Author: Raul Villanueva
Major Program: Integrated Pest Management
The field crop pest management group at UK created a 5-week webinar series in November and December of 2021 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. Webinar series speakers and topics included Dr. Kiersten Wise, “What we learned about corn fungicides in 2021;” Dr. Carl Bradley, “Spots, Rots, and Syndromes: Managi
Author: Travis Legleiter
Tank mixing of herbicide is a common practice to capture control of a broad spectrum of weed species within a field and has become more common over the past year with a decrease in availability of broad-spectrum herbicides. Tank mixing of herbicides can also come with pitfall such as physical compatibility leading to products falling out of solution as participants or gel and not being able to be effectively applied with a sprayer. Tank mixing can also lead to antagonism in which th
The application of herbicide and fungicides for control of weeds and plant diseases can be very costly when incorrect applications lead to exponential cost, crop loss, and potential litigation if drift occurs. The appropriate calibration of a sprayer, nozzle selection, tank mixing and understanding weather conditions are all complicated procedures that can fluctuate depending on the product being applied and type of sprayer being used. The 2021 Spray Clinic was held in July 202 and f
Author: Kiersten Wise
On July 22,2021, 8 high school teams participated in the annual University of Kentucky High School Crop Scouting Competition, held at the Grain and Forage Center of Excellence at the University of Kentucky Research and Education Center in Princeton, KY. The contest is modeled after similar competitions held in four Midwestern states. Team leaders were recruited from Kentucky FFA chapters and Kentucky high school agriculture teachers, County Agents, and agribusiness leaders. Participa
Author: Patrick Hardesty
Taylor County ranks 35th in grain production in the state. This past year we combined the grain meeting and commercial pesticide training with approximately 35 participants.Due to problems with slugs and voles, educational sessions were developed to address these issues as well as other grain hot topics such as controlling glyphosate resistant weeds and importance of using pre-emergence herbicides.Commercial applicators also participated in this discussion as well as receiving CEU hours fo
Author: Jonathan Larson
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). We are calling it “Kentucky Keepers” and it involves 4-H youth volunteers, Master Gardeners, and Master Naturalists. The Extension specialists recruited Extension agents across the state to help
In early April I was asked by Carol Hinton, ANR agent in Breckinridge County, to come and visit with several new and expanding greenhouse/high tunnel operations in her county. She shared that she had reservations about their preparedness for insect issues and wanted me to meet with each grower and help them to identify potential entry points for pests and advice on how to intercept them early. During this tour, I was able to give advice to four different farms on how to implement easy to ac
Author: Jonathan Green
As soybean and corn prices have risen the past few years, the importance of making sound weed management decisions to protect crop yields has become even more critical. Crop yield losses due to weed competition can cause considerably higher economic losses than in past years when commodity prices were lower. For example, with current soybean prices over $16.00 per bushel and yields at 60 bu/A a 10% loss in crop yield due to inadequate weed control can result in a potential economic l
Author: Zachary DeVries
In 2021, the Kentucky Legislature passed a bill which completely overhauled the state’s statues on pesticides. As such, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) had to completely re-write their regulations to ensure they were in compliance with current statues and EPA regulations. To assist in this process, Dr. Ric Bessin (Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky) and I have been working extensively with the KDA to ensure the new regulations are (1) effective in ens
As a result of Zoom trainings previously described, 100% of agents that completed the course (n=5) say they will be increasing their recommendations of biological control to local growers. This has the potential to impact about 25 growers in 5 different counties. This project also saved growers about $2,000 on purchasing biological control agents from insectaries.
Despite the continuing challenges of COVID-19, we successfully developed and executed the 50th annual University of Kentucky Pest Control Short Course. This 3 day program incorporated 15 1-hour talks from speakers located around the country who travelled to Lexington, >420 pest control operators 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 i
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 13 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 (
Author: Ricardo Bessin
In early summer of 2021, a producer in central Kentucky (largest produce in the state) reported insecticide failure with control of alfalfa weevil. Smalls were collect, reared in the laboratory and bioassyed for effectiveness to available insecticides for that pest. Bioassys indicated that the alfalfa weevils on that farm were highly resistent to pyrethroid insecticides and other effective alternative insecticides were recommended. This is the first evidence of eastern opulations of alfalf
The late summer of 2021 experinced the largest outbreak of fall armyworm since the 1970's. Pheromone traps in Princeton operated throgh the UK IPM program provided a warning of increasing popluations int he western portion of the state. In toal, three generations of fasll armyworm impacted the state with the second and third generations attacking the entire state while the first was concentrated in the western region. The strain we had this year was the "corn" and crops attac
Author: Lyndall Harned
Due to several factors including calls to the office, questions on, and reasons for, farm visits and questions I received while taking hay samples, I felt a fall weed ID and control program was needed.So I scheduled one in late September at our Education Center, where we could be totally outside and actually see the weeds we were discussing as opposed to pictures. Preceding the program I made laminated name cards and had them staked by the identified weed. I also had a packet of UK publications
Author: Susan Fox
Fall armyworms took Lyon County by surprise this year with numbers not seen since the 70’s. The high numbers caused complete losses in tefft hay, and many soybean and alfalfa acres. Areas as large as 60 acres were eaten down to stems. Outbreaks on lawns were reported also. Upon receiving a call about a tefft field wipeout from a local farmer, the agent began contacting other local farmers by text and phone, advising them to begin scouting. The local UK Extension Entomologist, Dr. Raul Vill
