National Institute of Food and Agriculture Listening Session

The way we nationally fund agricultural science has changed dramatically in the last five years.  Perhaps the most notable and impactful change has been the move away from long-term dedicated funding for research and extension programs (such as regional integrated pest management (IPM) centers) and the move toward large multi state, multi disciplinary grants.  While neither of these may sound dramatic on their own, the effect has been to reduce support for research and extension infrastructure, things that are difficult to fund with grants.  These changes have also made it more difficult, in some cases, to fund promising preliminary research and for scientists to explore new fields, since its difficult to compete for huge grants without an abundance of background information.  Some positive results have come from recent changes to USDA funding as well, including the increased availability of funding for specialty crops (also known as "minor" crops) which are essentially anything other than large commodity crops (corn, soybeans, wheat, etc.).  Much of my work on blackberries, raspberries, hops, and blueberries has been supported by these funds.

The National Institue of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has scheduled a listening session to solicit public comments for use in crafting future grant requests for February 22nd at the Waterfront Center in Washington, DC.  Stakeholders who use and conduct research, extension, or education activities are invited and encouraged to attend.  If you're reading this blog, that includes you!  You can find meeting details and registration information here.  In addition to this in person meeting, at least seven webinars will be held for stakeholders unable to come to Washington.  Watch the NIFA website for more information.

This is an important opportunity for stakeholder feedback and has the potential to directly impact how we support agriculture in the future.

What does the "Dirty Dozen" mean for IPM?

The Environmental Working Group's (EWG) annual "Dirty Dozen" list of the produce most likely to contain pesticide residues has been released.  As it has in past years, the list contains several fruits, including apples (1), strawberries (3), peaches (4), imported nectarines (6), imported grapes (7), and blueberries (10).

The Dirty Dozen list often receives significant media attention, and most balanced articles typically point out that pesticide residues measured and regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency and that fruits and vegetables are important part of our diet which should not be eliminated or reduced because of pesticide concerns.

Pesticides, as their name makes clear, are used to manage (kill) crop pests, but the meaning of lists like the Dirty Dozen in the context of pest management is rarely, if ever, discussed.  To understand what the Dirty Dozen might mean for integrated pest management (IPM), it's important to understand what is meant by the pesticide use and pesticide residues.

Methods for measuring pesticides
The EWG used several factors when considering pesticide usage on crops.  These included the percentage of samples testing positive for any pesticide residue, the percentage of samples with more than one pesticide residue, the average number & quantity (ppm) of pesticide residues, and the maximum & total number of pesticides found in samples.   Data compared were from routine United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) testing.  Residues measured are of materials registered for use on the crops, and residues of registered materials are regulated by EPA.  In other words, legally allowable residues of pesticides registered and legally used on crops were measured, and these legally allowable residues have been determined by EPA to be safe.


The Dirty Dozen & IPM
While the number of pesticide residues present can certainly be an indication of heavy pesticide usage, it may also be related to a sound pesticide rotation as part of a resistance management program. It is actually worse for the environment and the farmer to use a single pesticide against all pests for two reasons:
1. Pesticides that are effective against many pests are called "broad spectrum" and are also often toxic to non target and beneficial organisms. In other words, broad spectrum materials can kill things we don't want to kill. When narrower spectrum or species specific pesticides are available, these are a better choice.
2. A single pesticide used against a species that has more than one generations per growing season (like SWD)

For these reasons, samples with more than one pesticide residue or relatively large numbers of different pesticides present are not necessarily troubling in the context of IPM.

Where I think IPM practitioners can learn from lists like the Dirty Dozen, however, is with respect to residue quantity and maximum residue levels.  It is important to stress, again, that the materials detected are legally registered and used on fruits and vegetables.  Produce with detectable levels of unregistered pesticides would not be allowed to be sold.

However, my goal as an applied entomologist is to develop integrated insect management strategies, of which pesticides may one, but not the only, tool.   Fruit crops where relatively high levels of pesticides are detected suggest that few non pesticide options exist.  This is a challenge and an opportunity for applied research.  This is a call to arms to develop management tools which reduce our reliance on pesticides in strawberries, blueberries, and the rest of the Dirty Dozen.  Just as consumers should not be afraid to eat the produce on this list, growers and scientists should not be afraid of the information it contains and should take this as an opportunity to improve our production systems.

Sound applied research takes time, but one project already underway was highlighted in South Carolina at an agent-training tour I participated in.  Spearheaded by Dr. Natalia Peres, University of Florida, with cooperators in the Carolinas, this project uses weather data to predict when strawberry fungal disease can infect fruit and only recommends pesticide applications if conditions are right for infection.  In test locations, this has resulted in a significant reduction in pesticide usage when compared to a standard, weekly spray schedule.  This type of pesticide reduction is exciting but is the result of years of previous research.  It is important that the need for meaningful, applied research is not lost in discussions of food choice and food security.

It is important to be conscious in our food choices, but it is just as important to be conscious of the infrastructure needed to support the ability to choose.  The importance of applied agricultural research has not diminished in the current era of budget tightening, but it is being pushed to the edge of priorities. This decreased support directly limits our ability to respond to public concerns like the Dirty Dozen and its list cousins.

Wake County cooperative extension cut

Cooperative extension has been disproportionately cut throughout the country at both the university and county levels but this week the cuts came close to home.  The Wake County Commission has eliminated funding for the horticultural extension agent for the county.  Although Wake County is home to Raleigh (the 2nd largest city in NC), Cary, Gardner, and other urban areas, it is also the 4th largest nursery & floriculture producing county, the 12th largest sweet potato producing county, and the 17th largest tobacco producing county.  This production occurs on 827 farms that cover 84,956 acres.  (Source: NCDA & CS)

The economic value of agriculture to the county isn't the whole story, however.  City dwellers in Wake County benefits from the growing local food movement, spearheaded by cooperative extension's 10% Campaign, and the NC Master Gardener program.

Cutting extension is a short sighted solution to a budget problem.  The modest investment in extension personnel and programs ($22,000 per year, in the case of the Wake County horticulture agent position) has real and tangible benefits.  Adding salt to the wound is the fact that the rest of the Wake County employees will receive a 2% raise this fiscal year.  With cuts like this, extension will come out of the recession a much weakened institution but still tasked with helping America's farms feed, clothe, and support the world.

More information
Wake County Board of Commissioners

The importance of extension

See WNC Vegetable and Small Fruit News, a blog maintained by regional IPM agent Sue Colucci, for a short, but powerful post on the importance of extension. I echo her comments. If you value what we as extension researchers and educators do, now is the time to let your decision-makers know.

I truly feel that we are at a crucial junction in extension, and more broadly, at our nation's land grant universities. By all means, we need to innovate and use resources wisely, but extension is a real engine of growth and change, beyond just agriculture.

More information
Seven reasons extension is needed today - WNC Vegetable and Small Fruit News

Research stations & the budget

The NC Flue Cured Tobacco Tour at the Upper Coastal Plain Research Station, near Rocky Mount, NC. Over 120 growers, researchers, cooperative extension agents, and industry members attended the 2 day tour, which visited projects at the Upper Coastal Plain and Lower Coastal Plain (Kinston, NC) Research Stations.

We're at the beginnings of the North Carolina state budget process, but already some issues are rising to attention. The current 2011 budget from the governor proposes (among many other things) transferring the 12 North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (NCDA & CS) research stations to NC State University as well as the sale of 7 stations as surplus property. We certainly need to look at all options to economize and optimize during the current budget situation, but we also need to be careful with how we make these decisions.

Research stations have been crucial to my extension and research program. I quickly totaled the number of projects I have done on research stations in the 3 years I have been in North Carolina. From 2008 through 2011, I have had:

17 Tobacco Research Projects

3 Blueberry Projects

5 Blackberry Projects

7 Strawberry Projects

These projects have been at 10 research stations across the entire state. Just a few impacts of these projects include:

Supporting the registration of 3 new insecticides in tobacco & developing recommendations for their use in an IPM system

Discovering new information on the biology of tobacco splitworm, an emerging pest

Determining thrips biology in blackberries and tobacco

Discovery of the first reproducing spotted wing drosophila populations in the eastern US

These impacts would not have been possible without the fantastic support of the North Carolina Research Stations. Cuts are inevitable, but again, we need to be wise with the cuts. The NC Agribusiness Council has a great summary of the current status of the research station proposal.

More information

NC Agribusiness Council - Research Station Program Evaluation

Repost from Myrmecos: Honey bees as pawns

Alex Wild over at Mymercos has posted a thoughtful article in response to the media frenzy surrounding the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) findings published in PLoS One. This study linked CCD to two bee pathogens. The study itself was fairly small scale, and larger studies that will soon be published have been conducted (some at NCSU). What Alex was responding to, however, was not the validity of the work, but rather the media's interpretation, specifically those trying to link pesticides to CCD and who found fault with one of the study author's associations with Bayer Crop Sciences.

The fact is, all applied entomologists have at least some association with pesticide companies. They often provide research funding and materials, and much of the applied work that is conducted at universities would simply not be done without their support. However, no program I have observed, both mine and others, lets this relationship color their research results and interpretation. The reason pesticide companies fund university research is because we are objective. If we lose that objectivity, we would also lose industry funding (and our moral center). Further, at public universities, funding relationships are public as are all the results generated by funded research. I encourage growers, companies, and other researchers to request, view, and use results from my pesticide based trials. Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

More information
Honey bees as pawns

UNC system facilities are 'in a mess' - Education - NewsObserver.com

The Entomology Department is also housed in Gardner Hall. Although my lab is in another building, it's in no better condition.

More information

UNC system facilities are 'in a mess' - Education - NewsObserver.com

IPM funding at risk

I have delayed weighing in on the developing Farm Bill because I share the views, more eloquently put, of many other organizations, including:
The Entomological Society of America
The Southern Region IPM Center
The Farm Press

However, I think it's time to add my voice to chorus in support of the restoration of the "406 Programs" to the 2011 Farm Bill. These programs not only support direct research on important agricultural issues (Program areas: Methyl Bromide Alternatives, Crops at Risk, and Risk Avoidance and Mitigation, among others), these are also the funds the support our state and regional IPM centers. These centers (North Central, Northeastern, Western, and Southern) are catalysts for IPM research, implementation, and practice and are essential to the work I do.

The House Agricultural Appropriations Committee has left funding out for CAR, RAMP, and regional IPM centers, but has resorted some of the 406 programs (MBT, Food Safety, and Water Quality). The loss of the regional IPM centers in particular would be devastating for applied agriculture research and extension in North Carolina. If you feel strongly about this type of research, now is the time to contact your representative and let them know that you support the mission of the 406 programs.

The NC House of Representatives Members can be found here.

The politics of tomato paste

I just read this interesting article from Slate.com on recent legal drama in the California processing tomato industry and was reminded of my time in California. I spent 5 years in California while conducting my doctoral research at the University of California, Davis. For an agricultural economics course I took in my first year at Davis, we spent 2 weeks in the summer visiting agricultural sites. One of the most impressive was the Morning Star Company's processing facility. This is the largest tomato processing plant in the world and a large player in this market. It's not necessarily a surprise how cutthroat agriculture can be, but it is always interesting to see places you are familiar with appear out of the usual context.

Defending the land grants - reposted from Myrmecos

My friend Alex Wild has an excellent post detailing Michigan State University entomologist Anthony Cognato's appearance on Fox News in defense of stimulus funds for entomological endeavors. I urge you to read the post and watch the clip. This antipathy is part of a larger, disturbing trend of attack against the public institutions who have been the greatest single engine of economic growth and sustainability in the history of the US. I am deeply passionate about the land grant mission. It's as important now as it was 150 years ago.

Slate rates fruits and veggies

Uniform, public information on agricultural production practices is limited, but even given that limited data, this Slate article has some large holes. Chief among them, California production practices for the fruits and veggies mentioned is often very different than those in other states. Pest pressure also differ greatly between California and the rest of the US--NC small fruit production certainly relies more on fungicides than CA production does. That said, the question of sustainability is trickling down from animal agriculture to commerical horticulture, and growers should be prepared to explain the reasons for their production practices.

It's wine and grape appreication month!

Sunbelt grapes (a V. lubrusca variety similar to Concord) ready to harvest at Kildeer Farms in Kings Mountain, NC on August 5th. These even ripening grapes are an addition to grower Ervin Lineberger's fresh market muscadines and seem to do well in NC. They're really tasty, too, but they ripen uniformly and are only available for about a week in August!

I posted earlier this month about upcoming muscadine grape events, but I somehow missed the announcement that September is Wine & Grape Appreciation month in NC! I can think of several good ways to celebrate!