Extension
It Starts With Us
Author: Zachary DeVries
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
Bed bugs remain one of the most challenging pests to manage indoors. While difficult to manage when treatments are performed correctly, these pests are nearly impossible to eradicate when inspections and treatments are not performed correctly. In response to a major bed bug problem in a historical high-rise apartment complex in downtown Paducah that serves elderly and disabled residents, I was invited by the Paducah City Fire Marshal to inspect the complex and determine why current m
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 (6 students and 1 research scientist), to discuss the needs of the pest control industry. During this meeting (now in its thir
Author: Zachary DeVries
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
During Paris fashion week (one of the major annual fashion events in the world), a news story broke on a massive bed bug “epidemic” sweeping across Paris. In response to this, I spoke with reports from a number of major outlets (NY Times, TIME, CNN, National Geographic, Newsweek] [ABC Australia) to dispel some of the common misconception about bed bugs. Specifically, I emphasized that this problem is not new or sudden, but rather a problem that has bee
Author: Zachary DeVries
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
In November we hosted the 52nd 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, >420 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 one of the top pest control meeting in the country, which many others states imitate due to the quality of the sp
Author: Jonathan Larson
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
Stone Crest Golf Course in Prestonsburg, KY contacted Kenneth Clayton (Extension associate in Plant and Soil Science) about ongoing issues with white grub management at their facility. They had spent considerable time and money trying to deal with the issue but were having breakouts that were affecting use of the facility. During a site visit, we were able to determine they were dealing with black turfgrass ataenius, a more difficult to control pest. Further, we worked with both Envu and Syngent
Author: Leann Martin
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
Application of crop protection chemicals and lawn/landscape chemicals is an important industry in South Central Kentucky. Professional applicators must receive training to stay current on issues, pests, techniques, and safety for the products they apply. They need to receive continuing education to maintain their applicator license. The agriculture and horticulture agents around the Mammoth Cave responded to a need for a commercial training opportunity by developing the SOKY Pe
Author: Ricardo Bessin
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
Monitoring insect pest populations is a cornerstone of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) systems. By monitoring pest populations, farmers can learn when pest populations become active in time to use preventive controls as well as gauge the levels to determine if the risk warrants control. In some systems, this is done by sampling plants to determine infestation levels, in other cropping systems, species-specific pheromone-baited traps are used to monitor for adult moth activity prior
Author: Jonathan Larson
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
In 2024, the Kentucky Keepers citizen science project focused on monitoring for invasive species has added two new pests for volunteers to work with, box tree moth and jumping worms. For box tree moth, volunteers in Boone, Kenton, and Campbell Counties have deployed over 20 traps. These counties were selected due to their proximity to the infestations known to occur in Ohio. Box tree moth is a pest that devastates boxwood shrubs, typically killing them. Boxwoods are the number one shr
Author: Jonathan Larson
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
Extension offices and their personnel are often sought out for help in dealing with arthropod pest issues. In many cases, the problem and solution are straightforward, where the pest is identified, and appropriate control measures are recommended. Unfortunately, there are also many instances where extension professionals are confronted with clients who believe they are infested with insects or mites, despite no supporting evidence. This situation can be extremely emotional for the client a
Author: Adam Huber
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
Application of crop protection chemicals and lawn/landscape chemicals is an important industry in South Central Kentucky. Professional applicators must receive training to stay current on issues, pests, techniques, and safety for the products they apply. They have to receive continuing education to maintain their applicator license. The agriculture and horticulture agents around the Mammoth Cave responded to a need for a commercial training opportunity by developing
Author: Jason Travis
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The University of Kentucky Grain Crops Integrated Pest Management group organized a 4-week webinar series in November of 2023 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 included Dr. Kier
Author: Jason Travis
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
Following storm damage from December 2021 in Princeton, the loss of the UK Research and Education Center’s offices and laboratories has temporarily left the western part of the state without a Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. While rebuilding is underway, many stakeholders, including county agriculture and natural resources extension agents, still need a reliable way to transport plant submissions to the Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (PDDL) in Lexington on a regular basis for ana
Author: Kiersten Wise
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The University of Kentucky Grain Crops Integrated Pest Management group organized a 4-week webinar series in November of 2023 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 included Dr. Kier
Author: Kiersten Wise
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The Extension faculty in the Department of Plant Pathology collaborated with Dr. Erin Hester and Eleanor Hudd in the Department of Integrated Strategic Communication in the College of Communication and Information to better understand how stakeholders perceive Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and develop strategic messaging that will lead to behavior change and the adoption of IPM strategies. Focus groups were held on multiple dates and locations in 2023, in both in-person and virtual formats. G
Author: Jason Travis
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
Italian ryegrass (aka Annual ryegrass) is rapidly becoming one of the most problematic weeds in no-till corn and soybean production in Kentucky.To address this issue and promote education on solutions to the control of Italian ryegrass, a ryegrass field tour was organized by Extension Associate Jason Travis and Associate Extension Professor Travis Legleiter. The event was held on March 28, 2024, with growers, extension agents, industry representatives, and crop consultants attending the ev
Author: Jason Travis
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The University of Kentucky Grain Crops Integrated Pest Management group continued to build on the success of the inaugural Kentucky Crop Health Conference (KCHC) with the 2024 Kentucky Crop Health Conference. The conference featured 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 of the conference is to create a better und
Author: Jason Travis
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The Pest Management Field Day returned to the UKREC on June 27, 2024. The 2024 event was the fifth year for the field day that featured research updates from University of Kentucky Pest Management faculty including Dr. Kiersten Wise and Dr. Carl Bradley. The event also featured research updates from graduate students in Dr. Wise, Dr. Bradley, and Dr. Ern Haramoto’s research programs. The event heavily featured walking plot tours of weed science research plots at th
Author: Travis Legleiter
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
Italian ryegrass (aka Annual ryegrass) is rapidly becoming one of the most problematic weeds in no-till corn and soybean production in Kentucky.To address this issue and promote education on solutions to the control of Italian ryegrass, a ryegrass field tour was organized by Extension Associate Jason Travis and Associate Extension Professor Travis Legleiter. The event was held on March 28, 2024 with growers, extension agents, industry representatives, and crop consultants attending the eve
Author: Travis Legleiter
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The University of Kentucky Grain Crops Integrated Pest Management group continued to build on the success of the inaugural Kentucky Crop Health Conference (KCHC) with the 2024 Kentucky Crop Health Conference. The conference featured 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 of the conference is to create a better und
Author: Travis Legleiter
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The Pest Management Field Day returned to the UKREC in 2024 on June 27, 2024. The 2024 event was the fifth year for the field day that featured research updates from University of Kentucky pest management faculty including Dr. Kiersten Wise and Dr. Carl Bradley. The event also featured research updates from graduate students in Dr. Wise, Dr. Bradley, and Dr. Ern Haramoto’s research programs. The event heavily featured walking plot tours of weed science research plots at
Author: Travis Legleiter
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The University of Kentucky Grain Crops Integrated Pest Management group organized a 4-week webinar series in November of 2023 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 included Dr. Kier
Author: Travis Legleiter
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
During the growing season, Extension Faculty with responsibilities in weed, insect pest, and plant disease management on grain and forage crops meet virtually every two weeks with County Extension Agents around the state through “In the Weeds with IPM”. These 60-minute discussions help provide County Extension Agents with timely information on pertinent weed, insect pest, and plant disease threats to grain and forage crops growing across the state. In addition, the discussions help k
Author: Jason Travis
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The 60 minute, bi-weekly In the Weeds with IPM Zoom calls held during the growing season between Agriculture and Natural Resource Agents and Extension Specialists continued to build on participation in 2023-2024, while providing a platform for Agents and Specialists to share vital information regarding Pest Management topics in both agronomic and forage cropping systems. The Zoom calls also provide a platform for specialists to inform ANR agents of potential imminent or emerging pest issues.From
Author: Kiersten Wise
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The Pest Management Field Day returned to the UKREC in 2024 on June 27, 2024. This was the fifth year for the field day that featured research updates from University of Kentucky Pest Management faculty including Dr. Kiersten Wise and Dr. Carl Bradley and Dr. Erin Haramoto, as well as their graduate students. Attendees primarily viewed the walking plot tours of weed science research plots at the University of Kentucky led by Dr. Travis Legleiter. These weed science research plots featured over 1
Author: Carl Bradley
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The Pest Management Field Day returned to the UKREC in 2024 on June 27, 2024. The 2024 event was the fifth year for the field day that featured research updates from University of Kentucky Pest Management faculty including Dr. Kiersten Wise and Dr. Carl Bradley. The event also featured research updates from graduate students in Dr. Wise, Dr. Bradley, and Dr. Ern Haramoto’s research programs. The event heavily featured walking plot tours of weed science research plots at
Author: Carl Bradley
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
During the growing season, Extension Faculty with responsibilities in weed, insect pest, and plant disease management on grain and forage crops meet virtually every two weeks with County Extension Agents around the state through “In the Weeds with IPM”. These 60-minute discussions help provide County Extension Agents with timely information on pertinent weed, insect pest, and plant disease threats to grain and forage crops growing across the state. In addition, the discussions help k
Author: Carl Bradley
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The University of Kentucky Grain Crops Integrated Pest Management group continued to build on the success of the inaugural Kentucky Crop Health Conference (KCHC) with the 2024 Kentucky Crop Health Conference. The conference featured 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 of the conference is to create a better und
Author: Carl Bradley
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The University of Kentucky Grain Crops Integrated Pest Management group organized a 4-week webinar series in November of 2023 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 included Dr. Kier
Author: Carl Bradley
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
Fusarium head blight (also known as “scab”) of wheat is the most damaging disease that regularly occurs in Kentucky and other wheat growing states. Causing both yield and quality losses, this disease caused an estimated annual average loss of over 19 million bushels worth over $105 million in the United States between 2019 and 2023. Dr. Carl Bradley and two colleagues from North Dakota State University (Dr. Andrew Friskop) and the University of Idaho (Dr. Juliet Marshall) led th
