Kentucky Extension IPM Implementation Program: 2024-2027: Scope for Pesticide Safety Education Program (PSEP)

Abstract Our goal is to advance IPM using appropriate plant protection and alternative management strategies by bringing our clientele research based IPM techniques, recommendations, and technologies that best assess and address their needs. The program delivers the knowledge producers need to adopt IPM tactics in unified and coordinated programs. Our belief and experience are that accomplishing this goal will result in improved economic benefits to producers, while promoting environmental stewardship and safeguarding human health. Our critical need is for support of specific IPM extension projects that develop, produce, and deliver information to advance IPM adoption. The working group requests include need to maintain personnel to support and deliver IPM demonstrations, production and dissemination of information for traditional and underserved audiences, travel and supplies to demonstrate IPM, support for endemic and invasive pest monitoring networks, enhance pest diagnostic capabilities, and increase IPM education for pesticide applicators. To address the dynamic pest management needs in Kentucky, our extension IPM program has established four working groups that focus on needs within three of the IPM EIP Primary Priority emphasis areas: IPM Implementation in Agronomic Crops and/or Specialty Crops (58.2% of budget), IPM Support of Pest Diagnostic Facilities (19.1% of budget), and IPM Education for Pesticide Applicators (10.0% of budget). The KY IPM program also conducts an annual training workshop and stakeholder meeting to develop and refine IPM priorities for Kentucky. While we do not have explicit programs for IPM for Pollinator Health in this proposal as this has been integrated into our IPM Implementation for Agronomic and/or Specialty Crops. The KY IPM Coordinator along with the KY Department of Agriculture organized and developed the Kentucky Pollinator Protection Plan ratified in 2017 which has become a fixture of our IPM and Pesticide Safety and Education Programs since 2019. Pollinator protection emerged as an issue between EIP RFAs and is an excellent example of why we must have an IPM program to provide leadership and respond to these issues as they arise.