The content of this course is tailored to the needs of farmers, NRCS, SWCD, Cooperative Extension, and state department of agriculture employees, as well as crop consultants, natural resource specialists, and non-governmental conservation organization staff.
Registration is $45 per person. Course registration includes the Xerces Society's Beneficial Insects Toolkit and a copy of Farming With Native Beneficial Insects.
Registration closes on August 3rd - register soon!
For lunch, please bring your own and a refillable water bottle.
Canceled registrations can be refunded until August 3rd, 2017.
Thursday, August 10th, 2017 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
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Jillian Vento
The Xerces Society
503-232-6639
pollinators@xerces.org
The Xerces Society provides reasonable accommodations for special events with adequate notice. To request accommodation for events, please contact thelma@xerces.org by Thursday, August 3rd, 2017.
The USDA and the Xerces Society are equal-opportunity providers and employers.
This Short Course is made possible with the support of the Southern Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Additional support for this training is provided by the Audrey and J.J. Martindale Foundation, Cascadian Farm, Ceres Trust, CS Fund, Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, General Mills, the Irwin Andrew Porter Foundation, Turner Foundation, Inc., Whole Foods Market and its vendors, Whole Systems Foundation, and Xerces Society members.
Special thanks to Florida NRCS for their help in coordinating this event and providing the course venue.
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation is an international nonprofit organization that protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat. The Society's Pollinator Conservation Program was launched in 1996, and works with leading native pollinator ecologists to translate the latest research findings into on-the-ground conservation. More information about the Xerces Society is available at www.xerces.org.
Header: syrphid fly, by Adam Varenhorst.
Sidebar: field observation of pollinators and plants, Anne Averille, University of Massachusetts.
Farming With Beneficial Insects
for Pest Control:
Conservation Biological Control Short Course
NRCS Brooksville Plant Materials Center
Brooksville, Florida
August 10th, 2017
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Learn a science-based strategy that seeks to integrate beneficial insects for natural pest control!
Learn about supporting beneficial insects that provide pest control in this full-day short course. Conservation biological control is a science-based pest management strategy that seeks to integrate beneficial insects back into cropping systems for natural pest control, ultimately reducing and in some cases eliminating the need for pesticides. Join Xerces Society's Nancy Lee Adamson, Senior Pollinator Conservation Specialist, and guest speakers as they overview conservation biological control and beneficial predators and parasitoids that attack insect pests. Participants will learn how common farm practices can impact beneficial insects and how to assess and create farm habitat for beneficial insects.
In response to growing interest in promoting beneficial insects for their pest control services on farms, the Xerces Society has authored the book Farming With Native Beneficial Insects and developed the Conservation Biological Control Short Course to educate farmers, agriculture employees, natural resource specialists, land managers, and conservation organization staff.
SHORT COURSE TRAINING SKILLS AND OBJECTIVES
This workshop will cover:
Participants will receive the Xerces Society's Conservation Biological Control Toolkit which includes habitat installation guidelines and other relevant publications, and the Xerces' book, Farming with Native Beneficial Insects.
*Continuing Education Credits Available*
COURSE AGENDA
Welcome and Announcements
Module 1 - Farming with Beneficial Insects: Conservation Biological Control (CBC)
Field Activities
Module 2 - Assessing Baseline Farm Conditions for Beneficial Insects
Module 3 - Common Beneficial Insect Groups
Lunch - please bring your own sack lunch and a refillable water bottle
Module 4 - Farm Practices for Beneficial Insects
Module 5 - Conservation Biocontrol Research in Florida - Dr. Hugh Smith
Module 6 – Designing and Restoring Habitat for Beneficial Insects
Module 7 USDA Farm Bill Programs Supporting Beneficial Insects (Speaker TBD)
Additional Resources and Wrap-Up
INSTRUCTOR
Thelma Heidel-Baker, PhD, Conservation Biocontrol Specialist, Xerces Society, Random Lake, Wisconsin
Thelma is the insect pest management specialist for the Xerces Society, with extensive experience in biological control and integrated pest management (IPM). She provides nationwide support for farming with reduced risks to beneficial insect. Thelma received her Ph.D. in entomology from University of Minnesota where she studied the role of beneficial insects in soybean IPM.
GUEST SPEAKER
Dr. Hugh Smith
Dr. Hugh Smith has been the Vegetable Entomologist at the University of Florida’s Gulf Coast Research and Education Center near Tampa since 2011. Hugh received his MS and PhD in entomology from the University of Florida in the 1990s. He has carried out pest management research and developed farmer outreach programs for conventional and organic vegetable producers on California’s Central Coast, the Guatemalan highlands and islands in the Pacific, as well as Florida.