Category Archives: Newsletter
SPN: Program, Policy and Plans how can terms help your IPM program.
Since the inception of the Texas School IPM Law and Rules, school districts, IPM coordinators, pest management professionals and regulators have struggled with three words associated with IPM: program, policy, and plan. What are they and why are they important to the success of your program is what we will focus on in this issue of school pest news. According to the School IPM Law adopted in 1991 and amended in 2001, 2007, and in 2009 each independent school district shall adopt an integrated pest management program that… Read More →
SPN: Meet the Ladies of AgriLife Extension Turfgrass
With our spring two-day school IPM trainings just around the corner, I thought this would be a good time to introduce our Extension Turfgrass Specialists. Dr. Becky Grubbs-Bowling and Dr. Chrissie Segars can’t wait to meet you at our second day of trainings this spring and later in October. Meet the Scientist: Rebecca Grubbs-Bowling By Bianca Calderon From Lubbock to Athens, and now College Station, Dr. Rebecca Grubbs-Bowling, Texas A&M University assistant professor and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service turfgrass specialist in the Department of Soil and Crop… Read More →
SPN: Reporting for Yellow, Red and Incidental Use treatments.
Next to urban wildlife what readers wanted more information on is staying in compliance or understanding how some of the school IPM rules are interpreted by the Texas Department of Agriculture Structural Pest Control Service Division. So the next couple of issues will pertain to this topic. Several of the top ten non-compliant problems for Texas schools boil down to paperwork. Top of the list is failing to have the Yellow Category Justification form. This failure comes from pesticide applicators not understanding what is considered Yellow category products…. Read More →
IPM for Microorganisms with a Focus on Influenza Viruses
Thank you to the University of Arizona School and Home IPM Team for this informative newsletter. Dawn H. Gouge, Shujuan (Lucy) Li, Channah Rock, Natalie Brassill, University of Arizona Each year between 5 to 20% of the U.S. population will get flu. The economic cost is estimated at $10.4 billion per year in direct medical costs and an additional $16.3 billion in lost earnings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported January 11, 2019 that between 6.2 million and 7.3 million people have been sick with… Read More →
SPN: Managing Wildlife on School Campuses
When I asked School IPM Coordinators what topics they wanted to learn more about this year, managing wildlife topped the list. For most people, “nuisance wildlife” means an animal is destructive or menacing. The animal may be damaging property such as buildings, crops, pets, livestock, gardens, or public parks. Wildlife may threaten human health or safety by spreading diseases; through direct attacks; or accidentally, because of collisions with cars, airplanes, or trains. The most common wildlife issues in Texas are bats, skunks, racoons, opossums, coyotes and feral hogs. For… Read More →
New Free Resource for School Districts to Improve Student Health and Performance!
School districts throughout the US now have a free training tool to ensure all school staff – custodians, maintenance, food service, teachers, grounds staff and more – understand how they can reduce pest problems and asthma, and boost student and staff performance, as they go about their daily tasks. Did you know that exposure to mice, cockroaches, dust mites and pesticides can trigger asthma attacks? Increasing awareness of the pest connection to asthma is one of the key goals of the free training. Asthma is the number one… Read More →
SPN: The Importance of Educating Staff about Your IPM Program
Integrated pest management (IPM) is a process that requires cooperation among all school staff members, faculty and students and pest management professionals within a school district. IPM is a strategy of managing pests using multiple control tactics that provide the best control with the least cost and environmental impact. IPM is based on thorough knowledge of the pests and the technologies used to control them and can be performed by anyone with proper training. A good IPM program attempts to make schools less hospitable to pests by modifying… Read More →
SPN: School IPM Resources
In this edition of School Pest News, I thought I would share a variety of resources that I have sent out over the past month in hopes of helping everyone who might be having trouble with pests or organizing their IPM Program. Look for the hyperlinks throughout this post, plus any ad Bed Bugs Next to head lice, bed bugs seems to be the pest that can hitch a ride with anyone or anything. When this happens most people are not sure what to do. The best thing… Read More →
SPN: School IPM and Pest Control Recordkeeping
In this newsletter we are going to look at some of the more frequent problems that are encountered during a school integrated pest management (IPM) inspection by the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA). Texas is one of the few states that require all persons who apply pesticides to hold a noncommercial applicator license if they make applications not just in schools but other locations as well. Under the Occupations Code Chapter 1951 the following employees must be licensed if they apply pesticides: State government employees and/or Persons performing… Read More →
Bugs and basil: Insecticides and veggies don’t always mix
Who wants to eat insecticide? Not me, and I’m guessing certainly not your customers. So if your company does residential pest control, are your employees trained to know what to do when they encounter a vegetable garden, fruit or nut tree in a backyard? And are they trained to answer a customer’s questions about the safety of their insecticides around vegetables or herbs? I’m guessing this subject is not commonly addressed in technician training classes. I was asked by an industry sales representative this week: “Is it appropriate… Read More →
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