Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
The Alabama Beginning Farmers Project is funded by grants from the USDA Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Program (Awards 2015-04598 & 2018-02936). The overall project implementation plan involves collaboration with a wide range of institutions, producer groups, and nonprofit organizations for supporting beginning farmers statewide. In collaboration with Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Crotovina, Farmscape Solutions, and The United Christian Community Association, the BFRD Program provides science-based information and consultation to beginning farmers, develops new educational resources, and sustains a statewide network of producers to strengthen the local food movement that is inclusive of low-resource farmers and military veterans.
Project objectives:
- Provide science-based information and consultation to beginning farmers.
- Support and collaborate with third-party educational programs.
- Develop new educational resources (e-curriculum, phone app, printed materials).
- Sustain a statewide network of producers to strengthen the local food movement that is inclusive of low resource farmers and military veterans.
More Information
For more information, visit alabamabeginningfarmer.com.
Program Coordinator: Ayanava Majumdar
Commercial Horticulture Regional Extension Agents, Extension Coordinators, and Specialists
Technical Assistance Providers: Jayme Oates, Karen Wynne, Lee McBride, Andrew Williams
Funding Agency : USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (Phase 1 & 2 Grants) www.nifa.usda.gov/programs
Project Training Events
The Beginning Farmer program offers special training events for all farmers. Look for information on Farmer 101 and 201 in the ACES calendar.
Monthly webinar presentations are available live at 9 A.M. Topics include greenhouse production, insect pest alerts and management, disease diagnosis and more. The calendar for these webinars is shown below. Click here to watch live on these dates.
Commercial Horticulture Team Webinar Presentations
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| January 28 | Diagnostic facilities at new AU Gulf Shores, Mushroom Production | Marla Faver, Sam Boring |
| February 25 | Chill hour/peach production updates, Economic outlook of the green industry,Strawberry production updates | Edgar Vinson, Gary Gray, Kevin Burkett, Mike Reeves |
| March 25 | Summer fertility for turfgrasses, BMPs for fruit crops | Dave Han, Elina Coneva |
| April 29 | Overview of organic insecticide premixes & tank-mixes | Ayanava Majumdar |
| May 20 | Marketing of Fruits and Vegetables, Under-Utilized Specialty Crops, Southern Cover Crop Conference Update, Getting Started in Farming, Trap Crop Update for Tomato and Squash Insect Pests | Kevin Burkett, Doug Chapman, Audrey Gamble, Audrey Gamble, Chip East, Ayanava Majumdar |
| June 24 | BMPs for nursery irrigation, Overview of chemical insecticides/insect activity report, Post Harvest Handling | Adam Newby, Ayanava Majumdar, Joe Kemble |
| July 29 | Olive production, Insect pest activity report -1, Diagnostic Lab Updates | James Miles, Ayanava Majumdar, Kassie Conner |
| August 26 | Fall maintenance tips for turfgrass, Insect pest management strategies for hemp | Dave Han, Katelyn Kesheimer |
| September 30 | Diseases of Hemp, Effects of selected pre-emergent herbicides on strawberry plant growth and fruit: An update. | Kassie Conner, Edgar Vinson |
| October 28 | TBA | TBA |
| November 18 | Planning for a good citrus crop, Commercial Horticulture Extension Resource Update | Neil Kelly, Ayanava Majumdar |
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