Farmscaping and EPM

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Farmscaping and EPM

• Or
• Integrated Parasite, Pathogen Predator
  Management Or
• Plant It and They Will Come.
• Richard C. McDonald, Ph.D.
• Symbiont Biological Pest Management

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Farmscaping

• Definition Dr. Robert Bugg - Deliberate use of
  specific plants and landscaping techniques to
  attract and conserve Beneficials.
• All Trophic levels (soil, plants, insects) must
  be healthy balanced especially soil!
• Once these levels are set, then Governing
  Forces can take control - Balance of Nature -
  tip it in our favor slightly
• View pests as messengers - what are they saying -
  Rome - kill the bearer of bad news.

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4 Basic Ecological Principles

• 1. Increase Plant Diversity.
• 2. Increase Plant Structural Diversity - food,
  overwintering sites, mating sites, etc.
• 3. Increase the time these are available.
• 4. Decrease the distance beneficials have to
  travel.

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Farmscaping

• EPM - Integrated Parasite, Pathogen and Predator
  Management (IPPPM)
• 1969 - Everett Dietrichs Paper on IPPM - read
  and know his principles.
• Shift focus away from pest to having a healthy
  population of beneficials as the primary focus.
  Prevention is primary.
• BB50 - beneficial insect seed blends - See
  Handout on Virginia Techs Farmscaping.

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Farmscaping

• My EPM goal When sampling, I want to see 1/4 to
  1/3 of the plants with beneficial insect(adult
  wasps, beetles, larvae, cocoons, pupae, mummies,
  partially eaten egg masses, etc.) activity or
  plants should be fairly pest free - economic
  threshold.
• Sample size power analysis to determine how many
  plants to sample.

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Farmscaping is Proactive!

• These two systems are totally different in the
  amount and kinds of beneficials that are present,
  based on the biodiversity of plants present.
  Rebuilding clock how long it takes to create a
  healthy farmscape.

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Farmscaping Applied Principles1) Build Guilds -
Multiple Redundant Systems

• BB50 - 1) Multiple Redundant Systems - both
  plants and beneficials - Guilds
• Goal - Bracketing - having a natural enemy(s)
  present for every life stage of the pest(s).

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Farmscaping Principles 2) Bracketing - Natural
Enemies for every life stage of the pest.
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Farmscaping Principles3) Anticipate Pest Problems

• Think Ahead - encourage the right beneficial
  insects to be there when needed them to attack
  the pests. Timing of ladybugs/Trichogramma wasps
  to attack the eggs of caterpillars.
• Work Backwards from the PEST to the Beneficials
  to the plants/requisites that attract the
  beneficials.

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Farmscaping Principles4) Specific Plants Can
Attract Specific Beneficials.

• Fennel is great for attracting parasitic wasps,
  syrphid flies, and ladybugs. So one plant can
  bring in a guild of beneficials.

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FS Principles - 5) How much Farmscaping?

• 1 to 5 of crop area should be planted in
  farmscaping plants- lots of clumps of food
  plants spread out over an area is much better
  than one big clump. Or, incorporate farmscaping
  into borders, ditches, and fencerows.

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FS Principles 6) Dispersion indices for
beneficials
?
Low Dispersion (Stay in field) Medium Dispersion (forage 1/4 mile) High Dispersion (forage gt 1/4 mile)
Ground Beetles (Carabids) Ladybeetles (when happy) Smaller Parasitic Wasps Most Parasitic wasps Predatory Wasps Paper Predatory Bugs Syrphids Hover Flies Dragonflies, Tachinid Flies Larger Parasitic Wasps
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FS Principles 7) Have something blooming all the
time

• Flowers are prime food mating sites for wasps.
  Important to have a well fed, mated female
  beneficial! Green House use to Jump-start
  garden areas.

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FS Principles 8) Nectar!

• Nectar liquid sugar food vitamins for
  beneficials. Nectar is critical for optimum
  performance of many beneficials. Many
  beneficials will lay over 3-10 fold more eggs if
  properly fed.

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FS Principles 9) Extra-Floral Nectaries

• Nectar glands that are not associated with
  flowers. Peonies, Sweet potatoes, bachelor
  buttons, kenafe, all have extrafloral nectaries.
  Parasitic insects use these extrafloral nectaries
  as important food sources.

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FS Principles 10) Pollen

• Is an alternative form of protein. Once again,
  many plants in the wild carrot family can provide
  pollen. Another good pollen producer is the corn
  plant. Syrphid flies need pollen to lay eggs.

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FS Principles- 11) Overwintering

• It turns out that many beneficials make cocoons
  and hibernate in or very near the plants where
  they find their hosts. Recent research has shown
  that yarrow and comfrey are also excellent
  overwintering plants for parasitic wasps.

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FS Principles 12) Entrainment

• Entomologists have discovered that insects
  (especially parasitic wasps and flies) can
  perform associative learning, so if you get
  insects (especially young ones) happy in their
  environment, they will tune in to a particular
  pest.

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FS Principles13)Drought/Stress

• These systems can also fail! In drought years
  insects from all over will come to your area and
  can overwhelm a system. Be ready with backups
  additional insects, ladybugs/lacewings, Bt,
  soaps, diatomaceous earth.

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FS Principles 14) Hold Yer Fire!

• I didnt know what is was.. So I killed it.
• Remember you need some pests around in order to
  feed your beneficials. If you have to spray, use
  materials that are biorationals (like Bt) and
  wont kill your beneficials. Realize that
  broad-spectrum pesticides kill everything and you
  are resetting your beneficial clock back to zero.

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FS Principles15) Lastly -Encourage Diversity!

• Remember that insects are part of the web of life
  in your garden or farm. The beneficial insect
  complex is not only composed of parasitic wasps
  and flies, predatory beetles, lacewing larvae,
  ladybugs and so on, but ALSO the pollinators,
  antagonists/competitors that occupy and compete
  for space and food with potential pests, and
  finally the saprophytes and decomposing insects
  that help complete the food cycle back to the
  soil so the cycle can start again.