April 2025 Central Issue

North Central IPM Center Updates

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

Webinar Recording: Optimizing Drone Applications for Disease Management

Using drones to spray fields to manage diseases has potential benefits, especially in locations where vehicle access is difficult. However, spraying with drones is not effective for diseases that flourish in the lower crop canopy, such as Septoria brown spot in soybeans.

Dr. Darcy Telenko, associate professor/extension plant pathologist at Purdue University, provided additional details for consideration when looking into drone technology:

• Pesticide labels may lack info on drones (but aerial application must be allowed)
• Relatively short life of drone battery and of the drones themselves
• Spray drift is still a concern
• Regulations are becoming more complex than ground applications
• Line of sight with drone must be maintained, which can be challenging in corn

Dr. Kiersten Wise, professor of plant pathology from the University of Kentucky, provided additional details about spray coverage and spray drift when using drones. Her research found that the light weight of drones made them vulnerable to spray pattern shifts. Even in low-wind conditions, such as 2.4 to 4.4 miles per hour, the spray pattern shifted and was not directly below the drone. It was also difficult to fly the drone slowly enough to get good fungicide coverage on crop foliage, even in trials where drones were flown slowly.

To learn more, you may be interested in the Evolution of Spray Drones, an online pdf; a summary called Agricultural Spray Nozzles; or resources about disease control options from the Crop Protection Network.

Watch the full webinar recording for more insights on regulations related to drone use and how to get the most out of drone fungicide applications.

Sign up for May Webinar: Development of Laser Weed Control Robot for Sustainable Farming

Is laser weed control a viable option for controlling resistant weeds? Learn about efforts to develop a laser weed control robot with Dr. Hongbo Zhang, an assistant professor of mechatronics engineering at Middle Tennessee State University. Dr. Zhang will describe current progress, lessons learned, and remaining challenges for implementing this cutting-edge approach to weed management during the next Pests and Progress webinar on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, at 1:30 pm ET (12:30 pm CT).

Certified Crop Advisers may receive 0.5 continuing education units (CEUs) related to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for attending.

Pests and Progress webinars are free, and you must register to attend. More details are on the North Central IPM Center website.

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month

Consider these resources as you compile items to share in May, which is Lyme Disease Awareness Month:

• Tick IPM Working Group YouTube playlists:
  • 2024 Tick Academy
  • Tick IPM Working Group Webinars
• Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases Pest Alert
• Tick IPM Working group website with additional resources
• Asian longhorned tick webinar and pest alert

Reframing Farming Workshop

The Reframing Farming Workshop was held on April 29–30, 2025, at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden in Des Moines, Iowa. Twenty-seven communicators from nine Midwestern states attended and spent a day and a half learning new strategies for sharing information about agriculture with the public.

Networking activities, such as a progressive dinner, and opportunities to practice new techniques on communication materials were built into the agenda. Participants found the content useful and informative, but connecting with other communicators who focus on agriculture made the event unique and memorable. The group plans to continue collaborations online.

The Reframing Farming Workshop was sponsored by North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE), the North Central IPM Center, Practical Farmers of Iowa, and Red Tomato.

War Against Weeds Podcasts

• Potato Production
  Interviewee: Dr. Andy Robinson from North Dakota State University
• Fertilizers as Herbicide Carriers
  Interviewees: Caleb Wepprecht and Dr. Aaron Hager, both from the University of Illinois
• Dichlorprop-P
  Interviewees: Dan Beran and Bob Bruss (retired) from Nufarm
• Non-GMO Soybean
  Interviewees: Dr. Rodrigo Werle from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Andy Bensend (5th generation farmer)
• Reconsidering Herbicide Sites of Action
  Interviewee: Dr. Dean Riechers from University of Illinois
• Liberty Ultra Label – ESA
  Interviewees: Liam Vincent from BASF and Lynn Justesen from UPL

New Episodes—I See Dead Plants Podcasts

• Petrifying Pathogens and Faculty Frights: Unraveling the Unknown in Academia Part 1
  Interviewee: Dr. Sean Toporek from South Dakota State University
• Petrifying Pathogens and Faculty Frights: Unraveling the Unknown in Academia Part 2
  Interviewee: Dr. Sean Toporek from South Dakota State University
• Six -Legged Siege: Row Crop Insects and Management with Bt Part 1
  Interviewee: Dr. Chris DiFonzo from Michigan State University
• Six -Legged Siege: Row Crop Insects and Management with Bt Part 2
  Interviewee: Dr. Chris DiFonzo from Michigan State University
• Beech Leaf Destroyer: A Beech Leaf Disease Overview
  Interviewee: Dr. Carrie Fearer (Dr. Fear) from Virginia Tech University.