PUBLISHED ON SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 | Courtesy Paul Hetzler, CCE St. Lawrence County KEMPTVILLE, ONTARIO. — On my twice-monthly drive on Highway 416 between Prescott and Ottawa, I pass the sign for Kemptville, a town of about 3,500 which lies roughly 40 km north of the St. Lawrence. It has a rich history, and no…Continue Reading In praise of messiness
Weed control specialist joins NYS IPM
I’m Bryan Brown, the new Integrated Weed Management Specialist at NYS IPM. I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to work with growers and promote IPM solutions for weed management. I came here from the University of Maine, where I compared the economic and ecological effects of several weed management strategies and tested a new cultivation…Continue Reading Weed control specialist joins NYS IPM
Abandoned fields: Weedy disaster or IPM opportunity?
Farmers across New York have been struggling with the overabundance of rain this year — meaning that some cornfields never got planted. The result? Weeds have really taken off. So what? If there’s no crop for weeds to compete with, what’s the danger? Weeds make seeds, lots of seeds, which could cause a disaster in…Continue Reading Abandoned fields: Weedy disaster or IPM opportunity?
Invasives are pests! Learn more at our July IPM conference.
We tend to default to bugs — to insects — when we think about pests. But plant diseases and weeds are pests too. And all threaten our fields and farms, our forests and streams, our homes and workplaces. Pests provide no end of challenges — especially pests that come from afar. Among IPM’s strengths? Researching…Continue Reading Invasives are pests! Learn more at our July IPM conference.
Keep Off the Grass? IPM for Anyone With a Lawnmower
Now that spring has arrived and you’ve dusted off the lawn mower … PUBLISHED ON MAY 3RD, 2017, CANTON, N.Y. | Courtesy Paul Hetzler, CCE St. Lawrence County As a kid of about five, I became suspicious of lawns. In a rare moment of TV viewing, I had seen a public-service ad wherein a bundle…Continue Reading Keep Off the Grass? IPM for Anyone With a Lawnmower
Earth Day: What It Means to Me — and the IPM Connection
“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together … all things connect.” — attributed to Chief Seattle I’m an environmental educator. Have been one all my life. Among my goals? To erase the…Continue Reading Earth Day: What It Means to Me — and the IPM Connection
Nature’s Herbicides and Lessons from Black Walnut Trees
You’re prepping your garden for winter, muttering about the sapling black walnut trees the squirrels planted on your behalf mere inches away — and the mother tree is in your neighbor’s yard. You know you can’t put off removing them: this might be the last year your loppers can manage the task. Black walnuts get…Continue Reading Nature’s Herbicides and Lessons from Black Walnut Trees
Dandelions? Wasps? Mice? For Every Season There Is a Purpose (But It’s Not Always Obvious)
It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want — oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! — Mark Twain For IPMers who answer homeowner questions, what many people want…Continue Reading Dandelions? Wasps? Mice? For Every Season There Is a Purpose (But It’s Not Always Obvious)
Keep Records on Pests
They’re back! Insect pests, plant diseases, weeds, birds, biting flies — the works. And tracking them year to year is critical. How better to know your options are, this year and in years to come? So pick up a pencil, smart phone or tablet and write them down on a field-to-field or livestock basis. Write…Continue Reading Keep Records on Pests
Dandelions — Love Them or Leave Them, but Don’t Spray Them
It’s May, and lawns across NY are speckled with golden jewels – jewels that provide a valuable early pollen source for our native pollinators and whose leaves and roots are loaded with nutrients. Or — our lawns are splotched by a horrible weed besmirching their beauty, a beacon to shame lax householders. It’s really all…Continue Reading Dandelions — Love Them or Leave Them, but Don’t Spray Them