- Author: Tammy Majcherek
Next week (June 2-10) is California Invasive Species Action Week. Whether it be plant or insect - learn how you can help fight the next invasion at UC IPM Pests in the Urban Landscape.
- Editor: Tammy Majcherek
- Author: Cheryl Reynolds
Dress right for work – check out the new UC IPM online course on personal protective equipment
Cheryl Reynolds – UC Statewide IPM Program
Spring is in full swing and summer is right around the corner. If you work in agricultural, turf, landscape, or structural settings, you are probably at your busiest. If you handle pesticides as part of your work, you most likely wear some sort of personal protective equipment (PPE). However, do you know if you are wearing the right type for the job that you do? Wearing the appropriate PPE, taking it off the right way, and correctly cleaning it prevents unnecessary pesticide exposure to yourself and others. Learn the steps so you don't expose your family members or those around you to pesticide residues by viewing a brand new online course on Proper Selection, Use, and Removal of Personal Protective Equipment from the UC Statewide IPM Program (UC IPM).
The courseis approved by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) for 1.5 hours in the Laws and Regulations category. This course is designed for all pesticide handlers with the goal to provide them with information on pesticide labels and the California Code of Regulations (CCR) to help them select, wear, remove, and dispose of or storePPE.
In California, all pesticide handlers (applicators, mixers, loaders, those who transport pesticides, or those who fix application equipment) are legally required to wear PPE. However, in order to get the most protection from PPE, it must be used correctly. Violations involving the incorrect use of PPE were the second most commonly reported type of agricultural-use violation in 2017 as reported by DPR (PDF).
The new PPE online course opens with a scenario describing a real example of an accident reported to DPR that led to an incident of pesticide exposure because the correct eye protection was not worn. The content that follows is divided into six instructional modules, highlighting types of PPE, how to select it, and when certain items should be worn. Answer short questions about the different types of PPE. Open pesticide labels to learn how to select the right PPE and learn when certain items should be worn. Short how-to videos and animated sequences demonstrate the proper way to put on or remove items such as gloves, coveralls, respirators, and eyewear. You must pass a final test with 70% or higher to receive your certificate of completion and continuing education hours.
If this is the year to renew your license with DPR, get a jumpstart on it. Take this new course and all the other UC IPM online courses to refresh your knowledge and get the CEUs you need. There is a $30 fee for taking Proper Selection, Use, and Removal of Personal Protective Equipment. You are welcome to view the content for free on YouTube, but without the activities, final exam, and continuing education credit. For more information about license renewal, visit DPR.
- Author: Tammy Majcherek
Hosted by UC ANR South Coast REC, Cooperative Extension, and the Orange County Farm Bureau, programs that provide agricultural education to an increasingly urban population, local high schools participated in workshops at the South Coast REC that were designed to acquaint the students with ag research techniques, careers in agriculture, and the importance of urban ag and water conservation in their daily lives.
UCCE Master Gardener volunteers assisted UC staff rotating the Students and teachers between workshops focusing on basic IPM and pest identification; crop rotation strategies and hands on potato harvest, vertebrate pest management and gopher trapping demonstration; as well as safe food handling and lunch preparation.
Following the morning activities, OCFB and South Coast REC staff provided a barbeque lunch featuring potato salad and roasted potatoes prepped by the students after which all the youth and teachers had the opportunity to bag up the fruits of the labor to share with their families.
Much fun was had by all:
- Editor: Tammy Majcherek
- Author: Stephanie Parreira
If you are planning to do your part for the environment this Sunday by planting in your garden, be sure to check out the article below about UC IPM's new insectary plants webpage by Stephanie Parreira - you will be glad you did!
Home is where the habitat is: This Earth Day, consider installing insectary plants
—Stephanie Parreira, UC Statewide IPM Program
Help the environment this Earth Day, which falls on Sunday April 22 this year, by installing insectary plants! These plants attract natural enemies such as lady beetles, lacewings, and parasitic wasps. Natural enemies provide biological pest control and can reduce the need for insecticides. Visit the new UC IPM Insectary Plants webpage to learn how to use these plants to your advantage.
The buzz about insectary plants
Biological control, or the use of natural enemies to reduce pests, is an important component of integrated pest management. Fields and orchards may miss out on this control if they do not offer sufficient habitat for natural enemies to thrive. Insectary plants (or insectaries) can change that—they feed and shelter these important insects and make the environment more favorable to them. For instance, sweet alyssum planted near lettuce fields encourages syrphid flies to lay their eggs on crops. More syrphid eggs means more syrphid larvae eating aphids, and perhaps a reduced need for insecticides. Similarly, planting cover crops like buckwheat within vineyards can attract predatory insects, spiders, and parasitic wasps, ultimately keeping leafhoppers and thrips under control.
Flowering insectaries also provide food for bees and other pollinators. There are both greater numbers and more kinds of native bees in fields with an insectary consisting of a row of native shrubs planted along the field edge (called a hedgerow). Native bees also stay in fields with these shrubs longer than they do in fields without them. Therefore, not only do insectaries attract natural enemies, but they can also boost crop pollination and help keep bees healthy.
Insectary plants may attract more pests to your crops, but the benefit is greater than the risk
The possibility of creating more pest problems has been a concern when it comes to installing insectaries. Current research shows that mature hedgerows, in particular, bring more benefits than risks. Hedgerows attract far more natural enemies than insect pests. And despite the fact that birds, rabbits, and mice find refuge in hedgerows, the presence of hedgerows neither increases animal pest problems in the field, nor crop contamination by animal-vectored pathogens. Hedgerow insectaries both benefit wildlife and help to control pests.
How can I install insectary plants?
Visit the Insectary Plants webpage to learn how to establish and manage insectary plants, and determine which types of insectaries may suit your needs and situation. If you need financial assistance to establish insectaries on your farm, consider applying for Conservation Action Plan funds from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) offered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Sources:
- Flower flies (Syrphidae) and other biological control agents for aphids in vegetable crops. (PDF)
- Good news for hedgerows: no effects on food safety in the field.
- Hedgerow benefits align with food production and sustainability goals.
- Habitat restoration promotes pollinator persistence and colonization in intensively managed agriculture. (PDF)
- Reducing the abundance of leafhoppers and thrips in a northern California organic vineyard through maintenance of full season floral diversity with summer cover crops.
- Author: Tammy Majcherek
In honor of 'National Learn About Butterflies Day' why not plant a few varieties that will attract and provide nectar for those colorful pollinators that dance among the garden amusing those of all ages. You don't need much space, in a couple of pots placed on a patio will do. A few suggestions include:
Zinnias and sunflowers, violets, cosmos, columbine, coreopsis, geranium, geum, impatiens, hollyhock, yarrow, lantana, nasturtiums, monarda, verbena, sweet alyssum, wild buckwheat, wall flower (Erysimum) and herbs such as sages, rosemary, lavender and chives. Common shrubs attractive to butterflies include: ceanothus, buddleia, lilac, Manzanita, rhododendron, and members of the rose famly.
To learn more about butterflies and other pollinators, download the free PDF 'How to Attract and Maintain Pollinators in Your Garden' go to http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/Details.aspx?itemNo=8498