Project Director: Katherine Dentzman, Iowa State University
Funded in 2022
Over the past decade, social science research on pest resistance management has centered on growers. One major finding is that there is a need for collaborative, community-based management to encourage the use of diverse pest management methods, or integrated pest management.
Fundamental to any collaborative management is the involvement of a wide range of stakeholders. For pest resistance management, this includes growers as well as those who influence and advise them. To make progress, it is now necessary to understand the perspectives and practices of their influencers and advisors.
An exploratory attempt at understanding Certified Crop Advisors (CCAs) perspectives is currently underway, with the Weed Science Society of America facilitating a series of regional listening sessions with crop advisors over the winter of 2021/2022. This work will be expanded by conducting a representative survey of CCAs in the U.S. This would parallel a previous national survey of farmers completed in 2016, aiding in our understanding of how CCAs think, communicate, and contribute to on-farm pest resistance management decisions.
Objectives
- Conducting a nationally representative survey on Certified Crop Advisors’ perspectives and practices related to pest resistance management
- Test and expand on findings from listening sessions
- Conduct regional and statewide comparative analyses, determining where CCAs are most effective and where they may need additional training or support.
- Comparing CCA perspectives and recommendations with what growers think and do about pest resistance.
- Prepare manuscripts for peer-reviewed academic journals, extension publications, and news media (including media specifically targeted at the formal CCA organization)
- Present findings at academic conferences and a CCA-supported webinar
- Use the approach and findings of this study to support a USDA AFRI grant proposal to expand this research to additional stakeholder groups
