Sustainable Pest Management for New York Urban Farmers CCE Ag Inservice Presentation

This presentation was a project update at the 2024 Cornell Cooperative Extension Agriculture, Food & Environmental Systems In-service. Urban farmers face unique pest management challenges compounded by limited space, proximity to other growing areas such as community and school gardens, constructed soils, early exposure to invasive pests, climatic challenges, limited research, and historically minimal technical support from service providers. In a multiyear project, there was an exploration of sustainable pest management on urban farms across New York state using on-farm demonstration trials, workshops, routine scouting, and farm visits. Project team members worked with 15 urban farms in Buffalo, Rochester, and New York City to host demonstration trials testing non-chemical pest management strategies. Work with farms was done to identify pests of concern and co-created site-specific management plans. Some pests are common and widespread such as aphids, downy mildew and flea beetles, others are relatively new to our areas such as swede midge and spotted lanternfly. Management approaches depended on farmer preference and farm layout. Strategies included exclusion netting, manipulating planting dates, resistant varieties, and introduction of biocontrols. Most participating farms saw improved success in their social missions and an increase in revenue through the result of higher quality vegetables, improved yields, and decreased labor on pest management and sorting. As part of this project, we hosted or participated in 39 workshops for 71 hours of programming reaching 1077 participants. The project team conducted over 300 visits with urban farmers across New York.