Farmers Protect Land, Profits With Fewer Pesticides
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UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.)
During the last decade, Pennsylvania far
mers have saved more than $17.5 million in
214.1 Bu./A
Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 17,1993-Page 3
insecticide by adopting a combination of
natural and chemical methods to control the
state com crop’s most threatening pest,
according to a researcher in Penn State’s
College of Agricultural Sciences.
“Pennsylvania farmers spent almost $lO
million treating 870,000 acres with soil
insecticide to stop the com rootworm in
1980,” said Dr. Dennis Calvin, associate
professor of entomology. “But 90 percent of
our com fields that year lost money on
chemical rootworm-control methods.”
To limit their expensive reliance on pesti
cides, field crop farmers worked with exten
sion entomologists and county agents to
reduce soil insecticide use through a method
called integrated pest management, or IPM.
“IPM was started in the 1920 s when the
boil weevil was becoming resistant to pesti
cides,” he said. “Chemical warfare research
in the 1940 s led to new insecticides like
DDT. When DDT was found to be harmful
to human health and the environment, feder
al and state governments resumed IPM
research.
“To determine the best control methods,
researchers study the pest’s life cycle and
rotations of other crops that discourage the
target insect’s growth on a particular piece
of land,” he said.
“For instance, IPM studies found the com
rootworm did not reach economically
dangerous levels until the third year of conti
nuous com in most cases, and that it could
not flourish in alfalfa or soybean crops,” he
said. “Since 1980, farmers have worked
with extension entomologists and county
agents to develop a seven-to-ten year crop
rotation plan to save money and protect land
from pesticides and soil erosion, and to con
trol the rootworm and other pests,
“Today farmers typically grow com on a
particular field for two to three years and
then scout for rootworm adults to see if a soil
insecticide is needed,” he said. “In many
cases the rootworm population never reach
es economically dangerous levels. So the
farmer saves the cost and trouble of applying
chemicals.
“Threatening insects also may be con
trolled by encouraging the growth of other
insects that are natural enemies.
“Depending on the extent of a pest prob
lem, IPM may recommend a single applica
tion of a specific amount and type of insecti
cide. Farmers then plant either alfalfa, soy
beans or small grains for four-to-seven years
on that piece of land and grow their com on
an unthreatened plot.
“We estimate this practice saved farmers
$17.5 million on almost 1.6 million pounds
of soil insecticide through 10 years,” Calvin
said. “For instance, in 1990 just 580,000
acres were treated at a cost of $6.9 million,
with 35 percent of the fields operating above
the economic threshold.”
Calvin attended an IPM adoption meeting
convened by the U.S. Department of Agri
culture in Washington, D.C., to demonstrate
strides Pennsylvania farmers have taken in
pest management in the last decade.
He said that pesticide application esti
mates from the Environmental Protection
Agency may be inflated because the figures
reflect yearly chemical use and do not
account for farmers who use the rotation
strategy to apply soil insecticide once every
seven to 10 years. He adds that many far
mers prefer to either buy grain or harvest
before pest infestation, rather than handle
and pay for chemical pesticides.
“The primary business for most of these
farmers is their dairy operation,” he said.
“Their main objective is to get enough silage
to feed their cattle through the winter. If at
all possible, they would rather not have to
take time away from the dairy to apply
chemicals, and they prefer not to use chemi
cals around their livestock.”
II