Extension
It Starts With Us
Author: Zachary DeVries
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
In November we hosted the 51st annual University of Kentucky Pets Control Short Course. This 3-day program incorporated 15 1-hour talks from speakers located around the country who travelled to Lexington, >400 attendees from Kentucky and surrounding states, and a team of entomologists (faculty, staff, students) from the University of Kentucky. This meeting, hour-for-hour, is the top pest control meeting in the country, which many others states imitate due to the quality of the speakers
Author: Zachary DeVries
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
Pest control and academia have grown apart over the past 20 years, where the research being conducted by urban entomology labs does not directly address the needs of the indoor pest control stakeholders. Therefore, I developed, organized, and ran a meeting involving technical directors of pest control companies from around the country, along with my trainees (4 students, 1 post-doc, and 1 research scientist), to discuss the needs of the pest control industry. During this meeting (now
Author: Traci Johnson
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
Specialists for University of Kentucky Plant Sciences and Entomology began a research project in 2022 to create a pest alert system for nursery producers. In past surveys, nursery growers had indicated that pest scouting was a priority in their operations. This project was begun to provide timing of pest emergence information, help growers be aware of pests in their area, and develop an alert system that enabled pest management when pests were easier to kill and cheaper to manage.The
Author: Philip Konopka
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
There are many local businesses in the area who are required to have a commercial pesticide license to do their job. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture requires people who have those licenses to maintain them by receiving continuing education units (CEU’s). CEU’s are category specific with the requirements being 9 general hours and 3 specific hours for a total of 12 hours by the end of a 3-year period. These CEU’s can be obtained by attending classes throughout the ye
Author: April Wilhoit
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
There are many local businesses in the area who are required to have a commercial pesticide license to do their job. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture requires people who have those licenses to maintain them by receiving continuing education units (CEU’s). CEU’s are category specific with the requirements being 9 general hours and 3 specific hours for a total of 12 hours by the end of a 3-year period. These CEU’s can be obtained by attending classes throughout th
Author: Benjamin Prewitt
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an approach to pest control that incorporates numerous coordinated strategy techniques including cultural practices, planting resistant varieties of particular crops, utilizing natural enemies to control the pest, or by using selective pesticide applications. For several years citizens of Whitley County with interest in Pesticides, both privately or commercially was unable to fulfill the training requirements here in our county. Citizens of Whitley County
Author: Jason Travis
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The University of Kentucky Grain Crops Integrated Pest Management group created a 5-week webinar series in November and December of 2022 to provide stakeholders with research-based information, and also provide Certified Crop Advisor continuing education credits, County Agent In-service training, and pesticide applicator training to clientele. The webinar series was organized by Jason Travis, Extension Associate, and hosted by the Southern Integrated Pest Management Center. Speakers a
Author: Zachary DeVries
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
Pests such as cockroaches, bed bugs, and rodents, continue to plague disadvantaged communities. Their presences is not only unsightly, but it can also negatively affect human health through asthma exacerbation and disease transmission. Therefore, I provided a two-day training program for the maintenance staff of Washington D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA), such that they could become more involved in pest control and protect themselves and others from indoor pests. Our collaborati
Author: Lyndall Harned
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
In response to a phone call to the office, a follow-up farm visit related to a weed infestation of a new stand of forages was made. A huge infestation of weeds was seen in a new stand of forages. After several hours of traversing the farm and talking with the farmer, we knew what the issues was and how to deal with it. But this showed an issue that needed to be addressed. So, with the farmer whole heartedly in support, we decided to host a filed program at his location. The response was better t
Author: Jason Travis
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The University of Kentucky Grain Crops Integrated Pest Management group recognized the need to organize and conduct a conference featuring both University of Kentucky Extension Specialists and guest speakers from universities in other states to provide a diverse range of topics and enhance education of integrated pest management practices. The goal was to create a better understanding of integrated pest management among stakeholders in agriculture, including producers, crop consultan
Author: Travis Legleiter
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
Nearly all herbicide applications in corn, soybean, and wheat require the use of an adjuvant in the spray tank to ensure a successful herbicide application. While most farmers and applicators are aware of the need for adjuvants, they often don’t know why adjuvants are needed. The lack of knowledge of why adjuvants are needed often leads to marketing from retailers for unnecessary or inappropriate adjuvant packages for herbicide applications. Having a basic unders
Author: Travis Legleiter
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The University of Kentucky Grain Crops Integrated Pest Management group created a 5-week webinar series in November and December of 2022 to provide stakeholders with research-based information, and also provide Certified Crop Advisor continuing education credits, County Agent In-service training, and pesticide applicator training to clientele. The webinar series was organized by Jason Travis, Extension Associate, and hosted by the Southern Integrated Pest Management Center. Speakers and to
Author: Kiersten Wise
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The University of Kentucky Grain Crops Integrated Pest Management group created a 5-week webinar series in November and December of 2022 to provide stakeholders with research-based information, and also provide Certified Crop Advisor continuing education credits, County Agent In-service training, and pesticide applicator training to clientele. The webinar series was organized by Jason Travis, Extension Associate, and hosted by the Southern Integrated Pest Management Center. Speakers and to
Author: Kiersten Wise
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The University of Kentucky Grain Crops Integrated Pest Management group recognized the need to organize and conduct a conference featuring both University of Kentucky Extension Specialists and guest speakers from universities in other states to provide a diverse range of topics and enhance education of integrated pest management practices. The goal was to create a better understanding of integrated pest management among stakeholders in agriculture, including producers, crop consultants and addit
Author: Travis Legleiter
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The University of Kentucky Grain Crops Integrated Pest Management group recognized the need to organize and conduct a conference featuring both University of Kentucky Extension Specialists and guest speakers from universities in other states to provide a diverse range of topics and enhance education of integrated pest management practices. The goal was to create a better understanding of integrated pest management among stakeholders in agriculture, including producers, crop consultants and
Author: Travis Legleiter
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The Pest Management Field Day at the UKREC in Princeton, KY returned to the UKREC in 2023 on June 29, 2023. The 2023 event was the fourth year for the field day that featured research updates from University of Kentucky Pest Management faculty including Dr. Kiersten Wise, Dr. Raul Villanueva, Dr. JD Green, and Dr. Erin Haramoto. The event also featured walking plot tours of weed science research plots at the University of Kentucky led by Dr. Travis Legleiter. The weed
Author: Jason Travis
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The Pest Management Field Day at the UKREC in Princeton, KY returned to the UKREC in 2023 on June 29, 2023. The 2023 event was the fourth year for the field day that featured research updates from University of Kentucky Pest Management faculty including Dr. Kiersten Wise, Dr. Raul Villanueva, Dr. JD Green, and Dr. Erin Haramoto. The event also featured walking plot tours of weed science research plots at the University of Kentucky led by Dr. Travis Legleiter. The weed science research plots feat
Author: Kiersten Wise
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The disease tar spot, caused by the fungus Phyllachora maydis, was first discovered in the United States in 2015. Since 2015, tar spot has become a major corn disease in the Midwest, causing yield losses up to 60 bushels per acre in fields where it is established. The disease was confirmed via laboratory diagnosis in two counties in Kentucky in 2021. In 2022, a state-wide monitoring program was funded by the Kentucky Corn Growers Association to scout for tar spot. Over 84 fields in 12 counties w
Author: Carl Bradley
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The Situation:Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) (Heterodera glycines) causes approximately $1.5 billion dollars in losses to the U.S. soybean crop annually. Losses in Kentucky continue to climb as the nematode adapts to management tools (such as genetic resistance). The situation is too large and complex for one organization to address alone. Extension ResponseDr. Carl Bradley co-leads a national public-private partnership whose mission is to address the SCN crisis, known as ‘The SCN Coalit
Author: Carl Bradley
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The University of Kentucky Grain Crops Integrated Pest Management group created a 5-week webinar series in November and December of 2022 to provide stakeholders with research-based information, and provide Certified Crop Advisor continuing education credits, County Agent In-service training, and pesticide applicator training to clientele. The webinar series was organized by Jason Travis, Extension Associate, and hosted by the Southern Integrated Pest Management Center. Speakers and topics
Author: Carl Bradley
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The University of Kentucky Grain Crops Integrated Pest Management group recognized the need to organize and conduct a conference featuring both University of Kentucky Extension Specialists and guest speakers from universities in other states to provide a diverse range of topics and enhance education of integrated pest management practices. The goal was to create a better understanding of integrated pest management among stakeholders in agriculture, including producers, crop consultants and
Author: Jonathan Green
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
Beginning in 2021 a Zoom session titled “In The Weeds” was initiated for Agriculture and Natural Resource agents. These sessions were conducted on a monthly basis throughout the growing season and were intended as an informal discussion and dialogue on current issues, observations, and other weed relevant topics that were primarily associated with pastures and other forage crops. Approximately 30 to 40 individuals participated per session, which represented 25 to 33% of t
Author: Jonathan Larson
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
In 2022, a partnership between Extension and the Office of the State Entomologist was formed to build a citizen science project focused on monitoring for invasive species. This effort includes me, Blake Newton (Entomology Youth Extension Specialist), and Carl Harper (Office of the State Entomologist). The project is known as “Kentucky Keepers”. Last year we piloted the project with 4-H youth volunteers, Master Gardeners, and Master Naturalists. This year, professional arborists and r
Author: Jonathan Larson
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
In 2023 I was invited to join a group funded by the Southern IPM Center that focuses on helping Extension agents across the southeastern United States deal with delusory parasitosis, also known as invisible itches or delusions of infestation. Headed by Karen Vail, University of Tennessee, I was selected to be the team lead for a fact sheet that will teach agents and those who suffer with this condition how to deal with the situation. It’s hard to establish an economic impact of this projec
