Released July 1, 2008

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — The first-ever Beneficial Insects’ Effect on Soybean Pests Field Day takes place from 9-11 a.m. on Thursday, July 31, at the Agricultural Incubator Foundation in Wood County. Admission is free and open to the public.

Scheduled topics include beneficial insects present in soybean fields, interaction between damaging soybean pests and beneficials, effect of edge habitat on insect populations, organic soybean insect pest control strategies, and no-till organic, organic tillage and conventional soybean cropping systems.

Speaking will be Alan Sundermeier, Wood County office, Ohio State University Extension; Andy Michel, Entomology, the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) and OSU Extension; Ron Hammond, Entomology, OARDC; and Dan Pavuk, Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University.

“This field day will compare certified organic soybean plots with conventional ones, viewing signs of beneficial insect activity,” Sundermeier said. “Through the use of sticky traps, sweep nets and keen observation, the interactions between populations of beneficial insects and damaging soybean insect pests will be discovered and discussed. Specific recommendations for soybean pest control in certified organic production and the effect of edge habitat on insect populations will be shared.”

Find the Agricultural Incubator Foundation at Ohio State’s John E. Hirzel Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Site, five miles north of Bowling Green at 13737 Middleton Pike Rd. (State Route 582). Take exit 187 west off Interstate 75 on State Route 582. Go one mile west of State Route 25.

Contact Sundermeier at (419) 354-9050 or sundermeier.5@osu.edu, or visit http://wood.osu.edu for more information.

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http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~news/story.php?id=4714

Contacts: Alan Sundermeier, 419-354-9050, sundermeier.5@osu.edu

Randi Espinoza, 330-263-3780, ct-oardc@osu.edu