Month: March 2016

Lee Telega, Cornell agricultural advocate, earns Excellence in IPM award

Lee Telega loves farming. Respects science-based knowledge. Cares deeply for the environment. Navigates the halls of New York’s legislature as comfortably as he once navigated a tractor. These attributes were a perfect match for Telega’s steadfast advocacy for the NYS IPM Program, because advocate he did. As a member of Cornell’s Government Affairs office, Telega…Continue Reading Lee Telega, Cornell agricultural advocate, earns Excellence in IPM award

pollination potpourri: wasps, moths, flies, beetles, and oh yes … bees

Let’s start with a short pre-blog quiz: which of these native insects pollinate plants? bees moths beetles all of the above — plus flies, wasps, butterflies, moths The answer? #4. If you left out flies and wasps because they freak you out … well, just know there’s scads of different wasps and flies — not…Continue Reading pollination potpourri: wasps, moths, flies, beetles, and oh yes … bees

Farm Demos, Scouting, Resourcefulness Earn IPM Award

Always positive. Wonderful to work with. An invaluable resource. Accolades like these don’t just pop up out of nowhere. In Sandra Menasha’s case, they speak to the qualities that earned her an Excellence in IPM award. Menasha is a vegetable specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) on eastern Long Island. A few short decades ago,…Continue Reading Farm Demos, Scouting, Resourcefulness Earn IPM Award

Spider FAQs One Two Three

These three things you should know about spiders. But first, know this. They’re not bugs. In fact, insects probably outnumber spiders roughly 10 to one. Too bad so many things get blamed on spiders — insect bites, say, or medical conditions that require intervention. One. We are not their prey. In fact, most couldn’t bite…Continue Reading Spider FAQs One Two Three

Excellence in the Berry Patch

Dale-Ila Riggs, president of the New York State Berry Growers Association, has amassed a lifetime of expertise in IPM and berry farming. Combine that with inventiveness, insatiable curiosity, and determination — tackling head-on what could be the berry growers’ worst pest ever — and it’s no surprise she earned a recent Excellence in IPM award. That…Continue Reading Excellence in the Berry Patch