%)IPM Support for Pest Diagnostic Facilities (32%)Overall goals of this proposal are to enhance dissemination of integrated pest management (IPM) information to Missouri clientele to facilitate increased adoption of sustainable IPM practices. The PD and co-PD's provide objectives that address:equipping Amish and Hispanic farmers with improved plant protection tools and tactics.developing the next generation of IPM scientists through an extension training assistantship.partnering with the Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP) and additional entities to address the EPA Vulnerable Species Pilot Program and to train pesticide applicators on IPM.continuing to provide pest identification services and to monitor for early detection of invasive and emerging pest threats.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Priority Area 1: IPM implementation in Agronomic and Specialty CropsObjective 1: Develop the Extension Training Assistantship for Students Pursuing Careers in Agronomic Cropping Systems.This objective is focused on training the next generation of IPM professionals, which is a focus area of the CPPM program.We plan to partner with the MU DPS&T to developthe extension training assistantship.The assistantship will be offered to select students who are pursuing graduate degrees in weed science, plant pathology, or entomology and are conducting research within the area of integrated pest management. These students will have the opportunity to introduce or reintroduce components of IPM to the public by using and creating an array of extension outputs. Students will have the opportunity to present their research orally and at in person at field days and scouting schools; in writing through extension newsletters; and in video and social media formats utilizing MU already existing resources.Objective 2: Support Outreach Efforts to Amish and Mennonite Specialty Crop Producers.We plan to inform these producers through continuing to generate content for and mail out hard copy newsletters to provide IPM information to these producers and expand efforts to in-person interactions at produce auctions. We plan to work with MU Extension Regional Horticulture Specialists to visit and build relationships with producers, identify needs, and in subsequent years we plan to generate resources that address needs of these farmers.Objective 3: Assess Needs and Develop IPM Materials for Missouri's Hispanic Farming Community.We intend to increasing delivery and adoption of plant protection tools and tactics, which is a focus area of the CPPM program, to the underserved and growing Hispanic farming community in Missouri.We plan to work with regional extension faculty and partner with ALIANZAS, a statewide Latino outreach program to carry out this objective. We plan to host one focus group in year 1 to begin building relationships and trusts with this community and establish baseline levels of understanding of IPM. In subsequent years we plan to expand the focus group efforts to multiple regions of the state and develop IPM resources that address identified needs of these farmers.Objective 4. Monitor for Pests of Row Crops.This objective focuses on enhancing agricultural biosecurity, which is a which is a focus area of the CPPM program. We intend to continue providing early detection of emerging and high-consequence pests that can pose threats to Missouri crops.The MU IPM Pest Monitoring Network currently involves twelve regional agronomists trapping for six different agronomically important insect pests including black cutworm, brown marmorated stink bug, corn earworm, fall armyworm, true armyworm, and Japanese beetle throughout the state. Scouting results from these traps are available directly on the front page of the IPM website during the growing season and summarized in text alerts. We plan to continue this service over the next year.Priority Area 2: IPM Support for Pest Diagnostic Facilities.The project aligns with the CPPM program focus areas of enhancing agricultural biosecurity by providing early detection of invasive, emerging, and high-consequence pests in U.S. agriculture. We plan to continue support of Dr. Tian at the plant diagnostic clinic who works with Extension clientele,State and Regional MU Extension Specialists,Lincoln University Extension Specialists, Master Gardeners, and State Government Agencies for proper identification of pests.The clinic also serves a role in training the next generationof IPM scientists as Dr. Tian trains undergraduate students to assists in the diagnostic clinic.Priority Area 3: IPM Education for Pesticide Applicators.We plan to partner with the MU Pesticide Safety Education Program to deliver timely information on EPA policy changes around the Vulnerable Species Pilot Program and the Endangered Species Act. This will involve incorporating information into clientele meetings throughout the state.
Project Methods
Efforts:Graduate students with a demonstrative interest in extension will be selected for the Extension Training Assistantship and will be mentored through the communication process by Dr's Bradley and Bish. The media producer II will assist with training students and producing online content developed by the students.Dr. Cabrerra-Garcia and MU Extension Field Specialists will develop an IPM poster and travel to Missouri Vegetable Produce Auctions to connect with Mennonite and Amish producers in person.Dr. Cabrerra-Garcia will generate and collect content for the hard copy Missouri Producer Growers Bulletin and work with the media producer II to develop the bulletin 3 to 4 times per year and distribute it to Mennonite and Amish growers.Dr. Valmorbida will train MU Regional Extension Specialists on trapping for insects, identifying insects, and reporting the insect counts for each region of the state during the growing season. He will formulate weekly text alerts as needed that will be distributed by the media producer II.Dr. Tian will direct the MU Plant Diagnostic Clinic, assist with training the Master Gardeners and other state departments as requested. He will also train undergraduate students within the clinic and interact directly with clientele and MU Extension State and Regional Specialists.Dr's Bradley, Bish, and Valmorbida will work directly with the MU Pesticide Safety Education Program to refine and update messaging about the Endangered Species Act and changes to pesticide application policies.The PD and all co-PDs will interact with regional MU Extension Specialists throughout the growing season through weekly teleconferences and in-service training events.Evaluation:Program assessment will include strategies for documenting program activities, outputs, and outcomes across the priority areas. The evaluation process will consist of targeted stakeholder surveys of graduate students in the Extension Training Assistantship, Amish and Mennonite specialty crop producers, and the Hispanic farming communities at the beginning and end of the project period. These surveys will document the impact of IPM outreach efforts on stakeholders' awareness, attitudes towards and adoption of IPM practices. Examples of topics to be addressed in the surveys are pesticide applicators' awareness and ability to detect new pathogens, pests, and damage to crops, frequency and methods used for pest scouting, etc. We also plan to disseminate surveys at the annual MU Crop Management Conference and MU Pest Management Field Day to identify areas where clientele and stakeholders in row crop production want to receive more IPM knowledge and to monitor their receptiveness to IPM tactics introduced by the PD and co-PD's. Historically, the MU Institutional Review Board (IRB) has determined that such surveys do not fall into human subjects research as they are aimed to improve extension programming and assess aspects of quality of life. However, for a subset of the surveys proposed here, respondents' socio-demographics will be collected, such as gender, income, and education. We will submit the determination forms that describe each proposed survey to the IRB and follow their determinations and requirements accordingly. University policies require that we take steps to protect survey participants, and these procedures will be used to help ensure privacy and security (see the data management plan for more details).By combining demographic data and behavior data on IPM issues, groups of stakeholders in need of guidance and skill building related to IPM can be identified and targeted for future outreach programs. We will also use analytics to monitor engagements with MU IPM resources. Examples of these analytics include views and read time of the IPM website; YouTube subscribers, views, and duration of engagement; third-party dissemination of IPM newsletters; social media analytics; attendance and questions asked at field days and focus groups. Capturing these analytics will help us continue to optimize our dissemination of information, identify what platforms are ideal for each piece of IPM information, and recognize those IPM topics that are most timely and attracting the most interests from clientele and stakeholders. Understanding which topics are timely and delivering on those topics can be extremely valuable in increasing the footprint of the MU IPM program. We will continue to monitor the number of samples submitted to the MU Plant Diagnostic Clinic and number of undergraduates interested in training at the clinic as indicators of clinic need among clientele and in training the next generation of IPM professionals.