A survey was sent to over 1200 subscribers of the Utah Extension IPM pest advisories, and selected results are provided below. The response rate was 33%.
Most advisory recipients are from Utah, with a small portion (2%) from neighboring states (Washington, Arizona, Idaho). In Utah, the following counties (in order) are most represented: Utah, Salt Lake, Davis, Cache and Weber. This makes sense because the advisories are focused on northern Utah, and these are the most populated areas. Homeowners (65%) are the largest group receiving the advisories, with private applicators (farmers) a distant second. The tree fruit advisory has the most subscribers, followed by the small fruits/vegetables, landscape, and turf advisories. Most (99%) will continue to receive the advisories for 2009.
We were pleased to see a growing trend in IPM implementation and pesticide reduction. For many subscribers, IPM as a management tool is new, but the adoption rate is high—96% of recipients are now familiar with IPM and use some aspect of IPM on their farms or backyards. Many have adopted the use of dormant sprays (29%), do not spray during bloom (22%), use degree days to time treatments (25%), focus on resistant varieties (14%), visually monitor for pests (82%), or promote beneficial insects (15%). Five percent of farms have switched to mating disruption, which equates to significantly less pesticide use. Overall, 53% have decreased pesticide use at least slightly, while 31% have switched to using reduced-risk pesticides.
In meeting the National IPM Road-map goals, producing economically-viable, healthy plants is also a key priority. Most advisory recipients noted that their plants are healthier as a result the advisory management recommendations (77%), and 27% reported slightly decreased costs while 12% reported significantly decreased costs.
Below are summaries of a few specific questions:
Because of information I've learned from reading the IPM advisories, I monitor for pests on-site more often than before receiving the advisories.
I use the following pest monitoring practices as a result of reading the IPM advisories:
30% watch for damage specific to a pest
29% monitor overall health of plant(s) throughout the season
15% use degree days to time when to look for pests
9% use a hand lens to look for insects
6% hang pheromone trap
4% none
4% I already monitored before receiving the advisories
2% hang non-pheromone sticky trap
1% use double-sided sticky tape to look for scale
I use the following non-pesticide IPM practices as a result of reading the IPM advisories:
These are the IPM practices that target specific pests that I have implemented as a result of the IPM advisories:
29% dormant sprays
22% using degree days to time sprays
22% avoid spraying during bloom
5% mating disruption
4% none
4% I have already implemented these control practices
0% switching to "softer" materials
Because of information in the IPM advisories, I have been able to time my pesticide applications more precisely since before receiving the advisories.
Compared with before receiving the advisories, the amount of conventional, synthetic pesticides (Guthion, Sevin, Malathion, Asana, Pounce, Danitol, etc.) I have applied is:
Compared with before receiving the advisories, the amount of reduced risk pesticides (microbials, insect growth regulators, etc.) or organic pesticides (other microbials, oils, insecticidal soap, etc.) I have applied is:
As compared to before receiving the IPM advisories, the following describes the health of my crop(s)/plant(s):
Compared to before receiving the advisories, the following describes my savings or increased cost in pest suppression:
