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Home > Integrated Pest Management > Finanacial & Technical Assistance > IPM Workshop Press Release

On Farm Workshop Tour Stresses Sustainable Agriculture Practices

July 3, 2007

Contact: Kathy Murray, (207)287-7616

Lincoln County - Sixty-five people from four northeastern states recently participated in a daylong on-farm workshop focusing on integrated pest management (IPM) and soil conservation practices and how they complement each other and benefit vegetable production. Organized by the Maine Department of Agriculture, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension (UMCE), and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the event, the IPM and Conservation Farm Tour and Workshop, was hosted by two Lincoln County Farms—County Fair Farm, Jefferson, and Spear Farm, Nobleboro.

Maine Agriculture Commissioner Seth Bradstreet, who addressed the gathering, said “Bringing together different agencies in a collaborative partnership makes it possible to offer farmers the best technical know-how and help them find the resources they need to keep farming.”

At County Fair Farm, the Williamson family raises vegetables including sweet corn, squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, greens, and beans for their farmstand and the retail market. Owner and innovative farmer Andy Williamson spoke about and demonstrated his approach to IPM and conservation. Crop fields are prepared by using a zone till cart which makes four-inch-wide seed beds, followed by a planter which plants directly into the zone tillage rows. This approach minimizes soil disturbance and erosion, while allowing just enough area for planting the seeds. In one of Williamson’s fields, he plants a lush rye cover crop between the rows, which not only returns valuable nutrients to the soil, but also crowds out weeds and eliminates the need for herbicides.

Spear Farm grows sweet and silage corn, tomatoes and cucumbers in 10 greenhouses, other vegetables, and flowers. They also have a dairy herd of 100 Holstein cows. Produce is sold at their farmstand, farmers’ markets, and the retail market. Owner Bob Spear talked about using row covers for his corn and greenhouses for his tomatoes in order to have these crops ready for market early in the season.

The informative program also included Maine State Conservationist Joyce Swartzendruber; Carrie Koplinka-Loehr, Northeastern IPM Center; Rick Kersbergen, UMCE, who talked about the principles and practices of ecological weed control; Lauchlin Titus, AgMatters, Inc., who spoke on plant nutrition and crop health; Mary Thompson and Alice Begin, NRCS, who talked about soil quality assessment; Mark Hutton, UMCE, who talked about host plant resistance as part of a pest management plan; retired NRCS agronomist Joel Myers, who talked about the impacts of managing soils under continuous no-till and cover crop systems; Mark Hutchinson, UMCE, who spoke about cover cropping for IPM; Alice Begin and Mary Thompson, NRCS, who demonstrated soil quality assessment tools and spoke on how this information is critical to soil management; and David Handley, UMCE, who talked about practical IPM for sweet corn.

IPM is a decision-making process that combines practical pest management strategies to prevent or control pests in ways that reduce risks to health and the environment. Farmers have used IPM for over 25 years to reduce reliance on pesticides. IPM includes regular monitoring to detect problems early, acting against pests only when necessary, and choosing the most effective options with the least risk to people and the environment.

The NRCS provides conservation planning and technical assistance to individuals, groups, and units of government. Its objective is the sound use and management of soil, water, air, plant, and animal resources to prevent their degradation and ensure their sustained use and productivity while also considering related human social and economic needs. Growers can earn financial assistance from NRCS for using IPM practices.

The workshop was funded by the US Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service through the Northeastern IPM Center.