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Pesticide Retailer
IPM Education
Meeting Notes - July 24, 2006
Organized by the IPM Institute and the NE IPM Center. Posted on
August 22, 2006. Please send errors or omissions to Tom
Green.
Participating
Augustin,
Baumgartner, Braband, Brandt,
Butler
, Fish, Garling, Grant, T. Green, Jess, Joseph, Koplinka-Loehr,
Martinez
, Moses, Purin, Richter, Wilen, Windbiel-Rojas
Thanks
to the USDA
Northeastern
IPM
Center
(http://neipmc.org/index.cfm)
for hosting the call.
Agenda
Items
1.
Skip
Richter, Travis County Extension Horticulturist, presented the Grow Green
Program, Austin Texas.
The project
began as a partnership between the Austin City Watershed Protection
Program and Texas Cooperative Extension Service to address water quality
issues. Kathy
Shay leads the effort for the city. In addition to Skip, Wizzie Brown (an
Extension hort agent) and an ag agent have also been involved in program
development.
The original
concept was to create a “mini master gardener” training class series
for garden center employees but high turnover among trainees led to little
progress. Those
who participated tended to be those who needed the training the least.
Big box stores that move the most product have the highest turnover
and least-skilled staff, and did not participate in significant numbers.
The most
effective outreach approach has been to conduct training for employees at
retail sites, from basic pesticide safety to advanced topics such as
selecting least-toxic products.
Instructors match the program to the needs of the retailer,
including early AM or evening trainings to work around operating hours.
Big box
stores remain the most challenging to recruit and interest level varies
greatly from manager to manager.
It takes multiple visits to enlist participation and maintain a
minimum level of participation by store staff.
Big box garden center managers are encouraged to join the Master
Gardener program. Big
box stores are focused on maximizing inventory turnover and dollars per
square foot, but positive customer reaction to the program and improved
public image are also motivators to participate.
Annie Joseph
from the Our Water Our World program indicated a strategy they have used
successfully with big box stores is to pursue invites to regularly
scheduled “team” or managers meetings, often held before or after
store operating hours.
Skip indicated it’s possible to recruit regional managers as
allies. Home
Depot has a national on-line training program but Grow Green has not
attempted to contact those folks as yet.
Outputs have
included the website, 22 fact sheets and 750,000 publications distributed
to date. The
latest fact sheet addresses weed management.
Timely releases developed on seasonal or outbreak pests are faxed
to retail sites for posting near registers.
Participating employees receive t-shirts with the program logo.
A “plant of the week” promotion has been effective in promoting
sales of pest-problem-free plants and plants that attract beneficials.
Promotions
run on TV, radio and newspaper, including a “garden tip of the week”
feature on the Central Texas Gardener TV show and a newspaper column
written by Skip. Media
relations are an ongoing effort.
Program staff try to anticipate media interest and respond quickly
to media inquiries re outbreaks, etc.
Getting the same messages out over and over through multiple
vehicles is key.
Plants, tips
and questions of the week are presented on the program website.
An organic section has been added to the Master Gardener Program.
Free plant clinics have been offered at malls.
Promotions
focus on benefits to consumers, e.g., “don’t throw away free
fertilizer” by bagging and removing grass clippings and other plant
trimmings. Creating
awareness of problem issues is also key to persuading consumers to change
behavior.
Outcomes are
more difficult to measure.
A study has looked at 200 home sites in NW Austin, all of which
drain into one stream.
Five years of data have been collected and are available on
request. No
correlation between fertilizer application timing and stream nutrient
content has been found, indicating stream nutrient levels may be
influenced by inputs from more distant sites.
Pre and post-testing of participating employees has been effective
in demonstrating improvements in knowledge, including retrospective
post-testing, i.e., “compared to before the training, what have you
learned?” Store
managers have also been surveyed re attitudes about the program.
The City of Austin
has provided funding and in-kind support,
including city staff to restock publication racks.
Product suppliers have provided some support for field trials.
Although supplier communications and advertising can run counter to
recommended practices, Skip sees progress and willingness to change on the
part of suppliers.
The program
has also been working directly with service providers.
A “junior” Master Gardener program has been introduced to boys
and girls clubs with a food and nutrition focus.
Grow Green
is expanding statewide under a new grant being managed by Kathy Shay.
For more
information, contact Skip Richter,
or Kathy Shay.
2.
Ed
Brandt provided an update on the 2007 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Eco Tour
from Cooperstown
NY
to Virginia
Beach, including a kick-off meeting held July 22.
The bicycle tour will feature stops at garden centers, schools and
other sites and include educational skits and other interactive media.
Tour participants can take on segments or the entire route.
A number of partners have signed on to support the tour including
City of
Annapolis.
A series of pre-tour events is detailed along with other info in a
Powerpoint briefing.
3.
Lynn
Braband provided an update on a workshop planned for July
18-19, 2007, at Penn
State's
Great
Valley
Conference
Center
emphasizing the structural pest and landscape service industry, consumers,
and links to water quality.
Target audiences include consumers, land-grant university folks,
environmental ngos and others.
The Northeast Region Community IPM Working group is coordinating
the two-day event which will include working and breakout sessions on
structural and garden/landscape IPM and a tour of Longwood
Gardens
and other sites to see IPM in action.
The Working Group will meet in
Annapolis
in early November to finalize planning.
Suggestions
for future calls: Healthy
Garden, Healthy Home Program (San Diego
County), 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
Upcoming Events:
-
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.
For
snapshots of current programs and links to additional resources, see http://www.ipminstitute.org/Retailer_IPM_Education.htm
New on the website:
Eco Tour briefing (ppt file) http://www.ipminstitute.org/Articles/Eco%20tour%20of%20Chesapeake%20Bay%20Watershed%20overview.ppt
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