Author: Tracie Goodman
Major Program: Pest ID
In early 2022, I was alerted by a local farmer that he had a suspicious ant mound in his raised bed- he was concerned that it was the red imported fire ant. I contacted the Office of the State Entomologist, who conducted a site visit and determined that it was the imported fire ant and treated the mound. A couple of months later, I was contacted again by the same farmer who noticed a mound on his neighbor's property, which was again confirmed that it was the imported fire ant. At that point,
Author: Ricardo Bessin
Working with Tracie Goodman and Stacy White in McCreary and Whitley Counties we have been able to identify and locate invasive fire ant colonies. Fire ants are a federally regulated invasive pest and once established a federal quarantine is typically imposed. Currently, there are no quarantines for fire ants in Kentucky. A quarantine would have significant impacts on those affected counties in that movement of some agricultural commodities (eg. hay, sod, nursery stock) would be restr
Author: Lorin Fawns
A client called the office nervous about her tree's declining health. She had a large magnolia tree under stress and was afraid she would lose it. The horticulture agent went to the client's home and determined that the tree was covered in scale (insects); the agent recommended how to eliminate the insects.Three years after the client called about her tree, she called the office and let the agent know the tree was doing well, and it was because of the agent that the tree was alive. The c
Author: Clinton Hardy
Grain production is the primary agricultural enterprise in Daviess County encompassing more than 150,000 acres annually; nearly half the land surface of the county. An important task assigned to farmers, production salespeople, extension agents, and agronomists each growing season is the evaluation of growing crops for pest control issues related to insect, disease, and weed problems. Crop evaluation of these occurrences requires time, training, and knowledge. Most non-farm cr
