Survey of integrated pest management practices in Central Illinois

The Clinton Administration set a goal to develop and implement integrated pest management (IPM) programs on 75% of the managed acres in the USA by the year 2000. In order to document current IPM practices and identify limitations to further adoption, a direct mail survey was sent to 988 farmers in eight central Illinois counties. Survey results indicated that 65% of the farmers hired a custom herbicide applicator, but only 7% hired a professional crop scout to monitor their fields. Forty one percent of the farmers reported they scout their fields weekly, while an additional 35% said they scout fields at least two to three times per growing season. Only 3% of the farmers said they seldom or never scout their fields. Economic thresholds were used to make insect control decisions by 34% of the farmers. In contrast, only 9% of farmers used economic thresholds as a basis for weed management. Sixty nine percent of the farmers responding to the survey were very concerned about the effects of pesticides on applicator health. Understanding how farmers make their pest management decisions may help identify current barriers to the successful adoption of IPM.