| | IPM Voice Newsletter May 2014
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| IPM Centers in the 2014 Farm Bill The 2014 Farm Bill was signed into law this February and implementation efforts have begun. Although the Senate-passed version of the bill did include legislative authorization for the four regional IPM centers, which would have made their ongoing support more likely, this provision was not included in the final version. According to the Statement of Managers issued to elucidate reconciliations made between the Senate and House farm bills, the conference committee did not choose to adopt the Senate language. Section 7214 of the final bill, however, does include new language allowing institutions that carry out research, extension, and education activities relating to the food and agricultural sciences to designate themselves as centers of excellence to receive priority for any competitive grant programs funding. The IPM centers may qualify as centers of excellence if they meet certain statutory criteria outlined within section 7214. See the full, final Farm Bill text here. |
IPM in Proposed 2015 Budgets President Obama's FY 2015 Budget was released in March and includes proposed spending for federal departments and agencies. As in the Administration's 2013 and 2014 proposed budgets, core IPM programs are consolidated under a single "Crop Protection/Pest Management" funding line. The President's 2015 proposal requests $17.143 million for the consolidated program, which includes Expert IPM Decision Support System, IPM and Biological Control, Pest Management Alternatives, Smith-Lever 3(d) Pest Management and Regional Pest Management Centers. This budget number is consistent with the final appropriated funds for the same funding line in 2014. Similarly to last year's proposal, the Minor Crop Pest Management Program (also known as IR-4) is not part of the proposed consolidation. In addition, the President's proposal includes a strong commitment to addressing honey bee health. As part of this effort, the 2015 budget for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) redirects $4 million to develop and test the efficacy of best management practices that can prevent Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and reduce colony mortality to acceptable levels, and to research causal factors of CCD. ARS will also continue its international partnerships to evaluate the impacts of the European moratorium on certain neonicotinoid pesticide uses. In response to the Administration's requests, the House and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees released their proposed 2015 funding bills late last week. The Senate agriculture bill was passed by the full Senate Appropriations Committee and is expected to be taken up by the full Senate for approval later this summer. The full House Appropriations Committee will likely approve their draft agriculture bill sometime this week. Stay tuned for details on IPM funding lines within each draft bill. |
IPM Voice Welcomes New Members to Board of Directors Five new members have joined the IPM Voice Board of Directors this year. New members include Jim Farrar, director of the Western IPM Center and former Professor of Plant Pathology at Fresno State University; Larry Gut, tree fruit entomologist at Michigan State University; David Oefinger, executive director of the Texas Pest Management Association; and Philip Korson, president of the Cherry Marketing Institute. David Epstein, entomologist with the USDA Office of Pest Management Policy, has also been invited to join the board. Current board members who will continue to serve include Thomas Green, president of the IPM Institute, Michael Rozyne, executive director of Red Tomato, and Jerry Baron, executive director of the IR-4 Project. |
2012 Census of Agriculture Released The USDA has recently released its 2012 Census of Agriculture. The census includes a wide range of information about agriculture in the United States, including where, how and by whom our agricultural products were grown. Data are reported at the national, state and county level and can be used to help ag producers, legislators and others make decisions going forward. Explore the census here! |
Upcoming IPM-Related Meetings and Conferences Mark your calendars! The 8th International IPM Symposium will be held March 23-26, 2015 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Interested in sponsoring or exhibiting? Contact Elaine Wolff for more information. June 11-13, 2014. American Phytopathological Society North Central Division Meeting. Madison, WI July 6-10, 2014. American Phytopathological Society Caribbean Division Meeting. St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands July 9-11, 2014. American Phytopathological Society Pacific Division Meeting. Bozeman, MT August 8-9, 2014. North American Late Blight Symposium. Minneapolis, MN August 9-13. American Phytopathological Society Annual Meeting. Minneapolis, MN |
 | IPM Voice is an independent, non-profit organization advocating for integrated pest management (IPM) that is genuinely progressive and seeks continuous improvement of environmental, social and economic conditions through application of accepted scientific principles. IPM Voice was formed in 2010 by more than 35 professionals working to expand the benefits IPM has provided to agriculture and communities for more than 40 years. |
| | IPM Voice, Inc. / 1020 Regent Street Madison, Wisconsin 53715 / 608-232-1410 / www.ipmvoice.org |
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