North Central IPM Center

February 2025 Central Issue

News stories shared in the February 2025 Central Issue appear below. Subscribe to receive the Central Issue newsletter monthly via email.

North Central IPM Center Updates

Stay informed with the latest news from the Center with the stories below. Be sure to share your favorites!

February Webinar: Pollinator-Safe Fungicides: Floral Microbial Biocontrol of Anthracnose in Blueberry

In this webinar, Dr. Caitlin Rering, research chemist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, shares research progress to provide an alternate solution to repeated fungicide applications for controlling Anthracnose in blueberry. Rering’s lab has tested several microbial biocontrol options, and identified one yeast and two bacterial strains that show potential for control. Learn from the recent research into biocontrol options in this presentation called, “Pollinator-Safe Fungicides: Floral Microbial Biocontrol of Anthracnose in Blueberry.”

Advantages of using biocontrol include benefits to farmers. For example, biocontol use has fewer risks to human health, pollinators and the environment. Biocontrols can also be cheaper. The microbes have other advantages because they are already adapted to colonizing blueberry flowers, they rapidly spread within an orchard through pollinators, and once present, they prevent colonization of other species (like Anthracnose).

There are two potential drawbacks when using these microbes. They are not as effective as pesticides because microbes can only prevent or suppress disease; they cannot cure existing infection. Also, if the microbes do not colonize the flowers, plants remain vulnerable. Dr. Rering’s research has been focused on finding the ideal microbe partners for blueberry flowers, and there are three that stand out!

Check out the full webinar and learn about the selected microbes and how using them may help protect the pollinator partners that amplify blueberry yields.

War Against Weeds Podcasts

  • The IR-4 Project
    Interviewee: Roger Batts, weed science biologist, IR-4 Project.
  • Spray Solution Quality
    Interviewee: Dr. Tom Wolf, spray application specialist from Saskatoon, Canada.
  • Pasture Weed Management
    Interviewees: Dr. Kevin Bradley,  state extension weed scientist, University of Missouri and Dwight Lingenfelter, weed scientist, Penn State University.
  • Short Corn
    Interviewees: Dr. Dan Quinn, assistant professor of agronomy and extension corn agronomist, Purdue University; and Dr. Erin Burns, extension specialist, Michigan State University

New Episodes—I See Dead Plants Podcasts

IPM Highlights

It’s National Invasive Species Awareness Week! Here’s interesting stories about managing invasive species with integrated methods.

Non-Native versus Invasive: How Each Impacts our Environment

Enjoy a basic introduction to the terms non-native and invasive, which are closely related but not synonymous. A straightforward example is included. There may still be room for debate about whether native species can also achieve “invasive” status, but this article explains why many non-natives pose no threat.

Killing H5N1 in Waste Milk — An Alternative To Pasteurization

The virus that causes bird flu, H5N1, can be passed into milk produced by infected cows. The good news is that the standard pasteurization process used before milk is sold makes the milk safe for consumers. The trouble is that not all milk is fit to be sold, and pasteurization is an expensive process for waste milk. A new, cheaper option may be a useful alternative for treating infected waste milk: acidification. Using citric acid to lower the pH of the milk to 4.1 has been shown to denature the virus.  This method would help protect farm workers who handle waste milk.

Researchers Train Robot Dog to Find Red Imported Fire Ants

Brazilian and Chinese scientists have been collaborating to create a robot capable of locating fire ant nests. A machine-learning model trained with over 1,100 red imported fire ant nest images was installed in a cyberdog robot. The robot found three times more nests than human inspectors and earned a nest detection precision rate of over 90%.

Invasive Species Pest Alerts

The North Central IPM Center has 19 two-page pest alert summaries available for free download. Eight of them feature invasive species, and they linked below. Prints are also available.

Spring is an important time of year to identify and eliminate spotted lanternfly egg masses, and it will be beneficial to increase outreach efforts in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio since lanternflies have been confirmed in these areas.

Resources

Read, use or share the latest IPM resources.

Red Crown Rot Distribution Map

The fungus Calonectria ilicicola causes red crown rot disease in soybeans. This disease was first identified in the Midwest in Illinois in 2018, but it has since spread into Missouri and Indiana. A new map of confirmed red crown rot infestations provides updates so you will know when to watch for this disease in fields near you.

2025 South Dakota Pest Management Guides

South Dakota Extension provides free pest management guides for alfalfa and oilseeds, corn, soybean and wheat. All four guides have been updated for 2025.

Codling Moth “no biofix” Two-Stage Model 

A new model is available at to help predict codling moth egg hatch at USPest.org. This model may be better than using pheromone traps to determine codling moth activity because:

  • Low populations can make trapping first males inconsistent
  • Trapping costs are high, especially with daily trap checks
  • Mating disruption efforts use the same pheromones  used for trapping
  • Trap success varies based on topography

Read more about the model (download) to see if these updates benefit your work.

More information about codling moths is available from the University of Minnesota Extension.

Events

Learn and network at these upcoming in-person events.

Online Pruning Workshops for Smart Gardeners

This online pruning workshop is hosted by the MSU Extension Master Gardener Program®. You may choose to attend on Friday, March 7 or Friday, March 14 from 2:00 to 6:00 pm ET (1:00pm – 5:00pm CT). The cost is $40, and you must register in advance.

Job Board

Consider applying for these job opportunities.

Extension Horticulture and Specialty Crops Field Specialist I, South Dakota State University

Horticulture Plant Pathology Extension Field Specialist I, South Dakota Board of Regents, Brookings, SD

Biologist, Actalent, St. Louis, MO

Research Microbiologist, University of Missouri

CTSIL Microbiologist, Smithers, Darien, IL

Microbiologist, Software Technology Inc, Indianapolis, IN

Entomology Rearing Specialist, Valent BioSciences, LLC, Osage, IA

Research Assistant Professor (Bioinformatics Plant Pathology), North Dakota State University

Agronomist, Crop Quest, Inc. Dodge City, KS

Assistant Professor – Fruit Crop Entomology, UW–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences 

LTE – Spongy Moth Trapper, State of Wisconsin

Entomology Art Internship, National Gallery of Art in Washington DC