Iowa Pest Resistance Management Plan unveiled; First round of projects to be selected in April

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey, Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Associate Dean Dr. John Lawrence and Iowa farmer Larry Buss of Logan have announced the release of the Iowa Pest Resistance Management Plan.  The full plan and additional information about pest resistance management efforts can be found at www.ProtectIowaCrops.org.

The Iowa-specific plan seeks to engage farmers on the issue of pest resistance management with the goal of keeping technology and tools such as pesticides, seed treatments, and biotechnology products and native traits available and effective.
“This plan brought together a broad cross-section of Iowa agriculture partners to proactively address the issue of pest resistance.  Pests do not recognize field borders, so it is important we work collaboratively on this issue.  Iowa is again ahead of the curve in developing a state pest resistance management plan and I hope farmers take the time to learn more about the effort and consider if there are opportunities to be involved in their area,” Northey said.

“The time is right for Iowa agriculture to take steps to effectively manage pest resistance and to put the best science available to use to ensure the state’s leadership in crop productivity is sustained far into the future,” said Wendy Wintersteen, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. “The plan that’s been developed is the result of more than two years of discussions with many public and private partners, and they should be commended for their efforts.”

The Iowa Pest Resistance Management Plan’s goal is to document and promote holistic and integrated management solutions that will effectively and sustainably control pests, including insects, weeds and plant disease.  This includes postponing or delaying resistance development, foster methods of early detection, and then mitigating, to the extent possible, the spread of pest resistance. The plan includes chapters that address governance, the state of the science, pilot projects, and communication and outreach.
As the plan is implemented, pilot projects of active pest resistance management will be established to encourage adoption of science-based resistance management efforts and to develop adaptive management approaches.  These pilots will also seek to examine approaches to encourage successful, voluntary pest resistance management adoption.

The pilot projects will identify key stakeholders within a defined community and will be inclusive, bringing all potential players to the table. The pilot projects will work to establish incentives and novel approaches to encourage the community to work together to address the identified pest-resistant problems. These projects are intended to deal with resistance issues that are imminent or already present with the objective of minimizing the potential of further resistance development.

It is expected that the first round of pilot projects will be selected this April and get underway in May so they can be operating during the growing season this year.

A broad cross-section of the Iowa agriculture industry was involved in putting the plan together, including the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Agribusiness Association of Iowa, Agricultural Biotechnology Stewardship Technical Committee, Iowa Corn Growers Association, the Iowa Chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, Iowa Independent Crop Consultants Association, Iowa Institute for Cooperatives, Iowa Soybean Association, Pesticide Resistance Action Committees, Practical Farmers of Iowa, and the Soil and Water Conservation Society.