We’ve improved the Helpful Links on the Station Pages, found in the lower left hand side bar, by adding information for those of you hailing from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. There are three Helpful Link drop down lists: How to Use and Interpret Pest Forecasts, Pest Management Guidelines, and University Cooperative Extension Programs. Our newest partner is Minnesota and we will soon be adding Helpful Links for our Minnesota NEWA farmers!
University Cooperative Extension Programs are based at land grant universities and, in some states, offices are still found regionally or in each county. Extension faculty are excellent sources of help for the farmer, whether you are new to farming or have been in the business of growing our food for generations. Extension information and resources published on the web are accessible to anyone, anywhere. As NEWA’s geographic coverage grows, be careful that the information you might seek, for instance, from a Vermont farmer’s perspective, is still applicable to your farm if it is accessed from an Extension website in New Jersey. For this reason, NEWA’s Helpful Links have been expanded to cover the Northeast region and will continue to be updated as NEWA continues to grow and Extension resources evolve.
Pest Management Guidelines are resources on the pesticides registered for use on a crop or group of crops, such as tree fruit or vegetables. These are specific to states or regions, e.g. New England, and are compiled for specific crops by land grant university research and extension faculty. Typically, these guides are updated routinely (yearly or biennially), may be available online or for purchase, and may provide details on efficacy of the materials against the target insect or plant disease, pre-harvest intervals, IPM thresholds, etc. In some cases, we also point you to IPM resources for your state.
How to Use and Interpret Pest Forecasts has information on the vegetable forecasts for onions, potatoes and tomatoes. NEWA’s pest forecast tools are essentially self-explanatory. Each has a “More Info” tab with additional resources, but if there are pest forecasts you are using for which you’d like a guide for using and interpreting the forecast, let Juliet Carroll know.
Do you have ideas for Helpful Links for the NEWA Station Pages? Tell any of NEWA’s Coordinators about your idea.