Elson Shields presents information on controlling alfalfa snout beetle at a northern New York farm field day in 2012 at Sheland Farms, Belleville, N.Y.
Entomologist Elson Shields, who spearheaded the development of a biocontrol practice for controlling alfalfa snout beetle (ASB), will receive the Entomological Foundation Award for Excellence in IPM in March at the Entomological Society of America meeting. New York farmers are now adopting his effective and inexpensive way to control ASB, which can destroy an entire field of valuable dairy and livestock forage in one season. Shields, professor of entomology, conducted the foundational research into ASB, investigated potential control measures, designed a new greenhouse screening method, field-tested that protocol and developed an easy-to-implement on-farm biocontrol protocol that uses nematodes native to New York to destroy the larvae of the ASB. His methods are summarized in the new seven-page "Management of Alfalfa Snout Beetle" primer, which farmers in the New York are receiving at agricultural events. The primer includes calculations of the cost of losing an alfalfa crop to ASB, which can be as high as $487 per acre plus the increased expense of buying feed to replace the lost forage, thereby increasing the cost of milk, beef or livestock production. To date, more than 72 farms in have applied the nematodes on more than 154 fields in the six northernmost counties of New York state. The new primer will encourage more farmers to adopt the farmer-friendly practice.
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