February 29, 2024

Pest Management Solutions for Specialty Crops and Specialty Uses

The following is a recap of news and updates released by

The IR-4 Project during the month of February.

LATEST NEWS

Learn About IR-4's 2023 Impacts

The IR-4 Project has published its 2023 Annual Report and Year-End Summary. The Annual Report dives deep into the details of last year's research outcomes, while the Year-End Summary provides highlights from the report as well as a letter from Executive Director Jerry Baron. Find both on the Annual Reports page of our website!

Minor Use Foundation Announcement

The Minor Use Foundation has named Anna Gore Executive Director to foster the growth of the organization. In this position, Anna will lead the Foundation’s work to achieve its vision of a world where fruits, vegetables, nuts, and spices are plentiful and affordable for everyone. Read the Foundation's announcement on our website:

UPCOMING EVENTS

2024 Research Symposium: Food Crops

The annual IR-4 Project Research Symposium: Food Crops will be held on Tuesday, April 9, 2024, from 1-4 pm ET. During this virtual event (via Zoom), IR-4 biologists will share research results from Integrated Solutions and Product Performance trials on food crops. Results from these trials are used to identify potential pest management solutions for specialty crops and to support product registrations.

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN via the event web page, where you can also now find a tentative agenda. Additional details will be posted as the event date approaches. We hope you’ll join us on April 9!

2024 Industry Technology Session

The annual IR-4 Project Industry Technology Session will be held virtually (via Zoom) on Thursday, July 18, 2024, from approximately 11:30 am to 4:30 pm ET (time subject to change). This annual event allows companies to present updates on products already in IR-4 research, as well as new technologies designed to meet the pest management needs of specialty crop producers. Visit the event web page to learn more.

2024 Food Use Workshop

Keep an eye on your inbox in early March for a Save the Date announcement for this year's Food Use Workshop. We look forward to sharing the details with you soon via this newsletter and on our Events & Training page.

PARTNER EVENT:

2024 Canadian Pest Management Priority Setting Workshop

March 18-20th in Ottawa, Canada

Similar to the IR-4 Food Use Workshop, the 2024 Canadian Pest Management Priority Setting Workshop will bring together growers, consultants, extension specialists, registrants, regulators, government staff, and international observers to discuss pest management issues and identify potential solutions for minor use crops in Canada. Pest management priorities identified by growers and supported by registrants at the workshop will go forward for research by the Pest Management Centre (PMC) of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in the 2025 season to determine efficacy and/or crop residues. Several priorities selected at this workshop are typically selected for joint PMC/IR-4 projects following the IR-4 Food Use Workshop in September.

Register for the workshop here.

For more information, please contact: aafc.mupp-ppul.aac@agr.gc.ca

CAREER OPPORTUNITY

The IR-4 Project Environmental Horticulture Program (EHP) Manager position will be tasked with coordinating research and pesticide (bio-based and chemical) registration activities on non-food, ornamental plant species within the IR-4 Project. This position will be based at the IR-4 Headquarters office at NC State University.

RESEARCH UPDATES

Food Crops

The following tolerance success was added to the IR-4 website during the month of January; none were added in February. Find other tolerance successes under Food Crop Successes & Stories.

• Dodine (Federal Register date: December 13, 2023)

Environmental Horticulture

The following crop safety research summaries were posted to the Environmental Horticulture Program page in February:

• Flumioxazin Crop Safety
• Phytopthora Efficacy

Success Story Update

IR-4's recent success story on glufosinate-ammonium was originally published on January 23, 2023. Due to an unforeseen hurdle in the labeling process for some of the new glufosinate-ammonium uses mentioned, IR-4 had to briefly redact it. The regulatory issue has now been resolved, and we have received approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the registrant, BASF, to re-publish the story as of February 16, 2024. No changes have been made to the original content. Thank you for your patience.

Follow us on social media!

This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award numbers 2022-79111-38469 and 2021-34383-34848 with substantial cooperation and support from the State Agricultural Experiment Stations, USDA-ARS and USDA-FAS. In accordance with Federal Law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability.