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A Comprehensive Approach to Enhancing IPM Extension Programming

Teaching & Educational Technologies

William Errickson
Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Freehold

Abstract

The New Jersey nursery, greenhouse, and floriculture industries comprise the largest agricultural sectors in the state, accounting for over $725 million in sales. The diversity of ornamental crops that are grown in these systems each have their own specific insect pest and disease challenges, making traditional scout-based IPM programming a challenge with limited trained staff and resources. In order to address this challenge the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Nursery Agents developed a comprehensive ornamental IPM training program focused on training growers and providing real-time IPM updates throughout the growing season. This program consisted of: a live webinar series held every two weeks throughout the season focusing on timely, actionable pest and disease issues for ornamental growers; recordings of the webinars posted to the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station You Tube channel; printable pdfs from the webinars to serve as field guides for that specific interval of time; regular blog posts and email blasts on emerging pest issues; a website compiling IPM resources and information for over 90 common insect and disease issues; free insect traps for participating growers; and access to the Agents for site visits and communications via email and phone calls. In 2025, the program had 98 participants and produced 12 one-hour videos that had 2,317 total views. The website received 1,590 visits and the pdfs from the webinars had 4,553 views from 27 states and 43 countries. The use of these educational technologies allowed a small team of Extension professionals to reach growers all throughout the state, reducing access barriers and providing critical IPM information when it was needed. While the specific pest issues may change depending on the region or commodity group, the structure of this program is replicable for other Extension service providers.

Authors: William Errickson, Timothy Waller, Erin Quinn, Steve Rettke
  1. William Errickson Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent, Rutgers University, New Jersey, 07728
  2. Timothy Waller Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent, Rutgers University, New Jersey, 08332
  3. Erin Quinn PhD Student, Rutgers University, New Jersey, 08901
  4. Steve Rettke Program Associate, Rutgers University, New Jersey, 07728