This full-color guide helps readers identify wild pollinators, provide them with food and habitat, and avoid pesticides that are toxic to them.

When Sysco began developing environmental guidelines 6 years ago, they turned to IPM specialists for advice. Now thousands of Sysco growers are using IPM, and Sysco reports a cumulative reduction of 3 million pounds of pesticide.

Many possessions can’t be treated for bed bugs with a spray or cycle in a hot dryer, but a study now shows that some household items can be de-bugged in trash bags with dry ice pellets.

The USDA has awarded $5.7 million for research and education to help growers cope with this invasive pest.

Our Center has funded 25 projects this year, including invasive species outreach and regional working groups on pollinators, stink bugs, hops, and slugs.

City neighborhoods are home to Asian tiger mosquitoes, which can carry West Nile virus and dog heartworm. The Northeastern IPM Center is funding research to control these pests using a natural bacterial disease that afflicts mosquitoes.

The Northeast Regional IPM Competitive Grants program has awarded approximately $600,000 to support five new projects in 2011.

Our Center has been awarded new grants from three sources totaling approximately $1.3 million.

In New Jersey, a major center of blueberry and cranberry production, entomologists are using pheromones to lure weevils so growers can time their sprays for greatest effectiveness.

Swallow-wort, a rampant invasive species in the Northeast, smothers small trees and native plants. Rhode Island entomologist Richard Casagrande is identifying natural enemies of this pest.

Drosophila suzukii, a small vinegar fly with the potential to damage many fruit crops, has been confirmed in two northeastern states this summer.

Growing Green Lawns website; Brown Marmorated Stink Bug information; New York City's bed bug site; and Louisiana State's Pest Identification Guide for Pests In and Around Buildings.

IPM proponents persuade school districts to choose pest prevention over sprays. “Schools that switch to IPM show a decline in pesticide use and are still able to keep pests at bay,” says UMass entomologist Bill Coli, who evaluates the impact of IPM projects.

IPM Training in Public Housing Authorities is a multiregional project that aims to strengthen communities and use integrated pest management to address housing conditions that threaten human health.

The Northeast Regional IPM Competitive Grants program has awarded approximately $580,000 to support seven projects that confront pest threats to children, honey bees, and crops.

The newly funded Brown Marmorated Stink Bug IPM Working Group hit the ground running in June 2010, when its 30 members met in West Virginia to establish research, extension, and regulatory priorities for an intensifying problem.

IPM Voice is an independent organization formed to secure the attention and resources that IPM deserves and needs.

IPM sets a bleak scene for Lyme disease carriers: The threat of Lyme disease has added a note of caution to outdoor activities in recent years. The Northeastern IPM Center funds research on ways to control ticks to protect human health while reducing the use of pesticides.

A new IPM Working Group is taking aim at the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), a pest that was introduced from Asia in the 1990s and has since spread to all of the mid-Atlantic states.

In 2010, the Northeastern IPM Center has awarded more than $400,000 to support research and outreach projects in northeastern states through the IPM Partnership Grants Program.

Penn State adapts early warning system for key pests, new crops. Pest forecasting models are a powerful tool, but high-tech early-warning systems require significant investment and expertise. To save costs, PA IPM researchers have adapted an existing online system.

Fresh ideas and strong relationships keep farm vibrant. Family farmer Don Dzen is convinced that expanding his use of IPM was a smart decision: “Each year there’s been something that paid for itself, something we were missing before.”

Five years ago, bacterial canker was a growing threat to New Jersey's $28 million fresh market tomato industry. IPM researchers have introduced growers to a seed heat treatment that eliminates seed as the primary inoculum source.

Can these natural enemies slow the invasion? IPM programs in the Northeast have enlisted the help of two beetle species to slow the spread of purple loosestrife, and they find that these insects can significantly inhibit the weed's growth.

Researchers, educators, consultants, and growers are working to synthesize current knowledge and create an advanced IPM system that could enhance profits and sustainability.

The 2009 growing season will be remembered for its widespread outbreak of late blight. Gardeners and farmers can prepare now for a healthy crop next year.

... especially when locally grown. Rice production is alluring both to locavores and to growers seeking ways to get production from marginal lands.

Schools embrace IPM for all the right reasons: Children are more vulnerable than adults to both pests and pesticides, either of which can trigger asthma, the leading chronic illness in U.S. children.

Seed companies put IPM researchers’ findings to use: Growers now have access to new tomato varieties that resist some of the most threatening tomato diseases and can be grown in ways that are gentler to the environment.

Maine’s Potato IPM Program made great strides in 2008, saving growers $17 million while minimizing pesticide usage. This is big news in a state where potatoes are the top agricultural commodity, valued at more than $500 million.

In 2009, the Northeastern IPM Center awarded nearly $390,000 to support the following research and outreach projects in northeastern states.

Northeastern golf courses put IPM to work: Turf managers need strategies to comply with new mandates, lessen environmental impacts, and continue to attract players in a competitive industry.

The Green-Blue Grants Program disbursed $12,500 to promote clean water through residential IPM. Nearly 1,000 homeowners and lawn care professionals in six states received direct training through this program.

Growers, scientists, and marketers have successfully boosted the market for IPM-grown apples through their collaborations in the Northeast.

Urban pests like cockroaches and mice can trigger asthma, contaminate food, and damage buildings. They can also cause stress and lead people to misuse pesticides.

Nearly 400 northeastern growers and NRCS staff have attended on-farm workshops aimed at improving growers’ ability to earn financial incentives for managing pests in ways that protect the environment.

In 2006, managed honey bee colonies began to disappear in large numbers without known reason. IPM experts are looking for ways to keep colonies healthy.

Teaching IPM concepts to school children has emerged as a strategy that prepares all citizens to make decisions that safeguard the environment and human health.

The Northeast Vegetable IPM Working Group has offered an Educator Exchange Program that helps agricultural professionals attend meetings about IPM practices in vegetables and strawberries, and then share what they’ve learned.

In 2008, the Northeastern IPM Center awarded nearly $475,000 to support the following research and outreach projects in northeastern states.

Portable immersion system thwarts pests of ornamental plants. In the $10 billion U.S. nursery industry, getting stock plant cuttings off to a pest-free start can prevent costly infestations and pesticide treatments later.

… or at least diminished, thanks to reduced-area treatments on potatoes. Entomologist Andrei Alyokhin led a team of researchers who reduced the amount of imidocloprid used on potato crops, treating only selected areas on the perimeter of the field.