*42-Unc«Btef Fanning, Saturday, June 3,
GENEVA, N.Y. Turf grass
entomologists may live above
ground, but a lot of their grubby
friends don’t.
More than 70 industry repre
sentatives, faculty, graduate stu
dents, and extension specialists
from around the country at
tended the “Turfgrass Entomol
ogy 2000” conference at the
New York State Agricultural
Experiment Station, April 2-4,
to talk about the grubs and other
issues facing turf specialists and
consumers.
The meeting was hosted by
Michael G. Villani, professor of
entomology at Cornell, and Pa
tricia J. Vittum, associate pro
fessor of entomology at the
University of Massachusetts,
Amherst.
The conference was also an
opportunity to celebrate the re
lease of the second edition of
“Turfgrass Insects of the United
States and Canada.” Tashiro,
who is considered the dean of
American turfgrass entomolo
gists, was the sole author of the
first book. A dinner was held in
his honor during the conference.
“It was especially gratifying
for us to meet at the experiment
station. The turfgrass entomol
ogy community here has been
considered one of the focal
points of turf entomology since
the 1940 s through the research
efforts of Dr. Gambrell, Dr.
Tashiro, and myself,” said Vil
lani.
The station was, and contin
ues to be, one of a small handful
of institutions working on both
fundamental and applied as
pects of turf entomology.
“This is a national meeting
and one of the most useful ones I
O oUY M«„«,
LAPP’S
Wm* Dispatched
Grass
go to,” said Robert L. Crocker,
associate professor at Texas
A&M, whose current project is
taping the sounds made under
ground by white grubs as a po
tential means of monitoring
their numbers. “This meeting is
a chance for us all to talk about
environmental concerns, pesti
cides and alternatives to pesti
cides, to exchange new
information on the ecology and
biology of pest species, discuss
new pests of turf, and talk about
the effect of government regula
tions.”
Seven topics were addressed
during informative panel discus
sions over three days.
In the discussion on biocon
trol, moderators Jennifer Grant
(NYIPM/Cornell), Albrecht
Koppenhofer (Rutgers Univer
sity), and Parwinder Grewal
(Ohio State University) took a
look at the practical use of bio
logical control agents for con
trolling turfgrass pests. The use
of biological insecticides, preda
tors, and parasitoids for insect
control in turf was also dis
cussed.
In a panel discussion on the
transition of IPM from research
to implementation, moderator
Fred Baxendale (Univ. of Ne
braska), Rich Cowles (Conn.
Agric. Exp. Sta.), and Gary
Couch (NYIPM/Comell) dis
cussed moving IPM from the
classroom to the field to the end
user, integrating biocontrol and
traditional approaches in a real
istic IPM program, and the
status of action thresholds and
sampling in IPM programs.
In university/industry/go
vernment/professional relation
ships, moderator Rick
To pay tribute to our dairy and beef farmers,
during June 2000 we will give
5% to 20% off barn equipment.
Lapp’s has provided quality barn equipment and
professional service to the dairy industry for 28 years.
Is Never Greener On The Other Side
5935 Ol
Brandenburg (North Carolina (NYSAES/Cornell), Mike Klein
State Univ.), Dan Potter (Univ. (USDA/ARS), and Robert
of Kentucky), and Chris Becker Crocker (Texas A&M).
(American Cyanamid) talked Emerging Environmental
about how funding shapes the Issues, such as the impact of
message, whether roles, goals FQPA on turf insect pest man
and responsibilities were clear, agement, selective versus broad
and how these relationships spectrum insecticides, home
affect graduate education now owner use of products and local
and in the future. laws were addressed in a session
Moderators Chris Williamson moderated by Amy Suggars
(Univ. of Wisconsin), and (TruGreen Chemlawn), David
Wendy Gelemtner (Pace Con- Cox (Novartis), and Gwen
suiting, San Diego, Calif.) talked Stahnke (Washington State
about advances in black Univ.).
cutworm management, from Conference organizers left
traditional and emerging control one of the most interesting
tactics to action thresholds and topics for last, as David Shetlar
laboratory bioassays. (Ohio State Univ.) talked about
Pheromones and their use as the emerging insect pests that
attractants, arrestants and re- have been reported in turf over
pellants was the focus of the ses- the past year,
sion moderated by Paul Robbins Ted Horton, superintendent
Ag Horizons 2000 July 25
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) The Retail Face of Agri
culture is the title of the 11th Ag
Horizons Conference, scheduled
July 25 at the Holiday Inn Har
risburg-Hershey.
The audience will be informed
about e-commerce, entertain
ment farming, niche marketing,
and direct marketing presented
by agribusiness people actively
involved these alternative ap
proaches to “getting product to
market.”
Lou Moore, professor of ag
economics at Penn State, will
begin the daylong program by
introducing the concept of alter
native marketing and will set
the stage for the balance of the
day.
The topic of e-commerce will
be tackled by Terry Kile of
Weidenhammer Systems Corp.
Stephen Quigley of Merrymead
Farm, Inc., Lansdale and Janet
Finney of Jack Finney Corp. of
Cambridge Springs will discuss
their operations as entertain
ment farming.
Niche marketing will be the
subject for Roy Brubaker of
Brubaker Farms, Mifflintown,
and Romaine Erb, Brooklawn
Farm Market, Lancaster, will
discuss Brooklawn’s venture
into direct marketing.
Rounding out the program
will be another Penn State pro
fessor of ag economics, Jim
Beierlein. Beierlein will conduct
a workshop entitled “Develop
ing A Business Plan.”
The conferences are designed
to build awareness of emerging
agricultural topics and issues, to
of the much acclaimed Pebble
Beach Golf Course, in Mon
terey, California, spoke at
Tashiro’s dinner, and outlined
ways in which a golf cour
se/pianned community can
behave like responsible neigh
bors. “These include environ
mental stewardship, community
outreach, and a long-range
vision to the sustained improve
ment of the region,” he said.
“The meeting went off with
out a major hitch,” said Villani.
“We all know that events that
appear easy to stage require a
great deal of forethought and at
tention to detail. Nancy Conso
lie and Paul Robbins are
responsible for the logistics of
the meeting and they should be
proud of their efforts.”
provide a forum for information
sharing, and to make available
either take-home teaching tools
or provide the awareness of
those tools. Vo-ag instructors
and cooperative extension staff
are the target audience. Contrib
uting cooperatives and Penn
State, under the auspices of the
Pennsylvania Council of Coop
eratives, sponsor the conference
series.
The location of the Holiday
Inn (Grantville) is new this year.
The program will begin with a
continental breakfast at 8:30
a.m., includes lunch, and is an
ticipated to conclude at 3:30
p.m. There is a charge of $lO
with the mail-in registration or
$l5 at the door.
Educators who need more in
formation may call Carol
Duncan, 610-693-5601.