Author: Ricardo Bessin
Planning Unit: Entomology
Major Program: Pest ID
Outcome: Initial Outcome
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 restricted. These county agents working through social media in their counties were able to have residents report suspected fire ant colonies. Specialist for UK traveled to these sites, identified the ant species, and treated the confirmed fire ant mounds. Approximately 120 fire ant mounds in these tow counties were eliminated. Without the efforts of these agents, we would have not recognized the fire ant invasion moving up through the Daniel Boone National Forest as all previous fire ant eradications occurred in the Land Between the Lakes region. As part of this work, we worked with the Kentyucky Department of Agriculture, the EPA, and a chemical company to obtain a 24(c), State Local Needs registration, to allow use of a commercial fire ant bait on livestock pastures in Kentucky. After considering the situation, the 24(c) was granted in just 2 days.
Working with Tracie Goodman and Stacy White in McCreary and Whitley Counties we have been able to id... Read More
From apples to strawberries and more, pest management is a complex and evolving in specialty tree fr... Read More
I am studying mollusk damage in soybean since 2017. Mollusk attacks were very rare then; however, th... Read More
In 2021 I worked with the IR-4 testing several organic and conventional (synthetic) acaricides for h... Read More
In early 2022, I was alerted by a local farmer that he had a suspicious ant mound in his raised bed-... Read More
Working with Tracie Goodman and Stacy White in McCreary and Whitley Counties we have been able to id... Read More