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Pesticide Retailer
IPM Education
Meeting Notes -
December 15, 2006
Organized by the IPM Institute and the NE IPM Center. Posted on
December 18, 2006. Please send errors or omissions to Tom
Green.
Background:
Goal for the calls is to share information, facilitate networking and
reduce duplication of effort around advancing IPM and other Best
Management Practices by educating retailers of pesticides and other inputs
to consumers.
Call notes are circulated to a list of 50+ interested individuals
following the call and are also be posted here.
Participating
Anhalt,
Baumgartner, Brandt, Brosseau, Butler, Czapar, Davidson, Drury,
Flint, T. Green, Hopkins, Koplinka-Loehr, Knowles, Moore, Moses, Seikel,
Wilen, Wilhere, Windbiel-Rojas
Agenda
Items
1.
Scott
Parker presented the Healthy Garden Healthy Home program, San Diego
county, CA
The goal of
the Healthy Garden Healthy Home program is to improve water quality
through retailer and consumer IPM education.
New funding is expanding some aspects of the program to other areas
of the state.
The project
is a collaboration administered by San Diego
County
and operated by San Diego County Cooperative
Extension with participation by Master Gardeners, retailers and local
media. The California Water
Resources Control Board provided major funding ($500K) with additional
support from the UC Statewide IPM Program and California Department of
Pesticide Regulation. UC IPM
has also provided in-kind staff time and materials.
Cheryl, Scott, two farm advisors and one additional person are paid
staff. Two hundred San Diego
County Master Gardeners provide assistance with outreach and training.
The program
has three primary aspects, training, materials and outreach events.
Training has
included an advanced IPM course given to 25 Master Gardeners who are then
working to recruit and educate other Master Gardeners as program
participants. Master Gardeners
in
San Diego
County
commit to at least 40-50 hours of service per
year.
Retail
garden center staff from the 143 outlets (including big box and local) in
the County were also offered twelve monthly hour-long training units.
In addition, a day-long seminar with topic breakouts was offered
that attracted 120 individuals.
Continuing education credits are offered for pesticide applicators
and for industry association members.
Training has been managed by developing curriculum sections that can then
be offered repeatedly by Master Gardeners and others in different venues,
including workshops free to the public that incorporate a take-home gift
such as a copper band to place around tree trunks to deter snails and
slugs.
Training and
consumer education is supported by a series of materials developed in
partnership with the UC IPM.
Pest
tip cards in English and Spanish provide
condensed information on pests and issues identified as priorities for the
region. These were developed
from more lengthy UC IPM materials. Master
gardeners have these to distribute, they fit in brochure racks and are
displayed at retail outlets, farmers markets and other events.
Additional
materials include posters addressing several pests and a series of
tear-off sheets addressing specific issues that consumers can take home.
Key rings and plastic ties that consumers can group materials on
and hang in their garden sheds are also available.
Public
service announcements (PSAs), videos/DVDs have been produced and used by
local media which have also hosted Scott, Cheryl and others.
Program website is located at http://www.projectcleanwater.org/html/ipm.html.
Materials address specific pests such as snails and slugs, aphids, scale,
giant white fly and ants, as well as issues such as testing irrigation
systems and choosing a landscape contractor.
Monthly mailings including timely pest and event information is
sent out to program participants including Master Gardeners, retail
outlets and media.
A recent
innovation is the development of software and a database of information
for portable and stationary kiosks. These
kiosks allow users to select pests from on-screen visuals and click
through to information on low-impact management including fact sheets and
short videos. A thermal
printer allows users to print information they would like to carry home.
The underlying database also includes contact information for local
resources for more information. The
software captures page “hits” and tracks user navigation to identify
most/least frequently used resources.
User zip codes are also requested during sessions.
The machines operate off-line, requiring only an electrical hookup
for complete operation. Costs
for this program were close to $100,000 for software and database
development, and the initial four machines.
Additional machines are $4800 for portables and $5900 for
stationary models.
Outreach events include staff/Master Gardeners and displays at retail
outlets, farmers markets, community events, garden club and homeowner
association meetings, and block parties.
The Healthy
Garden,
Healthy Home has generated 26,000 contacts
over the last 18 months, 95% generated by Master Gardeners.
Ongoing feedback for program evaluation is collected through an
on-line survey operated by Survey Monkey and from evaluation forms
distributed at trainings, seminars and other events.
Follow up by mail to participants includes a thank you and a
survey.
If
Scott and Cheryl could do it all over again, they would provide for more
staffing given the enormous response the program has received, order more
kiosks and started seminars earlier to use staff time more effectively.
For
more information,
see the Powerpoint presentations on outreach and
kiosks, or contact Scott
Parker, Scott Parker, IPM & Environmental Issues Program
Representative, UCCE - San Diego County, Phone
858-694-2184, Fax
858-694-2849, E-mail
Upcoming Events
-
Landscaper
contractors and land care professionals from parks departments, school
systems and corporations interested in learning about natural and
organic lawn care practices are invited to attend a workshop in
Madison, WI
on February 19 and 20, 2007. Chip
Osborne, president of Osborne Organics based in
Massachusetts, will instruct on organic turf management.
James Sottilo of TreeWise Organics will explain cultural
practices, organic inputs and application techniques for woody
ornamentals. Local expert
Dr. John Steir of the
University
of
Wisconsin-Madison
will report on his recent research in this
arena, and provide an overview of local resources.
See www.ipminstitute.org
to register or for more information.
-
NE Community
IPM Working Group conference, July 18-19, 2007, contact Lynn
Braband, or Mary Kay Malinoski, for more
information.
-
Chesapeake
Bay Watershed Eco Tour, September 2007 and pre-events leading up to
that date, contact Ed Brandt,
for more
information.
Suggestions
for future calls: Working
with big box retailers, regulatory approaches, Chesapeake Club Lawn
Program, how to go about expanding a local program to state (or national).
Next
Call:
TBA
For
snapshots of current programs and links to additional resources, see http://www.ipminstitute.org/Retailer_IPM_Education.htm
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