Soybean Aphid IPM Team Receives 2009 Integrated Pest Management Team Award
A team of scientists across the Midwest and Canada, headed by David Ragsdale, U of M entomologist and part of the Soybean Aphid IPM Team, have been given the 2009 Integrated Pest Management Team award by the Entomological Foundation. The Soybean Aphid IPM Team includes University representatives from 12 states and Canada with a total of 37 scientists involved.
The team was formed in late 2000 in response to the first discovery of soybean aphid in Wisconsin. Since then, the team has developed an Economic Injury Level and Economic Threshold level that provides management guidelines for soybean growers. The Economic Threshold recommendation can be used by producers to prevent economic loss under a wide array of expected yield, price and control costs scenarios. Equally important for growers has been the team's development of a simple method to sample soybean aphids, named Speed Scouting, that has accelerated adoption of IPM for soybean aphid.
A recent economic analysis took the level of adoption of the teams recommendations estimated that soybean growers will prevent an estimated $1.3 billion loss in increased input costs (insecticides) and yield loss over the next 15 years as a result of the Soybean Aphid IPM Team's efforts.
The award will be presented at the annual meeting of the Entomological Foundation in December.