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University of California Cooperative Extension entomologist Bill Chaney, who has helped Salinas Valley farmers deal with insect pests since 1987, will retire Dec. 7.

Chaney was raised on a family soybean and corn farm in Indiana. He earned three degrees from Purdue University: a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, and master’s and doctorate degrees in entomology. He left the Midwest for California in 1987 to take the entomology position in the Monterey County UC Cooperative Extension office.

Chaney’s research focus has been cool-season vegetable production, working primarily in the area of aphid and leafminer control. For example, aphids posed a significant problem for organic lettuce farmers. Chaney found that growing plants that attract insects that eat aphids among the rows of lettuce helped keep aphids in control without the use of pesticides. When another aphid species, the lettuce aphid, was first discovered in Central Coast lettuce fields in 1998, Chaney and his colleagues developed a pesticide regimen to control the pest on conventional farms. Non-chemical approaches were also studied, including the use of lettuce varieties that resist the aphid.

Chaney developed a technique to demonstrate that pea leafminer developed resistance to the standard pyrethroid insecticides that growers traditionally sprayed on their fields. The result was a shift to other, less harmful, pesticides.

In the early 1990s Chaney helped Monterey County growers of baby eucalyptus when their $30 million industry suddenly faced an infestation of blue gum psyllid. The pest, unchecked by natural predators, threatened the future of this aromatic ornamental frequently used in dry and fresh flower arrangements. Chaney worked with the late UC Berkeley entomologist Don Dahlsten and others to introduce a parasite of the pest that was brought over from New Zealand.

“The project was completely successful,” Chaney said. “A serious pest was taken out of the system.”

For his efforts to control the psyllid, Chaney received a certificate of recognition from the governor’s office.

“Bill has been fantastic support to the agricultural industry,” said Monterey County UC Cooperative Extension director Sonya Varea-Hammond. “He has quickly and willingly addressed new insect problems as they have arisen, and at the same time has conducted forward looking research, particularly in pesticide reduction and alternative means to insect control.”

Following his retirement from UC, Chaney will move to La Pine, Ore., for a new career opportunity.

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