Whole Farm Training in IPM at the University of Florida Living Extension IPM Field Laboratory

This presentation will describe the highly successful Extension effort to design and establish the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Living Extension IPM Field Laboratory at the Suwannee Valley Agricultural Extension Center in Live Oak, Florida.  The laboratory was created during the past 2-3 years to provide hands-on, whole-farm education and training for growers and others in farmscaping to attract and support beneficial arthropods. The goal is to increase adoption of whole-farm IPM by farmers and ranchers by improving their understanding of how the benefits of IPM increase when advancing from managing individual crops or pests, or pest complexes to enhancing ecological services that prevent pest outbreaks.