On-Farm Soybean IPM Education Programs: Cultivating Enhanced Soybean Management

In 2008, 20 participants representing 16 farms in 3 counties in New York State participated in on-farm soybean Tactical Agriculture (TAg) team Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs. Participants were actively engaged in a growing-season-long educational program discussing critical pest and crop management topics arising during the growing season. Multiple educational meetings were held in farmer fields enhancing opportunities to reinforce use of IPM concepts and techniques. Participating producers benefited from the timely collection of data from their fields throughout the growing season. The pest information gathered from scouting these soybean fields during the growing season was used in other extension educational efforts across New York State. In addition to the traditional soybean TAg efforts, one-time IPM and Integrated Crop Management (ICM) soybean meetings were held in Cayuga, Columbia, Jefferson, Oneida/Madison, Seneca and Tompkins counties. These field meetings extended the reach of soybean IPM and ICM on-farm education beyond the more intensive TAg groups to target soybean producers in areas where soybean acreage is expanding. Over one hundred producers attended these meetings